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Sunday, November 13, 2005
Division 2 football: Birmingham Brother Rice 17, Orchard Lake St. Mary's 8
Third time the charm: Rice wins
Goebel's 157 yards and a touchdown are enough to beat St. Mary's for first time this year.
By Tom Markowski / The Detroit News
Morris Richardson II / The Detroit News  |
WEST BLOOMFIELD -- The third meeting between Birmingham Brother Rice and top-ranked Orchard Lake St. Mary's wasn't anything like the first two. This time, Brother Rice made the big plays and St. Mary's was left searching for offense.
John Goebel rushed for 157 yards and got what proved to be the winning touchdown, leading Brother Rice (10-2) to a 17-8 victory over St. Mary's (11-1) in a Division 2 region final Saturday at West Bloomfield.
Brother Rice, ranked No. 9, will play No. 4 Rochester Adams (12-0) next Saturday in a noon semifinal at Berkley High. Adams defeated Brother Rice in the 2003 Division 2 final.
St. Mary's won the first two games between these Catholic League rivals, 24-21 and 20-7, the latter in the league championship game at Ford Field.
Quarterback Justin Siller, who led the Eaglets to those two victories, missed his second straight game after suffering a fracture in his right index finger. With Nick Koenigsknecht is his place, Brother Rice went with eight players within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage to stop the run and did just that, limiting St. Mary's to 30 yards on 26 carries.
St. Mary's rushing leader Anthony Bowman, who has committed to Iowa, carried six times for nine yards.
"The thing is, we couldn't run the ball," St. Mary's coach George Porritt said. "And they did. They had that signature drive at the end. That's what they do. You try to beat a team three times in a row ... it's tough. I wish them well."
Brother Rice put its trust in the offensive line and Goebel, who carried a career-high 32 times.
"I took offense at them beating us those two times," Goebel said. "I knew the whole week -- coach calls me the workhorse -- I would have to work my tail off today. The offensive line worked together today with passion."
Brother Rice took charge offensively in the second half, driving 73 yards in 11 plays to take a 10-0 lead. Goebel carried seven times for 49 yards, including the final 11.
After a safety, Koenigsknecht threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Rikco Rhoades.
But a would-be two-point conversion pass was batted away by safety Kaunda Hancock.
Joey Henry scored on a 16-yard run with 3:08 left.
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