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Esky falls again to GRCC

Mark Johnson | Daily Press Escanaba’s wide receiver Jared Nash secures the ball Saturday against Grand Rapids Catholic Central on a nine yard touchdown pass from Craig Kamin. GRCC defensive back is Nate Trudeau (23). GRCC won 35-6.

GRAND RAPIDS – Joe Collins passed for 296 yards and four touchdowns here Saturday, leading Grand Rapids Catholic Central to the Division 4, Region 1 championship with a 35-6 win over Escanaba.

Collins completed 17-of-21 passes and the Cougars registered 444 yards of total offense, beating the Eskymos for the third straight year in the MHSAA playoffs.

“He (Collins) was locked in today and had a great game,” said GRCC coach Todd Kolster.

“Our receivers did a great job catching the ball and our offensive line did a good job with protection. We made some big plays.”

Following three first downs, Escanaba’s third drive of the first quarter stalled on downs at the GRCC 29.

Four plays later, Collins connected with Jace Williams on a 19-yard scoring strike and a 7-0 lead with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.

Collins’ 33-yard pass to Nate Trudeau set up the first Cougar score.

In the second quarter, GRCC stopped the Escanaba offense on its first two possessions and Collins continued his aerial display.

Two more Collins’ touchdown passes, 13 yards to Trudeau and 28 yards to Williams, put the Cougars up 21-0 at half-time.

Escanaba’s best offensive drive of the first half was down to the GRCC one yard line in the final minute. But n EHS penalty put the ball back to the seven and two incompletions in the end zone ended the scoring threat.

GRCC’s defense was keying on Esky quarterback Craig Kamin and the GNC and U.P. Player of the Year earned each of his 33 rushing yards on 10 carries in the first half.

He was sacked twice by the Cougars and avoided other losses with his scrambling.

Kamin also threw for 104 yards in the half and his top targets were Christer Carne with four catches for 47 yards and Josh Bruntjens with three for 44 yards.

Collins was on fire, hitting 13-14 passes for 244 yards and three scores in the first half to lead the Cougars.

GRCC scored two third quarter touchdowns to extend its lead to 35-0.

Escanaba scored its points on a nine-yard touchdown slant pass from Kamin to Jared Nash in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore receiver Bryant Maki had a 42-yard catch and run reception on the scoring drive, fumbling out of bounds on the play.

Kamin was 17-37 passing for 235 yards in his final game wearing orange and black.

Escanaba coach Dave Howes said his team may be losing for the third consecutive time to the eventual Division 4 state champions.

“Third year in a row, we run into Grand Rapids Catholic Central and they are a heckavu team and program,” said Howes.

“They are bigger, stronger and faster and our kids fought hard and some things didn’t go our way. The whole game the effort was there, our heart was there.

“We ran into a better team. Each year they have special players and hopefully they win the state title again. It makes it easier, knowing we are losing to the state champion.”

GRCC (11-1) next plays in the state semifinals against Chelsea, and Kolster is optimistic about his Cougars winning another championship.

“It was great to send off our seniors winning the regional championship in our stadium,” he said.

“I feel good for our kids and we look forward to the next round and continuing to improve all parts of our game.”

Kolster said last year’s team relied on a 3,000 yard rusher and had to replace eight offensive starters, including three players who signed with Vanderbilt, Michigan and Northwood University off last year’s state title team.

“Our offense has really grown and we can now throw it and run it and are more balanced this season.” Kolster said.

Escanaba (9-3) had its seven-game winning streak snapped by the Cougars, and 24 seniors played their final game for the Eskymos. (see story on the EHS seniors).

Scoring by quarter:

Esc – 0 0 0 6 – 6

GRCC – 7 14 14 0 – 35

First quarter:

GRCC – Collins 19-yard pass to Williams (Brandy Lopez kick) 0:49

Second quarter:

GRCC – Collins 13-yard pass to Trudeau (Lopez kick) 7:01

GRCC – Collins 28-yard pass to Williams (Lopez kick) 4:00

Third quarter:

GRCC – Collins 17-yard pass to Malachi Love (Lopez kick) 4:50

GRCC – Nick Hollern one-yard run (Lopez kick) 0.9

Fourth quarter:

E – Kamin nine-yard pass to Nash (kick missed) 6:41

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