TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City St. Francis couldn’t quite come up enough plays to fend off highly-ranked Jackson Lumen Christi, falling to the visitors 27-12 Saturday at Thirlby Field.
But it may have had more to do with the opponent than its own efforts.
“They’re a very physical team and they play hard and they play fast,” Gladiators coach Josh Sellers said. “We missed our opportunities when we had them, unfortunately, and Lumen had a lot to do with that.”
Turnovers, failed fourth-down conversions, a big defensive pass tip on a fake SF punt late in the first half and missed PAT kicks were a big part of the Glad’s loss.
The Glads trailed 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. They were able to cut it to 14-6 on a Cooper Sellers’ 7-yard burst off tackle with 9:32 left in the second quarter.
The visitors immediately responded with an 80-yard drive, culminating a 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak. On that drive, the Glads gave up a 44-yard screen pass and saw a spectacular one-handed catch by the Titans Johnny Walters.
It was Walter’s only catch of the game — good for 8 yards. But six other Titans receivers came up 14 catches on 17 passing attempts for 215 yards as Wes Leonard had two touchdown receptions for Jackson and seven catches total for 139 yards.
With the PAT kick following the sneak, Lumen led 21-6, and that’s where the first half ended. The score stayed 21-6 through three quarters as the Glads began to win the field position battle.
And for a brief moment in the fourth quarter, the Glad had a comeback win on their minds.
With 11:06 left, Braxton Lesinski, one of 13 seniors honored on Senior Day, took it to the house from 52 yards out. The run, one of 10 carries for 92 yards on the night, left the scoreboard showing 21-12 awaiting the PAT attempt.
“You always got to tell yourself you’re back in the game — you’re always in the game no matter the score, really,” Lesinski said about giving the Glads a glimmer of hope for victory. “You just got to tell yourself that even if it’s not realistic. But yeah, I thought personally, if we continue to execute correctly we had a beautiful shot at coming back and winning.”
The hope faded fast though at the PAT kick attempt missed wide and the Titans countered with an 83-yard, nearly four-minute drive to put the game away. The drive was competed with Leonard’s second TD reception. The Titans’ Benny Gaston hit a wide open Leonard for a 55-yard scoring pass.
Despite the loss, Lesinski walked away with special Senior Night memories.
“Obviously want to thank my mom and looking back, from water-boying as a kid, my dad being coach around the program — it is just special,” Lesinski said. “And it’s kind of sad that it’s coming to an end, but, you know, we’re looking to look at these last two games and really want to turn it around to finish on a high note.”
Going into the game Lumen Christi was ranked No. 2 in Division 6 in playoff points and St. Francis was seventh. The Glad are without a Week Nine opponent.
Lumen is now 5-3, but its losses are to Ohio powerhouse Montini Catholic 20-16, D5 No. 1-ranked Grand Rapids Catholic Central 28-14 and D4 No. 5 Dearborn Divine Child 17-13.
SF is now 6-2 on the year, suffering two straight setbacks as the playoffs near. Sellers expects the Glads to make the most of the week off and move on the playoffs.
“It’s going to be some time to get healthy, those bumps bruises healed up,” Sellers said. “We’re going to be working on just some really basic fundamental football stuff — blocking and tackling and catching the ball and hitting the receiver and things like that.”