Cass avenges its loss to King with a ball-control offense

It was an offensive lineman’s dream: Scoring the go-ahead touchdown to help your team win the city championship and keep its playoff hopes alive.

And that’s what happened when Jaylen Washington pounced on a loose ball in the end zone with 14 seconds left in the third quarter, putting Detroit Cass Tech up 20-14 on favored Detroit King.

That play — which originally looked like it was going to be a 2-yard run from quarterback Leeshaun Mumpfield following his wall of blockers before the ball popped loose — capped a nine-minute drive, and the Technicians’ serious edge in time of possession was instrumental to their 28-14 win.

Cass Tech (5-3 overall) built a 14-0 lead by the midway point of the second quarter. Mumpfield fed Corey Sadler Jr. on an out pattern for a 40-yard TD with 1:09 left in the first. Sadler, who had a step on his cover, caught the ball over his shoulder at the goal line.

It appeared King would tie on the kickoff, but Jacobe Oglesby’s 70-yard return was nullified by a holding call, and the Crusaders went three-and-out. Cass Tech went up two scores on its next series, a 75-yard, 11-play drive capped by a 2-yard plunge by Sean Hodges.

Cass learned that the best way to beat King was to keep the ball out of the Crusaders’ hands, as quarterback Dante Moore and crew were capable of quick strikes.

The Crusaders scored in only three plays. Despite a first-and-26 following a holding call, Moore looked deep and hit Jameel Croft Jr. in stride on a 72-yard pass. Croft covered half of the distance following the catch.

After King’s first score, the Technicians also had a kick-return touchdown — an 88-yard jaunt by Sadler — scrubbed by a flag for holding. Instead, the series couldn’t have turned out worse for the Technicians. The ball came back to their own 22, and they coughed up the ball on the first play, as Steven McCrary pounced on the loose ball. Cass was also hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, so King went to work from the 13-yard line.

Although two flags set King in a fourthand-11 situation, the Crusaders tied the game after Moore faked a handoff to Sterling Anderson Jr., who continued through the hole, and was uncovered at the back of the end zone.

Cass had a 2-1 edge in time of possession throughout the first half, and blew that open in the third quarter, when the Technicians went up 21-14. Cass forced a King punt after five plays, and then held the ball for nine minutes before scoring the go-ahead touchdown.

Cass, which lost to King, 28-23. earlier in the season, was in danger of missing the MHSAA Division 1 playoffs with another loss.