DIVISION 8 BONUS COVERAGE: Top-ranked Mendon earns title No. 11 with shutout of Fowler

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

DETROIT — Like many rural, agricultural small towns across Michigan, Mendon does not have a massive budget, nor does it have the large student body population to sponsor dozens of sports.

So when the Hornets do make a long tournament run, it is understandably a big deal in the southwestern Michigan town — especially when it’s football, the Hornets’ marquee sport.

Ranked No.1 in the state the whole season, Mendon made its 12th appearance in the state finals Friday and capped an undefeated season with a 33-0 victory over ninth-ranked Fowler Friday in the Division 8 state finals at Ford Field.

“When we travel, it can get expensive, but people around the town always seem to find the (funds) necessary to help out,” offered Mendon coach John Schwartz, who is now 237-39 in his 23 seasons at the helm.

Schwartz said he couldn’t compare the talent of all of the great teams Mendon has fielded over the years, but said this team played some extremely tough competition.

“I can tell you that this was probably the toughest schedule we’ve had,” smiled Schwartz. “This team travels well — we’ve traveled all over. It gets expensive, but our community didn’t hesitate (to help out).”

The rewards are shared across the community, as it was the 11^th football state title for the Hornets since the inception of the MHSAA’s playoffs in 1975. That ranks third all-time.

“This is a well-season football team. They have seen (every type of offense),” noted Schwartz. “I think that helped us prepare for this game.”

The Hornets outscored their opponents 593-84 this season with their 28-21 victory over Muskegon Catholic Central in the district finals being the only close game all season despite a tough schedule.

Tyler Harris finished the day with 82 rushing yards on 14 carries, scoring three of the Hornets’ five touchdowns to pace Mendon, which chalked up 240 rushing yards and 119 passing yards. Chance Nightingale was 4-for-8 passing for 119 yards and has 46 rushing yards on four carries, while Tanner Cook supplied 95 yards on nine rushes.

Mendon (14-0), the top-ranked team in Division 8 entering the postseason, scored twice in the first quarter and added a second quarter touchdown for a commanding 21-0 halftime lead. The Hornets tacked on two more scores in the second half to pitch their sixth shutout in 14 games.

Harris scored on an 84-yard punt return with 9:16 to go in the opening frame. Cook scored on a 19-yard run with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter and Harris scored again on an 11-yard sprint with 4:40 to play in the second quarter.

“I think that punt return set the tone for them,” sighed Fowler coach Craig Koenigsknecht, who is 20-4 in his first two years as head coach and led the Eagles to their first state-finals appearance since 1998. “That gave the m some momentum and we had a hard time adjusting to that. They had some nice long runs against us and we could never get much going (offensively).”

The Hornets (14-0) continued to put the dagger into the hearts of the Eagles, taking the opening drive of the third quarter 62 yards on just seven carries, capped by Nightingale’s touchdown run from 9-yards out with 8:30 still to go in the period.

Fowler struggled to move the football, punting the ball away four times in the first half while gaining only 136 yards in the first two quarters.

The Eagles did get the ball down to the Mendon 40 in the third quarter, but could not push any further, turning the ball over on downs.

Harris capped the scoring for Mendon with a 29-yard run with 3:40 left.

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Tags: Fowler Football, high school football, Mendon Football, MHSAA Division 8 Football State Finals, prep football

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