DETROIT – The Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators saw their dream season come to a heartbreaking end, falling to Jackson Lumen Christi 15-12 on Saturday at Ford Field.
This was the second matchup between these two teams this season. St. Francis won the first matchup 42-35 in week two.
That game was all about offense, and the state championship was all about defense.
St. Francis’s defense was stout throughout the first half, holding Lumen Christi to just 64 yards while forcing three turnovers.
Joey Donahue broke a scoreless tie early in the second quarter with a one-yard TD run. Wyatt Nausadis added a nine-yard touchdown run just before halftime to give St. Francis a 12-0 halftime lead.
The Glads would hold that lead into the fourth quarter. But early in the fourth, the Titans got on the board with an 18-yard Joe Lathers touchdown run to cut the gap to 12-7. After a Gladiator punt, Lumen Christi marched 49 yards to take the lead on a two-yard Derrick Walker touchdown run. The Titans got a two-point conversion on a play that was reviewed when Lathers fumbled the ball into the end zone where the Titans recovered to make it 15-12.
The Gladiators had a chance to respond, but with 6:21 left, Nausadis’s pass downfield was intercepted. The Titans were able to run out the clock from there to claim the Division 7 State Championship.
“They made some personnel changes from week two, and they obviously worked for them, going 0-3 and then winning the state championship from the start of the season to the end of the season,” said St. Francis Head Coach Josh Sellers. “We didn’t execute up front very well. And we definitely made plays defensively to keep us in the ballgame, But then the second half, they kinda got rolling, and they became too much for our guys to handle.”
The Gladiators conclude their season with a 13-1 record. They will lose 18 seniors from the 2022 team.
© 2023 - 910 Media Group