11/12/2006

Prep Football

Miesch powers Sacred Heart to win

Miesch keys 2nd win over Frankfort, 22-20

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

MOUNT PLEASANT — With the game on the line, the ball seemed to find its way into Matt Miesch's hands.

And misfortune seemed to find its way to the Frankfort Panthers — again.

Moments after catching a 12-yard pass on third down to keep the chains moving, Miesch hauled in a 45-yard touchdown pass with 3:05 remaining to give Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart the lead in Saturday's Division 8 regional football title game at Central Michigan University.

Then the 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to dash Frankfort's comeback hopes, and the Irish held on for a 22-20 win.

"That was probably the best moment of my life," an elated Meisch said afterward. "I didn't know how to act in the end zone.

"(Quarterback Chad Lilly) threw a perfect ball and I tight-roped down the sideline," he said. "It was a post corner (route). We ran it in practice, and we thought we'd try it once in the game.

"It worked out really well."

It did for Sacred Heart, at least.

"That's twice. Maybe it's the luck of the Irish," said Frankfort coach Matt Stapleton, whose team lost a 14-10 decision to Sacred Heart in week No. 2 after turning the ball over four times and being called for 13 penalties. "Sacred Heart played a good game. They responded when they had to.

"We just felt they couldn't stop us — that we could only stop ourselves," Stapleton said. "Unfortunately, the things that hurt us early in the season — turnovers and penalties — hurt us again today."

Statistically, the game was nearly as close as the score. Frankfort (7-5) finished with 288 total yards and 13 first downs, while Sacred Heart (10-2) had 250 yards and 13 first downs.

The turnovers were one-sided, however. The Panthers were intercepted twice and fumbled twice, while the Irish were mistake-free.

"We knew it was going to be a down-to-the-wire game," said Frankfort senior running back Cory Lietaert, who rushed for 197 yards on 32 carries. "We felt we dominated the line of scrimmage, but mistakes hurt us.

"Mistakes killed us last time and they killed us again."

The Irish, who have won four of the five games they've played against the Panthers since 1998, aren't concerned about style points, however. They'd rather talk about the bottom line.

"It doesn't get any better than this," said Sacred Heart coach Rick Roberts, whose team will take on the Central Lake/Crystal Falls Forest Park winner in the semifinals next Saturday. "How many teams can say they beat Frankfort twice in one season? Nobody else. But Sacred Heart can say that."

The back-and-forth showdown started in Sacred Heart's favor, as the Irish took the opening kickoff and marched 63 yards on 15 plays, taking a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown by Lilly on a quarterback keeper. Chris Clay kicked the extra point.

Frankfort answered early in the second quarter, thanks to a short punt and a solid return by Scott Demerly, who gave the Panthers the ball at the Sacred Heart 17. Five plays later, quarterback Wade Luxford scored on a 1-yard keeper.

Frankfort was stopped on a two-point conversion attempt, however, and the score remained 7-6.

The Panthers took their first lead two plays after receiving the second-half kickoff. Lietaert scampered 58 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown and Demerly ran in the conversion to give Frankfort a 14-7 advantage.

The Irish came right back on their next series, covering 68 yards on nine plays. Chris Fitzpatrick's 4-yard TD run pulled Sacred Heart within a point, then the Irish regained the lead 15-14 when Fitzpatrick caught the 2-point conversion on a fake extr-point kick.

The lead would change hands two more times.

Frankfort ate seven minutes off the clock with a 16-play, 49-yard drive that culminated in Max Banktson's 4-yard touchdown run off left tackle and gave the Panthers the lead with 4:48 remaining.

Their two-point conversion was unsuccessful again, and that would prove costly as destiny found Sacred Heart's Miesch.

Following the kickoff, Lilly completed a 12-yard pass to Miesch on third-and-10 at the Irish 32. Then Miesch ran 12 yards for another first down.

Two plays later, he caught the game-winning pass from Lilly.

"That's just a 12-yard out, and they turned it into a touchdown," Stapleton said. "It's disappointing. Any time you lose a game you think you should have won, it's disappointing."

Said Roberts: "A great throw, a tremendous catch. Actually, Frankfort had it covered very well. It was just a great play by Matt."

The Panthers were confident that they could score again in the final three minutes. But a fumbled kickoff and Miesch's recovery changed that.

"I said this week that 21 points would win this game," Roberts said. "I lied a little. It was 22."