Bloomfield Hills

Cranes hang on, beat Lutheran Westland 15-14 in season opener

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Stephan Graf walked away knowing there were a lot of things his team could have done better.

The first-game jitters were more than apparent as the Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood football team opened the 2012 season at home against Lutheran Westland.

But, as Graf laughed about after the game, he walked away with the win.

“And that’s all that matters,” the Cranes’ coach said of a 15-14 victory Aug. 24 in which all the scoring came in the first half. “We weren’t perfect, but we could be feeling a whole lot worse than we are right now.”

Cranbrook got on the board right away, recovering a fumble in the opening moments and then cashing in on a 35-yard pass from Jake Hall to Danny Mogill.

Lutheran Westland answered on its ensuing drive, and the two-point conversion put Cranbrook in an 8-7 hole, momentarily, anyway.

The Cranes came right back, and capped a drive of their own on a 1-yard run by Joe Myrick. The two-point conversion turned out to be decisive.

Lutheran Westland added a late score in the second quarter, but failed on the try to tie the game.

Cranbrook’s defense held from there, highlighting the win with a goal-line stand with 6:30 remaining. The offense then moved the chains enough to burn out the clock.

“To run the clock out in that final quarter was real impressive,” Graf said. “We needed that drive, and we got it. And I take a lot of pride in the way the kids played down the stretch.”

Myrick finished the game with 22 carries and 116 yards on the ground to lead Cranbrook (1-0). Mogill had three catches for 102 yards and the score.

Hall completed 6-of-13 passing for 134 yards.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038. Follow Mike on Twitter.