Pewamo-Westphalia celebrates a fourth quarter touchdown, sealing P-W’s 30-0 win over Detroit Loyola, November 21, 2015, during the Division 7 semifinal at Fenton High School.
FENTON – On a run to the MHSAA record books on Saturday, Pewamo-Westphalia junior running back Jared Smith went dashing through the snow as his offensive line paved the way to a huge upset.
The conditions will be better where the Pirates are headed – Ford Field indoors in Detroit for next week’s state title game after a shocking 30-0 rout of Detroit Loyola in the Division 7 semifinals.
“They knocked us out (last year) and we had a second chance,” Smith said. “We wanted to come out right from the beginning and hit them hard and it worked.”
P-W (13-0) will face Ishpeming (12-0) for the championship at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The Pirates ran Smith via direct snap out of the Wildcat formation all but one play in the first half.
He accounted for all 45 yards on P-W’s scoring drive in the first quarter and ran in the two-point try to give the Pirates an early 8-0 lead.
“We’ve been working on it all week. We saw on film what they do and we liked it and thought we have a pretty good player who can do that too,” P-W coach Jeremy Miller said of the formation. “That was something we put in this week and with the weather conditions we just decided to cut out the middle man and go right to Jared.”
Loyola had averaged 58 points per game in three prior playoff contests and came in averaging more than 320 yards per game on the ground, but the harsh elements combined with a stingy P-W defense proved problematic.
“We really tried to control the line and the ends,” P-W senior linebacker Nate Jandernoa said. “We definitely stressed the physicality. That’s what (Coach Miller) said the word was for the day – physicality.”
The Pirates were set up again in plus territory in the second quarter after recovering a punt that hit off the leg of a Loyola blocker.
Smith surpassed the MHSAA state record for rushing yards in a season by a player on the drive, but the Pirates failed to come away with points.
They did later in the half with another Smith run – one that put him at exactly 3,000 yards for the season. He became the first high school football player in state history to reach that milestone.
“It’s awesome breaking two state records. I never thought I’d accomplish this, but our team has played so well,” Smith said.
“Both teams came to play. They just played a little bit harder,” Loyola coach John Callahan said. “When you have a running back like Jared, it gives you a lot of options and we couldn’t even slow him down.”
Smith opened the second half with a 60-yard run to further his mark and P-W pulled away to avenge a 20-point loss to Loyola in last year’s semifinals.
P-W has outscored its last two playoff opponents 70-3 heading into the state championship game.
“You can’t settle for that,” Jandernoa said. “You’ve got to get that ring.”
Jimmy Lehman and Bryce Thelen added TD runs in the second half, with Thelen’s coming from 51 yards out for the final score.