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Sunday, October 30, 2005
St. Mary's gets tested in its district opener
Iowa recruit's 73-yard touchdown run is key in 35-26 victory over Walled Lake Central.
By Matthew A. Goricki / Special to The Detroit News
WEST BLOOMFIELD -- Top-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary's didn't expect its run for a Division 2 championship to be easy.
And it didn't start that way Saturday.
St. Mary's trailed early in its district opener against Walled Lake Central but it rallied to win, 35-26.
"Everybody's 0-0 in the playoffs," St. Mary's running back Anthony Bowman said. "Everybody's a good team in the playoffs. You can't take any team lightly. They played pretty good. They surprised us a couple of times, but I'm glad we came out with the win."
After taking a 21-12 halftime lead, St. Mary's (10-0) got a boost from Bowman early in the third quarter. On the second offensive play of the half, Bowman ran 73 yards to give the Eaglets a 28-12 lead.
"I thought Anthony's run there in the second half was amazing," St. Mary's coach George Porritt said. "He can do those kind of things. We don't get that run, you don't know what happens. It was a good power play and he made an outstanding run on it."
Bowman, who will attend Iowa next fall, had 11 carries for 120 yards. Central (5-5) took its lead on Torrey Stimson's 26-yard run on the second play of the game. St. Mary's then scored consecutive touchdowns -- Bowman's 21-yard catch from Justin Siller and Aaron Gant's 37-yard run.
Gant carried 13 times for 96 yards. Siller threw for 140 yards and rushed for two touchdowns.
"They did an outstanding job," Porritt said of Central. "They were very well prepared, very well-coached. They gave us fits running the football. That's playoff football. We gotta do a little bit better of a job if we want to hang in there."
St. Mary's plays Walled Lake Western, which beat North Farmington 28-3 Friday, in a district final at West Bloomfield this week.
Matthew A. Goricki is a free-lance writer.
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