Glen Lake (9-1) is moving onto the next round of the playoffs with a 38-14 win over Mancelona Friday.
Glen Lake will host Beal City (8-2) in the Div. 8 district final Friday at 7 p.m.
This was the second week in a row that the Lakers faced, and defeated Mancelona, 38-14. The previous week, Glen Lake won, 30-0.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Lakers exploded for three touchdowns to go into halftime 24-0.
“(Mancelona) gave us everything they had and threw everything at us. I think they came out pretty fired up and played pretty good …We had to adjust,” Glen Lake senior quarterback and running back Benji Allen said.
Allen had a slick 17-yard touchdown run to get the scoring going, and Boden Fisher caught a 14-yard pass from Allen to stretch the lead, while Ben Diotte caught a 25-yard touchdown from Keaton LaCross to go into halftime 24-0.
“We just stick to what we did with the run game, and then we added things in the passing game too,” LaCross said.
Each touchdown was converted by a two-point conversion to take a four score lead.
Mancelona would respond first in the third quarter, before Allen scored another 7-yard touchdown run (Noah Scott 2-point conversion), and Sam Dykstra put the cherry on top to go up 38-8.
“We had to adjust. But once we did it, we were rolling with it,” Dykstra said.
Mancelona would score one more touchdown before ending their season.
LaCross led the Lakers through the air with 93 yards, one touchdown, and Allen had another touchdown pass as well.
Dykstra led the ground attack with 93 yards; Diotte had 60; Allen 59; Sheenhan 25; Middleton 20 for a team total of 356 yard (249 rushing, 107 passing) .
The Lakers had 19 first downs and committed two turnover in the first quarter. Glen Lake also had nine penalties for 157 yards.
The Lakers also were dominant through the air. Fisher had 37 yards; Daniels 26 yards; Diotte 25 yards; Noah Scott 10 yards.
Glen Lake sophomore Dominic Stein led the defense with six tackles.
“It feels really good when we’re on track as a team locking down and stopping plays,” Stein said. “When we’re mentally strong, we play really good together.”
Allen also contributed 5 tackles, 1 sack; Peplinski 4 tackles; Dykstra 4 tackles; Fisher 4 tackles; Verschaeve 3 tackles; Plamondon 3 tackles; Sheehan 2 tackles; Daniels 2 tackles; Roush 2 tackles; Gallagher 2 tackles; Nerg 2 tackles; Seymour 2 tackle.
Fisher made a difference in special teams with five returns for 246 total yards with a 60-yard average.
Mancelona had 180 rushing yards and 61 passing yards.
The win resulted in a showdown against Beal City Friday after they dominated Frankfort in a 47-0 win.
“I think the run game will set us up. If we play physical and run the ball and rush hard, I think it’ll open up new ways for us to score,” Allen said.
Beal City was up 34-0 at half with a balanced passing and rushing attack. Glen Lake defeated Frankfort 50-7 in the third week of the season. McBain and Reed City each defeated Beal City earlier in the season, and represent their only close games of the season.
“I’ve been in Michigan for four years and I’ve heard about Beal City as one of those established programs ... They are seasoned and they know how to play playoff football. It’s going to be a big challenge for us Friday night,” Glen Lake Jesse Smith said. “Only one team can continue next week. We’ve been letting the guys know that, we gotta stick to the game plan.”
Glen Lake lost to Reed City 28-14 in the fifth week of the season. Reed City defeated Manistee 41-20 in their first round playoff contest Friday.
Beal City is currently ranked No. 4 and Glen Lake No. 8, according to the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.
The winner will battle Iron Mountain or East Jordan in the regional final.
“It’s playoff football ... We gotta keep getting four yards and they’ll add up and everything else will take care of itself,” Smith said.
