Colts Claim Shoe from Stallions 27-16
The second annual "Battle for the Shoe" featured Northville's two JV football teams in their traditional rivalry game. The Stallions (2-6) defense came out pounding as Christian Watkins and Gabe Xuereb teamed up to force a Colt fumble and Domenic Rodriquez later blew up a Colt running back in the red zone. But the Colts led 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Stallion offense warmed up as lineman Nikhil Khatiwala pancaked a Colt defender and Alex Gentner, Jack Story, Joey Bahu and Spencer Thakady worked hard in the trenches, allowing running backs Alex Karam and Mitch DeGroff to grind out yards. Grant Hood also made a sideline leap to haul in a long pass from QB Jack Pevovar as the second quarter ticked down. When forced to punt, the Stallions turned to league -leading punter Hood, who had punts to 52 yards. The Colts led 20-0 at halftime.
As the second half began, lineman Robert Reynolds was first to put pressure on the Colts quarterback while Pevovar broke up passes in the flat. Parker Dietrich burst through the line for a sack, as did Kevin Townsend. The Stallions needed a big play and Alex Karam answered as he forced a fumble which he then recovered. The Stallion offense stalled but the defense kept swarming as cornerback Jack Rathwell put a hit on a Colts receiver. Big plays continued as Nick Gattoni, Max Barnes, John Hamilton and Dominick Martin all contributed.
Going into the fourth quarter the Stallion offensive cylinders fired up. Quarterback Pevovar pitched to Cooper Leverton who threw a pass across the grain hitting Pevovar, who darted 39 yards to the Colts 21. Karam took the next handoff through a hole opened by Story and Bahu and charged in for a Stallion score. Saaz Malhotra snapped to Thakady, who split the uprights setting the score 20-8. The Colts added another score but with just 34 seconds left in the game, Evan Redwine grabbed a kickoff on the fly and handed a reverse to speedster Enzo Rodriquez who turned on his jets for a Stallion touchdown. Thakady nailed the extra points and this hard fought game ended Stallions 16, Colts 27.
By: Greg Baker
