Football: Huron’s second-half comeback comes up just short (see WLAA photo gallery)
Cole Cabana took the handoff and went around the left side and headed for the end zone. The senior running back knew he was going to take a shot if he was going to get past the pylon and into the end zone. With the game on the line, nothing was going to stop Cabana, as he took the hit yet still hit the end zone with just 23 seconds left on the clock for a dramatic game-winning score in Dexter’s 21-14 win over visiting Huron on Friday night.
It was Homecoming for Dexter High School, and while the court was introduced at halftime, the Dexter football team was introduced to its biggest challenge of the season against a very strong Huron team. Despite a couple of very significant injuries, a fourth-quarter turnover and the visitors raising their game, the No. 1 team in the state in Division 2 survived and improved to 6-0 on the season.
The Dreadnaughts, whose previous closest game was 20 points, will face Monroe on Friday before taking on Saline and Chelsea to wrap up the regular season.
The River Rats showed plenty of fight all night long and gave the home team everything they had in an impressive second half. Huron falls to 3-3 on the season. They could wrap up another playoff spot with wins over Skyline (0-6), Lincoln (2-4), and Holt (3-3).
Dexter had to deal with a few major injuries during the game. Corey Baker, who was dominating the line of scrimmage for the Dreadnaughts’ defense, was injured with less than a minute to play in the first half. Senior QB Reeves Taylor was knocked out of the game on a roughing the passer play in the third quarter.
But let’s rewind to the start of the game where Dexter started strong.
Cabana ran off a big play on Dexter’s first offensive possession of the evening. On third and goal, he scored from the 1-yard line to make it 7-0. Gerzon Herter was 3-3 on extra-point attempts for the home team.
After a botched punt by Huron, the Dreadnaughts were in business again deep inside the River Rats side of the field. Cabana ran it in from 23 yards to give Dexter a 14-0 lead with 11:11 left in the second quarter.
Dexter got the ball back and faced a fourth and six at the Huron 31-yard line and decided to go for it. But Huron’s Bruce Williams sacked Taylor to give the River Rats the football.
Huron took the ball inside the Dexter 5-yard line with a fresh set of downs. And then came a big defensive stand for the hosts. On first down, Baker made a play in the backfield and then great pressure by Nathan Gersh forced an incomplete pass.
On third down, Brennan Parachek got to Huron QB Andrew Harding and knocked down a pass. The River Rats botched the snap on a field-goal attempt and came away empty. It was a defensive stand that would have a huge impact later in the game.
Huron came out in the second half and marched down the field, covering 80 yards and landing on the scoreboard on a 1-yard run by Harding to make it 14-7 with 5 minutes still to play in the quarter. Adam Samaha converted both extra-point attempts for the River Rats.
After Taylor was injured, the Dexter offense struggled to move the ball.
Early in the fourth quarter, Huron recovered a fumble deep inside Dexter territory – and the visitors would cash it in. Jaylen Priester scored for the River Rats on an 8-yard run to tie it up at 14-14 with 11:35 left in the game.
After another stalled drive, Dexter punted and the River Rats marched down the field before the Dreadnaughts defense forced a 52-yard field goal attempt that was short with a little more than 3 minutes left on the clock.
Senior Micah Davis turned a screen pass from sophomore QB Grant Goodrich into a 45-yard play that took the ball inside the Huron 10-yard line with less than a minute to play in the game. Cabana did the rest – busting it into the end zone on a 4-yard run for the winning score.
Taylor finished the night 5-13 passing for 54 yards while Goodrich completed all three attempts for 48 yards – the big one coming in the final minutes to Davis.
Cabana carried the ball 25 times for 135 yards and all three Dexter scores. Goodrich had three rushes for nine yards and Parachek had a carry for 12 yards. Davis had three catches for 58 yards, Parachek had two grabs for 18 yards and Joey Tessmer had one catch for 16 yards.
Parachek, who was all over the field, led Dexter with 8 tackles, 1 sack and 1 tackle for loss. Speaking of huge games, freshman LB Nathan Gersh and junior LB Noah Pitts each had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. Davis and sophomore LB Owen Wondrash each had nine tackles and senior LB Niko Michos had eight tackles.
Baker had six tackles, including two for loss, in the first half.
Other SEC scores
Lincoln 37, Skyline 21
Saline 56, Pioneer 0
Bedford 28, Monroe 14
Chelsea 44, Ypsilanti 0
Tecumseh 69, Jackson 46
Adrian 28, Pinckney 13
