Action-packed opening day kicks off high school football season

The busiest day of the high school football season is in the books.

Saturday was opening day with all four schools in action at both the junior and senior levels at Superior Heights as part of the John Croshuk Classic.

The opening game on the senior schedule saw Superior Heights come away with a week one win in a low-scoring affair, beating White Pines by an 8-1 score.

After the teams played through a scoreless opening half, they traded singles in the third quarter to make it a 1-1 game into the fourth.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Superior Heights took the lead for good as Daikaden Gauthier punched the ball in from four yards out. Daxyn Pringle hit the convert to make it 8-1 Steelhawks.

Gauthier finished the day completing 10 of 16 pass attempts for 94 yards and an interception. Gauthier also ran the ball 11 times for 73 yards.

Defensively for the Steelhawks, Will Middaugh, Cooper McAuley and Ethan Fisher had four tackles each.

White Pines quarterback Garrin Pine completed six of 14 pass attempts for 51 yards and an interception.

D.J. Pine had 102 yards rushing on 12 carries for the Wolverines.

Keegan Dane had five tackles for White Pines while Keenan Boissoneau had four, and Steve Day-Nolan chipped in with 3.5. for the Wolverines.

The other senior game of the day saw the Korah Colts beat the St. Mary’s Knights by a 26-9 margin.

The Colts opened the scoring midway through the opening quarter as Nathan Guizzetti ran the ball in from 60 yards out. A convert on the play by Ty Koski gave the Colts an early 7-0 lead.

The Knights conceded a safety in the opening minute of the second quarter to make it a 9-0 game.

Korah added to the lead in the late stages of the second quarter as Kaylob Thibodeau ran the ball in from four yards out. The convert by Koski made it 16-0 with just under two minutes to go in the half.

Koski then hit a 22-yard field goal in the final minute to send the game into the half with the Colts up 19-0.

St. Mary’s got on the board just over four minutes into the third quarter after the Colts conceded a safety.

As time expired in the quarter, St. Mary’s got a touchdown from Nate Carter on a 30-yard pass from Quarterback Matti Tucker. A convert by Carter made the score 19-9.

With 2.5 seconds to go, Guizzetti scored on a seven-yard run. A convert by Koski capped off the scoring in the game.

Guizzetti finished the day with 221 yards rushing on 20 carries while Ethan Carchidi had 7.5 tackles defensively.

Koen Manchulenko added 5.5 tackles for the Colts defensively.

Carter caught eight passes for 72 yards for the Knights while Tucker completed eight of 19 pass attempts for 98 yards and a touchdown pass.

Grant Matthewson had 5.5 tackles defensively for the Knights.

The junior opener saw Superior Heights beat White Pines 44-12.

Just under three minutes into the contest, Ben George ran the ball in from seven yards out. The convert by Gabe Beaton made it 7-0 Superior Heights. Beaton proceeded to out the ensuing kickoff through the endzone for a single point to make it 8-0.

The Steelhawks extended the lead to 15-0 thanks to an eight-yard touchdown catch by Evan Missere on a pass from Nik Joseph. Beaton hit the convert on the play.

Just over two minutes later, Marcus Gould ran an interception in from 30 yards out. With the convert from Beaton, Superior Heights took a 22-0 lead.

After a safety made it a 24-0 game, White Pines got on the board thanks to a four-yard touchdown run by Dede Alabi to make 24-6.

George extended the Superior Heights lead in the late stages of the opening half as he ran the ball in from 29 yards out. The convert by Beaton made it 31-6.

Superior Heights took a 38-6 lead into the half thanks to a late 20-yard touchdown run by Eli Clowater and convert by Beaton.

Midway through the third quarter, Beaton hit a 28-yard field goal to make it a 41-6 score.

Alabi picked up his second touchdown of the day late in the fourth quarter thanks to an 85-yard run.

Alabi finished the day with 168 yards rushing for 168 yards on nine carries for White Pines and also had six tackles defensively.

Missere had 78 yards rushing on eight carries for Superior Heights.

Defensively, Colton Devoe had five tackles while Simon McLean had 4.5.

The second junior game of the day, which also wrapped up week one as the last game on the slate on Saturday, saw Korah beat St. Mary’s 14-3.

Korah got on the board first as Ryder Strachen returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown 5:33 into the game. Strachen proceeded to hit the extra point to make it 7-0.

The Knights made it a four-point game with just over a minute to go in the second quarter as Grayson Giordano hit a 22-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.

After the teams played through a scoreless third quarter, the Colts extended their lead as Marciano Cranston caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Koski. The extra point from Strachen made the score 14-3.

Drew Albury had 31 yards rushing for Korah on nine carries while Lukis Joy-Stoycheff had 29 yards rushing, also on nine carries.

Defensively for the Colts, Gabe Phillips had 5.5 tackles while Max Fuselli, Greyson Avery and Martino Coccimiglio had three each.

On the offensive side for the Knights, Parker Hickey had 29 yards rushing on eight carries.

Defensively for St. Mary’s, Ashton Neufeld had 4.5 tackles. Dominic Cavaliere and Heath Desjardin had four tackles each.

The high school football schedule continues as Korah faces White Pines on Thursday night while St. Mary’s meets Superior Heights on Friday night.

Kickoff for the junior games is 4:45 p.m. with the senior games to follow at 7:30 p.m. All four games are at Superior Heights.