General | August 26, 2021 | 23:53

Chippewa Valley senior running back Cephus Harris III has twin brothers, Miles and Myron, who play for Wayne State.

Thursday night they got a chance to see little brother first-hand and he didn't disappoint.

Division 1 powers Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (1-0) clashed at the Xenith Prep Kickoff Classic Thursday at WSU.

As a pass catcher, runner and receiver the 5-foot-9, 195-pound Harris dominated the Shamrocks with two touchdown catches in the first half and a 68-yard kickoff return to set up a score as the Big Reds prevailed 45-20. He finished with four TDs.

As a player or coach Scott Merchant had never beaten CC (0-1).

Harris rushed for 113 yards, had 142 yards in catches and another 88 yards in kick returns to gain the attention he so desired.

"I think I have been overlooked,'' said Harris. "I wanted to show people what I can do. We were on the same page, and we are on a mission this year. We have a lot to prove. Last year people thought we were bad and were going to be bad this year. We want to prove them wrong. It was an outstanding team win overall. If I didn't score, I could care less as long as we do well as a team, I'm good.''

CV might not be the fastest team in the state, but it's in the conversation.

Chippewa Valley struck early when Harris took a screen pass from senior quarterback Ryan Schuster, who is in a long line of Schuster quarterbacks, 69 yards for a score with six minutes, 48 seconds left in the first quarter to make it 7-0.

"Ryan's really smart,'' said Merchant. "He computes things and doesn't make the same mistake twice. He had one at the end that he'd like to have back, but he won't make that mistake again.

"Cephus is our leader. He's a captain and he performed the way we expected him to.''

Schuster completed 11 of 14 passes for 244 yards.

CC struck back when quarterback Declan Byle, under a heavy rush, got off a bomb to Raid Zerki for a 47-yard TD pass with 4:41 left to tie the game at 7-7.

Speedster Shamar Heard got it right back with an 88-yard kickoff return to give the Big Reds a 14-7 lead.

Heard used his summer to win the AAU in the 100-and 200-meter dash in Texas in his age group.

"I keep telling people he's good,'' said Merchant. "He's not a fast guy playing football. He's a football player. He hurt his neck, but we think he's going to be alright.''

 Harris struck again with 7:19 left in the first half with a 26-yard burst through the Shamrock defense for a 21-7 lead.

After Byle completed his first six passes, the CV defense stiffened and put pressure on the senior quarterback.

"We gave up some plays we are going to have to clean up, but I think we were better in the second half,'' said Merchant. 

Byle finally found enough time in the pocket and delivered a strike to Owen Semp from 59-yards with 6:17 left in the first half to get CC to within 21-14. He had already racked up 156 yards in the air against the Big Reds defense.

 Chippewa Valley responded with a 41-yard field goal by Tarik Ahmetbasic to pull ahead 24-14.

With less than a minute left in the first half Harris took a Schuster pass and scooted 68 yards with 34 seconds left to give the winners a 31-14 halftime lead.

Harris picked up where he left off in the first half, taking a handoff 60-yards with 10:55 left in the third for a 38-14 lead, putting him well over 300 yards in total offense.

CC got one back when running back Spencer Lyons scored on an eight-yard run to get the Shamrocks to within 38-20.

Darren Hawkins fourth down run with 10:23 left gave the Big Reds a 45-20 lead.