Amazon Prep Kickoff Classic | August 25, 2017 | 17:54
Almont and Grosse Ile made its Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic debut Friday afternoon at Wayne State and the Raiders literally ran away with a season opening victory.
Using a powerful run game, the Raiders (1-0) threw multiple running backs at the Red Devils and passed just twice in a 34-6 victory.
Jace Rinke, Jack Paupert, Logan Kosinski and Garrett Ruhala formed a potent running back tandem for the winners, who also got three rushing touchdowns from quarterback Clay Schapman.
"When our star split end (Colby Schapman) went out in the first quarter it really put a damper on what we were able to do,'' said Coach James Leusby. "We had to put it on the ground and go. Colby is Clay's younger brother.
"We have a three-headed monster. We can hand it off to all of them and they know what they are doing, and they run hard. I thought it was crisp on both sides. In the past our defense has always come up big for us, and our defensive coordinator does a great job, and had them in the right spots.''
Kosinski led the rushing attack with 120 yards on 13 carries while Rinke chipped in 88 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns.
Both teams were coming off playoff berths with the Raiders losing to Algonac in the Division 5 district final while the Red Devils lost to Adrian in the Division 4 pre-districts against Adrian.
Grosse Ile, which won the Huron League for the first time in 30 years (tied with Milan) fell to 0-1.
After marching from its own 31 to the Almont 24, Grosse Ile's opening drive stalled after 14 plays.
The Raiders, with a sophomore and junior dominated team, put their running game into gear against the Red Devils, marching 76 yards and taking a 7-0 lead on a 16-yard touchdown run by Rinke with 4:12 left in the first quarter.
The touchdown lead didn't last long as Luke Harwood took the ensuing kickoff 69-yards for a score with 4:01 left in the first. The Red Devils missed the extra point to trail, 7-6.
The Almont offense continued to pound the ball with its big offensive line and assortment of running backs against Grosse Ile's defense.
Schapman decided to get in on the fun, scoring from six-yards out with 8:30 remaining in the first half to give the Raiders a 14-6 led.
Schapman trying to avoid a rush, scored his second TD of the game on a 17-yard scamper with 43.7 left in the first half to give Almont a 21-6 lead.
With time running out Ruhala intercepted a Zak Thompson pass and returned it to the Grosse Ile 3 with 28.3 seconds left.
Two plays later Schapman scored his third TD of the half on a one-yard keeper to give the Raiders a 27-6 halftime lead.
By halftime at least five Almont running backs had at least 29 yards rushing with Rinke and Kosinski leading the way with 41 yards each.
Thompson was intercepted in the end zone to start the second half by Ethan Hall, who brought the ball out to the 19 to start the Raiders' first drive of the second half.
Almont drove 81 yards, getting a two-yard TD run by Rinke to make it 34-6.
