East Grand Rapids wins marathon contest

Tom Markowski / The Detroit News Game Photos

DETROIT -- So the state's west side got a piece of the pie after all. It just took a little longer to bake.

Make that a lot longer.

Orchard Lake St. Mary's and East Grand Rapids played the longest game in state playoff history late Saturday in the Division 3 final at Ford Field. It will simply will go down as one of the most memorable games in state history.

Joe Glendening's 3-yard touchdown run in the fifth overtime gave East Grand Rapids a 46-39 victory over St. Mary's.

East Grand Rapids was the lone representative from the Grand Rapids area and the Lake Michigan shoreline south of Traverse City in the eight state finals.

It's the eighth state title for the Pioneers, the fourth with Peter Stuursma as head coach, and their second straight.

"That had to be a heckuva game to watch," Stuursma said. "It wasn't nerve-racking. We had to make plays. How can you not appreciate how our players played? It's a game where you can't let up for a second. You just saw a bunch of high school kids lay it on the line."

Twice in the overtime periods St. Mary's coach George Porritt called a play that went against conventional wisdom and gave his team a chance to win.

In the fourth overtime Porritt called for a fake on the conversion after Robert Bolden's 1-yard sneak for a touchdown on fourth down gave the Eaglets a 37-31 lead. Kris Morris, the holder and backup quarterback, rolled to his left and passed for Dion Sims for the two points and a 39-31 lead.

In the second overtime, on fourth-and-goal from the 2, St. Mary's coach George Porritt called timeout, disdained the field goal try and called for a quick toss to his tailback Dominique White. The senior ran untouched around left end for a 24-17 lead.

"I thought it was time to make that type of call," Porritt said. "I didn't want to go for the field goal. It was time to score a touchdown. Fatigue was setting in on the kids."

Trailing by eight in the fourth overtime East Grand Rapids also scored its touchdown on fourth down -- Glendening from a yard out. Quarterback Calvin Blair's conversion pass to his brother, Christopher, tied the score at 39. The Blairs also connected on a 13-yard touchdown pass to force a third overtime.

"We didn't get a lot of chances during the regular season to hook up," Christopher Blair said. "It was great to do it in the final. This has to go down as one of the greatest games."

The score was tied at 14 at the end of regulation and each team kicked a field goal in the first overtime. The Pioneers scored first in the overtime and St. Mary's missed a chance to win when Bolden overthrew Jason Semmes on a fade route in the left corner.

Zach Flood caught a 10-yard touchdown pass for East Grand Rapids in the third overtime and St. Mary's scored its touchdown on White's 3-yard run on third down to tie the score at 31.

St. Mary's controlled much of the play in the first half and led 7-0 on White's 15-yard run around right end.

The Pioneers did little offensively in the first half and seemed content to let the clock run out when junior running back Glendening broke a 68-yard run off tackle for a touchdown with 38 seconds left to tie the score at 7 at halftime.

East Grand Rapids took its first lead on its opening drive of the second half. The Pioneers went 55 yards in eight plays, all on the ground. Glendening went the final nine yards untouched for a 14-7 lead with 6:48 left in the third.

With 5:20 left in the third quarter St. Mary's gained its first first down since the first quarter. On third-and-5 from the St. Mary's 25, quarterback Robert Bolden completed a 38-yard pass to Dion Sims. Three plays later Sam Fioroni ran 15 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 14.

Glendening led the Pioneers (13-1) with 175 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries. White rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries for St. Mary's (10-3).

Each team was called for five penalties and there were no turnovers.

"It was a well-played game by both teams," Porritt said. "It's hard to lose a game like this."

By the numbers

61,101: total attendance for the eight championship games at Ford Field.

9: Number of overtime games in MHSAA finals history, including Saturday night's East Grand Rapids-Orchard Lake St. Mary's game.

3:25: The time it took East Grand Rapids and Orchard Lake St. Mary's to play the five-overtime, Division 3 championship game.

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