Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Woods

Blue Devils best Norsemen

By Jon Malavolti
C & G Sports Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Grosse Pointe South senior Eddy Mollison (43) runs away from some Grosse Pointe North defenders during South’s 18-13 win over its rivals Sept. 23 at home. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Grosse Pointe South senior Eddy Mollison (43) runs away from some Grosse Pointe North defenders during South’s 18-13 win over its rivals Sept. 23 at home. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Grosse Pointe North juniors Chris Hamilton and Taiwan Wiggins (9) tackle Grosse Pointe South senior Kevin Reck while a teammate looks on. Reck caught a touchdown pass during the game to help the Blue Devils beat the Norsemen for the second consecutive year. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Grosse Pointe North juniors Chris Hamilton and Taiwan Wiggins (9) tackle Grosse Pointe South senior Kevin Reck while a teammate looks on. Reck caught a touchdown pass during the game to help the Blue Devils beat the Norsemen for the second consecutive year.   Grosse Pointe North vs. South football

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — Grosse Pointe South defeated Grosse Pointe North 18-13 Sept. 23 at home in another classic edition in the rivalry series.

South controlled much of the game in the first half, taking a 12-0 lead into halftime. But North fought back after the break, scoring 13 unanswered points to take the lead in the fourth quarter.

The Blue Devils wouldn’t be denied though, scoring a late touchdown and snagging an interception to seal the victory.

Now the Blue Devils are hoping to ride the momentum earned from beating their rivals as they head out on the road searching for more success this season, while the Norsemen look to rebound and keep their dreams of a division title and a playoff berth alive.

South hits the road
The Blue Devils’ second consecutive win against North gave them a 4-1 record overall. The team will face plenty of tests as it heads down the stretch of a tough schedule, including three division games and a challenging crossover.

To make matters more menacing, South plays three of its final four games far away from home, with road trips lined up at Anchor Bay (Sept. 30), Port Huron High (Oct. 7) and Marine City High (Oct. 21). The lone remaining home game is Oct. 14 against Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse. All four contests are slated to start at 7 p.m.

Port Huron and South sit tied atop the Macomb Area Conference Blue Division standings at 2-0, while Anchor Bay is 1-1 and L’Anse Creuse is 0-2. Marine City, meanwhile, leads the MAC Gold at 2-0, and like Port Huron, is 5-0 overall.

“The rest of the season for us is ‘road warriors,’” South coach Tim Brandon said.

The coach said the win over North was a nice way to rebound following the Blue Devils’ first setback of the season, a 27-12 Sept. 16 setback against Macomb Dakota.

“That’s what good football teams do,” Brandon said. “We played Dakota hard. We rebounded, we worked hard and we earned this win.”

He said the rivalry win “gets us back on track.”

“We really did want to beat Dakota, so it was a disappointment,” Brandon said. “Momentum-wise, it’s huge.”

While the Blue Devils may have picked up some momentum, they still aren’t running as smoothly as their coach would like.

“This is the second time in a row that we’ve taken a lead into halftime and kind of gave that lead up,” Brandon said. “(We need to be) coming out of the half playing a better, tougher, more solid third quarter.”

North knows what’s next
North, which dropped to 2-3 overall, has two road and two home games up next.

The Norsemen visit Dakota Sept. 30 and Roseville High Oct. 15, and they host Macomb L’Anse Creuse North Oct. 7 and Utica Stevenson Oct. 21. The Roseville game is at 1 p.m. on a Saturday, and the remaining three are 7 p.m. Friday night starts.

North is tied for second place at 2-1 in the MAC White along with Roseville and Utica Ford II. Cousino sits atop the division at 3-0, while L’Anse Creuse North and Utica High are both 0-3. Dakota and Stevenson play in the MAC Red, where Dakota is 3-0 and Stevenson is 0-3.

“We’ve got to just get ready for Dakota next week; we have our hands full there,” North coach Frank Sumbera said after the loss to South.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jon Malavolti at jmalavolti@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1040.