09/30/2006

Titans king Arthur Hill, 47-12

TC West keeps playoff hopes alive

By MARK URBAN

murban@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
Traverse City West senior Gordie Rozga is tackled by several Saginaw Arthur Hill defenders including line backer Demetrius Houston (no. 52) during Friday night's game at Thirlby Field.

For more photos from this game, view our photo gallery

TRAVERSE CITY — Three down, three up, three to go.

Traverse City West — which opened the football season with three straight losses to put its playoff life in peril — won its third straight game on Friday night, rolling to a 47-12 victory over Saginaw Arthur Hill at Thirlby Field.

Of course, knowing that the next loss will likely knock the Titans out of the playoffs is an excellent motivator.

"I think that's a good thing," said West senior fullback Gordie Rozga, who rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns. "We play with all our heart because there's no room for error. Every week's a playoff week — we have to play hard."

TC West coach Matt Prisk said that was the message to his team all week and was emphasized again prior to heading over to Harry T. Running Stadium.

"That was our theme coming out of the school," he said. "We're still backed into a corner. You look over your right shoulder, there's a corner. You look over your left shoulder, there's still a corner.

"You don't have any room for error. We have to play intense like this every week."

This was certainly one of those weeks. In fact, the only thing that could stop the Titans was themselves.

TC West had 10 possessions against the Lumberjacks (1-5). The Titans scored seven touchdowns and lost three fumbles, two inside the Arthur Hill 5-yard-line, on a damp night of football.

"But still we can't fumble it away like that," Prisk said.

When West held on to the ball, the Titans' ground game was nearly unstoppable. West ran for 440 yards in the contest and Rozga had 156 yards on 21 carries before halftime, a lot of it on dives and traps up the middle.

"I owe it all to my lineman, that's it," Rozga said. "The holes were there, I just had to run through them. I'm just a stupid running back who found a hole."

"We felt going in that we could run the ball," Prisk added. "We got Gordie Rozga back without a cast on his hand, so we felt more comfortable going with him."

TC West opened the game with a successful onsides kick that Will Conklin recovered at the Arthur Hill 47-yard line.

After three runs by Rozga, quarterback T.J. Morris kept the ball on the option, broke outside left and raced 26 yards for a quick 6-0 lead just 1:36 into the contest.

The Titans fumbled the ball away at the goal line on its next possession and at its own 41-yard line on the third. Arthur Hill made the Titans pay on the second turnover on a 41-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Cooper.

But the Titans closed out the first half with three touchdown runs by Rozga from 5, 11 and 1 yard away. Rozga also ran in a two-point conversion as the lead was 26-6 at the break, where Mollie Montgomery and football manager Justin Rutter were named homecoming king and queen.

The Titans made it 33-6 on their first possession of the second half. After failing to hit tight end Eric Wehr on second-and-13, Morris came right back to him on third down for a 24-yard touchdown pass — the third and final time the Titans went to the air. Conklin kicked the extra point.

West fumbled on fourth-and-1 at the Arthur Hill 6-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter and defensive lineman Chadrick Gallaway rumbled to the Titans' 35-yard line. That eventually led to a 1-yard quarterback sneak by James King, who was stopped the first two times from the same distance.

While Arthur Hill was done getting on the scoreboard, the Titans weren't.

Zack Wilson scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 4:09 remaining and Dustin Shales broke away for a 40-yard scoring scamper with 20.7 seconds left. Conklin kicked both extra points.

"Things are starting to click a little better," Prisk said.

In addition to Rozga's big game on the ground, Shales finished with 81 yards on five carries while Morris added 75 on 10 tries.

"We had a lot of injuries, but that's no excuse," Arthur Hill coach Fred Townsend said. "They were just a lot stronger up front than we were. The bottom line is the game of football is played in the trenches and we didn't play in the trenches."

While TC West had little trouble running the football, the Lumberjacks weren't as fortunate.

Arthur Hill ran for just 39 yards against the Titans. The Lumberjacks passed for 168, but were intercepted by Seth Ankerson and Conklin.

TC West returns to Big North Conference action next week. The Titans' final three games are all on the road, at Petoskey, Alpena and TC Central.

"We played with a lot of heart," Prisk said. "We knew this was the last time we'd wear our green jerseys on this field and that means a lot for these kids."