IT’S SO EASY, BIG REDS!

Posted by bigD | September 28, 2008 .

As I stated at the beginning of Friday Night’s CPHS, Channel 6 broadcast, how talented a team really is can often be told by how well they rebound from difficult losses. Two weeks ago, Port Huron got absolutely spanked by heavily favored Makomb Dakota (49-28) in a game that was 35-7 at one point. On this particular Friday night you wouldn’t know the Big Reds got beat the previous week though. Despite a Fraser Rambler team that was nowhere near as talented, Port Huron came out and still played a B+ game, walking away with a 31-7 victory and keeping both their playoffs and Mac Blue division hopes very much alive. The biggest statement for the Big Reds in this game was the play of their defense. This really says something when you consider that Makomb Dakota had almost 600 yards of total offense the week before. Would that be repeated? I don’t think so, Fraser. Not this time. Not on this night. In fact, the only touchdown that Fraser had was a huge kickoff return for six. The Ramblers didn’t even muster an offensive touchdown and that has to absolutely please Big Red Head Coach, Ryan Mullins after last week’s disaster.

Port Huron got out to a big lead (17-0) as expected and never looked back. Big Red RB - Chris Tatti had yet another stellar evening coming off 12 carries and just 19 yards against Dakota. This game was more like it. Tatti opened the scoring with a 21 yard TD run, but that was just the beginning. After a rare PH safety, Tatti was at it again with a 1 yard TD run and the Big Reds topped it off by completing a 2-point conversion (Galanos to a wide open WR - Mike Johnson). Fraser’s Chris McCall then did something you seldom see at this level – he returned a kickoff 88 yards almost untouched. Alas, that would be the only scoring for Fraser in this one as PH’s BIG Defense took over. This is where the game started to get boring as far as I am concerned. Port Huron has a habit of getting cocky when things are going their way and coming easy and tonight, it was noticeable. The problem is, they don’t play nearly as well as they think they do when they get that way and both offenses stalled for the rest of the first half.

In the 2nd half the Big Reds were at it again though. At the end of every game, I award an offensive and defensive player of the game for both teams. In this game, there would be no doubt who would get it on either side of the football. I gave it to Tatti offensively (obviously) and Big Red LB – Dan Eyrich got it defensively. You talk about an aggressive linebacker. Eyrich played a great game and was rewarded for it with a gift fumble return touchdown. The only thing left at this point was a Chris Tatti highlight and sure enough, we got to see yet another one. Tatti took off for a 66 yard touchdown capping off a great win for the Big Reds. On the evening, Tatti had 31 carries for 218 yards on the ground (PH had 249 total rushing yards). As good a player as Tatti is, much can be said about the lack of tackling on Fraser’s part. You can’t stand around and watch a running back with this much talent simply shred you as the Ramblers did. It wasn’t the best game for Big Red QB – Jordan Galanos but it really didn’t have to be. Jordan was 7 for 18 for 192 but he didn’t turn the ball over and that’s all you can ask for. Big Red WR – Steve Sawyer had another great game for Port Huron. In Durrand Ashford’s absence he has certainly stepped up. Sawyer always seems to be open, running crisp routes and demonstrating great hands. He even made a few dazzling catches on the night. With a healthy Ashford, skies the limit for this offense in the future.

The Big Reds ended up with 441 total yards to just 95 for Fraser in a game where Port Huron was hardly tested at all and at times it was, quite frankly, boring. That being said it was a good stepping stone game for PH to get to the next level among the elite teams in the MAC whether they are MAC BLUE or MAC RED. In my opinion the Big Reds can play a lot better then they did, particularly on offense (despite the 31 points). Fraser just wasn’t enough competition for the Tomahawk Choppers and as a result it was a relatively easy win for a team that doesn’t yet realize how good they really are. Time will tell just how far the Big Reds can go but on this night vs. the Fraser Ramblers, the Big Reds played at a level of about 70% of what they really can do, and it was more then enough. The Big Reds are now 4-1 after 5 games and I don’t see that record falling off anytime soon. Expect an 8-1 or 7-2 final record and a first round home playoff game in their future. And oh, what a future it could be!

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IT’S SO EASY, BIG REDS!

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