Late drama made Division 3 title game true heart-stopper

BY MICK MCCABE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

It is amazing the number of things that can run through your mind in a split second.

East Grand Rapids and Orchard Lake St. Mary's hooked up in another Division 3 state championship game at Ford Field on Saturday night, and although this one didn't go five overtimes like the 2007 meeting, there was plenty of drama.

The first half ended with St. Mary's quarterback Robert Bolden being stopped when he tried to score from the 1-yard line.

"Our D-line got a good push," said East linebacker Joshua Laarman, "so I just went over the top."

St. Mary's, which lost the 2007 game to East and then lost the season-opening games to East in '08 and '09, had a 21-17 lead when East took possession at its 13-yard line with 4:01 left to play.

Kirk Spencer gained 38 yards on the first play, but soon East faced fourth-and-14 at its 47.

Quarterback Ryan Elble dropped back and threw to 6-foot-7 Colin Voss, who leaped but the ball bounded off his fingertips.

"It was so long, it seemed like it was up there forever," Elble said of the deflection. "It was up there and I said: 'Come on, somebody catch it.' My heart basically stopped."

Voss, who signed to play basketball at Central Michigan, thought his football career had ended.

"I don't even know what happened, I got knocked down," Voss said. "For a second, I thought it was over."

Standing a few yards away was Spencer.

"I was thinking just get to the ball as fast as you can and make the catch," he said. "I knew it wasn't an incompletion because it hadn't hit the ground yet. I knew I had a chance to get to the ball."

Then a diving Spencer entered the picture.

"Voss made a great tip drill," Spencer said. "He extended the play even longer when they were both on him in double coverage. I dove for the ball. Everything seemed to so slow down. I seemed to like wait for it. All I remember is when I picked up the ball everybody was screaming."

But did he catch the ball or did he trap it?

"I know I caught the ball," Spencer insisted. "I know I got both hands under the ball, that's why I got up so happy about it."

That put the ball at St. Mary's 26-yard line, and four plays later Elbe passed 15-yards to Deon Jobe to make it 24-21 with 1:14 remaining.

But it wasn't quite over until we had heard from Laarman and Spencer one more time.

Bolden completed two passes to get to East's 44 when he took off running. Earlier he scored on a breathtaking 83-yard keeper.

The first thing Laarman thought of when he saw Bolden take off was: Here we go again.

"He broke out of the pocket and I knew I had to tackle him because he's a big, strong, fast kid," Laarman said. "I tried to get him around the legs and I guess my head caused the fumble. I didn't know it was a fumble until the defense started pointing the ball our way."

They began pointing toward East after Spencer came up with the ball.

"I saw the ball fly out and it was my only chance to get the ball, so I leaped with all I had and dove and was able to come up with the ball," Spencer said. "I got up and started running so they could see I had the ball."

Spencer had the ball and East had its fourth consecutive state championship.

But East coach Peter Stuursma felt his heart leap to his throat when he saw Bolden take off running on St. Mary's final play.

"He is scary fast, scary good," Stuursma said. "You know, that young man, after our first game, he and his dad stopped into our coaches office and said: 'Congratulation, you guys have a nice program.' To me, that says a lot about the young man. He's going to go to Penn State and be very successful."

Stuursma is going nowhere and he is wildly successful. In 10 seasons he has led East to six state championships and a 115-13 record. East's streak of four straight is topped only by Farmington Hills Harrison, which won five consecutive in 1997-2001.

Like everyone else in Ford Field, Stuursma thought that the streak was over when the ball bounced off Voss' fingertips.

"Certainly, you think that way for a second, but then we had the magic to make the play," he said, shaking his head. "Our kids find a way to make a play. There's some luck involved in that, there's some skill, but then there's some -- hey, they didn't feel like losing that day. All of that combines."

Another combination left Stuursma teary eyed on the field after the game. It was the way in which his players performed under pressure with the realization that he will never coach the seniors again.

"It's the fun things about high school sports," he said, "but it's hard because these kids tug at your heartstrings so much."

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