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Brother Rice's Kaunda Hancock dives for a touchdown.St. Mary's hands Brother Rice first loss
Undefeated Eaglets rely on their defense, which forces fourth-quarter fumble to stop Warriors.
ORCHARD LAKE -- One team had to suffer its first loss when No. 1 Birmingham Brother Rice and No. 4 Orchard Lake St. Mary's met Saturday.
St. Mary's needed a big defensive play to secure a 24-21 victory and remain undefeated.
With just over three minutes remaining and St. Mary's leading by a field goal, Brother Rice had a third-and-6 from its 15. St. Mary's senior linebacker Jonathan Misch chased down quarterback Mike Cappetto, forced the ball loose, then recovered the fumble.
"I was just playing at the right time," Misch said of the rare sequence. "The team was doing a great job, the secondary was covering everybody.
"They just gave me a lot of time and I just capitalized on it. I had a little bit of help forcing that fumble by (teammate Alex) Delisi. He came up and smacked that guy pretty hard."
Justin Siller's 48-yard touchdown pass to Taurian Washington gave St. Mary's (8-0, 5-0 Catholic League Central) a 24-14 lead with 9:48 remaining in the third quarter. A little over two minutes later, Brother Rice answered on Joey Henry's 48-yard touchdown run, cutting the Eaglets' lead to 24-21.
The Warriors' defense kept Brother Rice (7-1, 4-1) in the game. Early in the fourth quarter St. Mary's had the ball on the Warriors' 19, but Brother Rice stopped Siller on a fourth-and-1.
The teams meet again next week in the Prep Bowl at Ford Field.
Matthew A. Goricki is a free-lance writer.
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