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11/06/05-Football
Rematch on tap
St. Mary's routs Western to set up thrid Rice meeting
By Dave Pemberton
Special to The Oakland Press
WEST BLOOMFIELD--Senior Nick Koenigsknecht had not thrown a pass since his freshman year, but he made his first varsity pass for Orchard Lake St. Mary's count.
The Eaglets had not attempted a passing play the entire game Saturday against Walled Lake Western until near the end of the second quarter, when Koenigsknecht completed his first - and only - pass of the game to Taurian Washington for an 85-yard score.
The pass was one of several huge Eaglets plays in their 48-10 win over the Warriors in a Division 2 district final.
"I knew Taurian could go up and get it, so I just threw it up," Koenigsknecht said. "He turned on the jets to get it and did a nice job."
Koenigsknecht got the start at quarterback for the Eaglets (11-0) because of an injury to normal starter Justin Siller. St. Mary's head coach George Porritt said he was proud of Koenigsknecht's effort.
"Coach (Don) Buchanan had him prepared very well, and Nick's a great athlete and a good player," Porritt said. "It's the first snaps he's taken in a long, long time and he did a nice job today."
The win gives St. Mary's its second straight district title and sets up a third game this season against conference rival Birmingham Brother Rice in the regional final. The Eaglets won the two previous meetings.
Porritt said he has never faced a team three times in a season, and he expects it to be tough.
"I think both teams have played awful physical and it takes its toll," Porritt said. "It's going to be another physical football game. I know they're a great football team, and that's just the way it is. In the state playoffs, you have to play big-time teams. Nobody wants to do it, but we have to do it and, hopefully, it will be a great football game."
St. Mary's struck on its fifth play of the game, when Anthony Bowman broke a 49-yard touchdown run.
The Warriors answered on their next possession when Andy Omiatek hit a 33-yard field goal, but the Eaglets pushed the lead to 13-3 when Bowman ran in a 6-yard touchdown with 1:46 left in the first quarter.
Koenigsknecht ran for a 5-yard touchdown on the Eaglets' first drive of the second quarter, and Christopher Mitchell ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 21-3 with 6:56 left in the half.
Aaron Gant had two touchdown runs, and Dominique White had a 6-yard touchdown run for the Eaglets in the third quarter.
Henry Ford broke a 93-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the only touchdown of the game for the Warriors (7-4).
Western head coach Mike Zdebski said St. Mary's was a talented and explosive team, but he was proud of his team's season.
"There's a lot of schools that would like to be playing for a district championship, and our kids got to that point," Zdebski said. "It was a really nice season for us. We're proud of the efforts of our kids."
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