FeedsVikings thwart Foley, 33-13
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Inkster’s defense contained visiting Bishop Foley’s offense to win its second straight district championship on Saturday. Above, the defense gangs up on Foley’s quaterback, Christopher Singoga.The French may have settled in Michigan first but it’s the Vikings that are conquering the state in 2006.
The Inkster Vikings defeated Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 32-13, at home on Saturday to capture the Division 6 district football crown and to send them in to the regional finale against Olivet at 1 p.m. at home on Saturday.
Inkster struggled early against the Ventures on Saturday but Head Coach Greg Carter and crew found Foley’s weakness and turned things around in the second half for the victory.
The contest was a hard-nosed, tough-yardage plight for both teams reminding Carter of his days coaching in the catholic league.
“With how physical the game was and how well prepared the other team was really takes me back and reminds me of the old days,” he said. “I don’t think we played necessarily well, but that was because of Bishop Foley. They are a good team and took a lot of things away from us. They were real physical and did a lot of stunting and penetrating. Our kids had to hang in there until we found something that worked and that wasn’t until the second half.”
Bishop Foley Coach Paul Stanton mixed up his defense in an attempt to stump Inkster’s high-powered offense.
“After watching (Inkster play) Clawson we were worried about a lot of things, because they do so many things well,” he said. “They run the ball and they pass the ball. So we just basically tried an umbrella and force them to throw underneath and if that didn’t work we were going to send two linebackers, our outside linebackers, and that’s basically what we did all day. There were times it worked fairly well and times where it didn’t.”
The strategy worked the first half. The Ventures remained close, 12-7, at the half.
Senior running back Tim Hogue opened the scoring with a four-yard rushing touchdown. The play capped off the Vikings’ 11-play second possession with seven seconds left in the first quarter.
Then junior quarterback Aaron Shavers hit junior wide out Derrick Coker for a 27 yards score, making it a 12-0 game.
Bishop Foley answered with a 10-play scoring drive, ending with a 18-yard touchdown pass from Christopher Sinagoga to Clifton Powell. Paul Spann hit the point-after to make it 12-7 with 15 seconds left in the half.
The second half was another story.
On the Ventures’ opening possession, a tipped pass landed in the hands of Inkster junior safety Josh Howard.
Hogue busted loose for a 21-yard run to Foley’s 19. Coker gained 12 on a reverse to the 4. Then, three plays later, senior Anre’ Goree plunged in from the one. Shavers threw a strike to Coker for the two-point conversion, making it a 20-7 ball game.
“Any defensive stop we get is key because they have a good offense and a great receiver and have good strong backs,” Carter said of the key turnover. “They’re a good team and well-coached so any time you get a turnover against a team like that to stop the momentum is what we’re looking for.”
Inkster capitalized on its next possession, too, after Goree intercepted another Foley pass.
On second-and-four Shavers avoided tacklers in the backfield and scampered 18 yards for a score with 3:19 left in the third.
“Any game that we have lost has been because of turnovers and mistakes,” Stanton said. “That’s been our Achilles’ heel all year. Against a good team like this you can’t do that. They just have too much firepower and if you make a mistake they make you pay for it.”
Bishop Foley got things going mistake-free on their next drive, though. Sinagoga converted on a fourth-and seven play with a 20-yard toss to John Harris nine seconds into the fourth frame. The two point conversion failed to make it, 26-13.
Hogue capped off the scoring with a one-yard push at about the 8:00 mark of the fourth. He finished with 136 yards on 22 carries. Shavers was 7-of-13 for 149 yards. Coker caught four balls for 88 yards.
“I’m really impressed with their team,” Carter said. “I don’t know what class they are but I hope some of them graduate if we’re the same class.”
This is Vikings’ second straight district championship in Carter’s two years as head coach.
“It feels good,” he said. “We want to take it a few steps further. We didn’t really play to the best of our ability last year in the regional final. We want another chance at it.”
