FeedsInkster beats Romulus in shootout
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Romulus and Inkster battled it out on the gridiron on Friday. Romulus kept it close through three quarters but Inkster pulled ahead with two scores in the fourth quarter for a 52-29 victory.Despite the 52-29 final score, the gridiron Mega crossover match between Inkster and Romulus was a fight to the finish.
The Vikings scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and earned a safety when an Eagles’ punt snap rolled out of the end zone to put the game out of reach for host Romulus on Friday night.
The scoreboard lit up early and often when the two teams hit the ground running. They combined for 711 yards rushing in the contest. Inkster gained the advantage with 366 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior back Tim Hogue finished with 146 yards on 17 carries and three scores—including the final two to put the game away. Anre’ Goree added 115 with three touchdowns and quarterback Aaron Shavers gained 105 on the ground with a score. Shavers also went 6-for-11 for 92 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Romulus was not as successful in finding the end zone, but just as impressive running the ball.
Junior Mario Crawford led all rushers with 219 yards and two touchdowns. He also opened the second half with an 80-yard kickoff return for a score. Shane Wells had 82 yards on the ground with a 75-yard score.
“I didn’t expect for the scoreboard to light up like it did for either side,” said Romulus Coach Matt Ladach. “We knew that they had some tremendous athletes. There’s no question about that. But we felt that athletically we matched up very well with them. Their offensive line pushed us around more than we thought they would and they got after us and started early.”
Inkster jumped ahead with a score on their opening drive. Shavers hit junior receiver Renty Rollins with a 19-yard strike for a touchdown on the fifth play of the game. Inkster forced
the Eagles to punt and scored three plays later when Hogue slipped in from four yards out to make it 13-0 with 7:36 left to
play in the first quarter.
Crawford returned the kickoff 40 yards to Inkster’s 45, followed with a 30-yard run to the 15, galloped 11 yards for a first-and-goal from the four and punched it in on the next play to make it a 13-6 game.
Inkster extended its lead to 20-6 when Goree scored on a seven-yard run and senior J.J. Snelling converted the extra point.
Romulus countered with Crawford’s 34-yard run. Cedrick Smith’s kick was good, making it a seven-point game at the 11:01 mark of the second.
Inkster had an answer for everything, though. Goree scored two more times from five and 11 yards to extend Inkster’s lead to 32-13.
Then Wells broke free for his 75-yarder for Romulus. However, that left enough time for Inkster to put together a final drive for the half. The result was a one-yard plunge by Shavers with 36 seconds left to play. The teams went into the half-time break with the Vikes leading, 38-19.
Romulus made some adjustments at half and went from a 4-3 zone coverage to a 5-3 man-to-man that seemed to help in the third. The defense held Inkster scoreless in that round. The Eagles got back in the game when Crawford made his 80-yard return and Smith nailed a 24-yard field goal to make it a 38-29 game.
Inkster Coach Greg Carter made some adjustments and that was all for Romulus. Inkster got the safety sandwiched by two rushing touchdowns (22, 11) by Hogue.
“Romulus is a good program,” Carter said. “They play hard. They played really good offense; they had a nice little system against us in the first half with a terrific tailback. They do a good job coaching; it’s a good staff. I look forward to a long, tough rivalry in the future.
“We had to make some adjustments at half time,” he added. “(Romulus) made some adjustments on their defensive side. They put a lot of guys in the box and made it difficult for us. Offensively we had to move around a little bit. I think they knew what they were doing and we were kind of stagnant so we had to move off and make some changes and do some things we didn’t have to do before.
Inkster’s 52 points was the most in Carters two years with the Vikings.
“We needed every one of them because that team could score just as fast we could,” he said.
Inkster (7-1) will line up against Grosse Ile at 7 p.m. on Friday before they get ready for the district playoffs next week.
“Hopefully we can continue and be injury free—we’ve been blessed with that so far,” Carter said. “We just have to continue and work hard and get ready. I’m sure in the playoffs, the way it looks, we’re going to have to play some tremendous teams so we have to be as good as we can be.”
Romulus fell to 5-3 for the season.
“Coach Carter did a great job of adjusting to what we were doing and started a chess game,” Ladach said. “And he won.”
Romulus hosts Country Day at 7 p.m. on Friday—a must win if the Eagles are to make the playoffs.
“We have to forget about (the loss),” Ladach said. “I feel our guys can match up with anyone we play. I’m going to challenge the team this week to see how they are going to handle adversity because it is hitting us right now.
“I told the guys that it is reality check time. Look yourself in the mirror when you wake up and see what kind of man you are. If you’re not going to be a man don’t comeback tomorrow.”
