Northville Youth Football Association

On Sunday morning the Northville Stallions flag football team returned to action after the Labor Day weekend looking to rebound after a Week 1 loss. The visiting Braves of Walled Lake made this no easy task. The Braves received the opening kickoff and wasted no time taking a 6-0 lead with a 60-yard touchdown run. The PAT was no good. The Stallions struggled early offensively but managed to eventually break out with a 20-yard run by #13, Abraham Frazier, before ending the 1st Period.

The Braves began the 2nd Period with the momentum and managed a 35-yard run before a touchdown-saving flag-grab by #19, Caden TenBroeck, at the Stallions’ 15 yard line. However, the Braves still managed to punch it in from the 7-yard line to increase their lead to 12-0. The Braves failed their PAT attempt with a stop by #10, Brant Stachura, to keep the deficit at 12. After the receiving the ball, TenBroeck picked up the offensive momentum with a 10-yard scamper to put the Stallions in scoring position before closing out Period 2.

Northville Quarterback, Paxton Mehram, opened the 3rd Period with a 9-yard touchdown run around the left edge to finally get on the scoreboard. After a failed PAT, the score was 12-6 Braves with 7:51 left in the 3rd . The Braves attempted to strike back quickly, but they were stymied on 4th down at the 4-yard line by Stallions #11, Marcus Janini – resulting in a turnover on downs. The Stallions wasted no time continuing their comeback with a 30-yard run up the right sideline by #45, Declan O’Keefe. Shortly after, Mehram raced 20 yards to the house to tie the game, 12-12. Back to back stops by #25 Connor Frescoln and #64 Andrew Paulson frustrated the Braves’ offensive effort. They were stopped again by Frescoln on 4th down to return the ball to the Stallions with 1:21 left in the first half. The Stallions took advantage of the remaining clock, and Frescoln rushed for a 35-yard touchdown up the near sideline as time expired. Paxton Mehram converted the PAT, and the Stallions went into halftime with a 19-12 lead.

Frescoln picked up where he left off in the first half with a 45-yard sprint to start the 4th Period, setting up teammate Declan McGrail for a 5-yard touchdown run. The PAT was converted by Frescoln to increase the Stallions’ lead to 26-12 over the Braves. The Orange and Black wave continued on the defensive side of the ball as #9, Sullivan Horgan, and #5, Jacob Vigna, combined for a trio of stops on first, second, and third downs. Desperate to get the offense moving, Braves’ QB, #22, took matters into his own hands and ran it in from 30 yards to score – cutting into the deficit, now within 8 points at 26-18. The Stallions struck right back with an elusive 60-yard touchdown run by Frescoln, followed up with a successful PAT pass from Frescoln to Horgan increasing the lead to 34-18 with 0:36 left in the 4th Period. The Braves were able to convert one more time and scored before the close of the period with a 50-yard run by QB, #22. With the failed PAT, the period ended at 34-24 in favor of the Stallions.

To open the 5th, the Stallions’ offense remained hot as #24, Zach Douglas, broke free for an 8-yard run before being tripped up by Walled Lake’s defense. #77, Harrison Katarski, followed up by going left then reversing the field to make something out of nothing and a 16-yard gain. Brennan Devitt pushed the ball further up the field to the 11-yard line with a prophetic run; #20 for 20 in an instant. Light rain started to fall, but it didn’t slow down TenBroeck from recording another score as the Stallions pulled away, 40-24 with 0:39 left in the 5th Period. Northville’s #8, Emmet Goerke, closed the period with a Top 10-worthy flag-grab at midfield as time ran out.

Unfortunately, the Stallions were not able slow the Braves early in the 6th and final Period. Walled Lake QB #22 scored once again to close the gap to 40-31, but this would be the last time the Braves would find the end zone. The Stallions weren’t finished and delved deep into their playbook to run a double-reverse to O’Keefe followed by another 35-yard run by Mehram. This setup a hard-fought and well-earned two-yard downhill run by the enigmatic #22, Franco Brown. Mehram fed off of Brown’s energy and quickly struck again with an 8-yard touchdown run. #3, Luca Ghannam, would cap off the Stallions’ offensive efforts by converting the PAT to stretch the lead to 47-31. Horgan sealed the victory with a tackle with all zeros showing on the clock to end the game.

The Stallions were victorious, sending the Braves back to Walled Lake with a final score of 47-31, evening Northville’s record at 1-1. It was a great effort by both teams; orange slices and Gatorades were enjoyed by all.