CADILLAC — It’s deer hunting season, and Kent City’s student section came decked out in camouflage and hunter orange.
Kingsley is the only one still hunting, though.
The Stags shut out out the Eagles to bag a 14-0 Division 6 semifinal victory Saturday at Cadillac’s Veterans Memorial Stadium to punch their ticket to the state championship game next Friday at Ford Field in Detroit.
“We didn’t really take much of it,” Kingsley junior running back Nolan Hodges said of the opposition’s hunting gimmick. “Every team we played did that. (Traverse City) St. Francis does it. It’s all about the win.”
The win puts Kingsley in the state championship game for the second time in three years, after the Stags won the 2023 title 38-24 over Almont.
Three-time defending state champ Jackson Lumen Christi awaits in the title game. The Titans won the Division 6 title last year and took the Division 7 crown the two before that, including a 15-12 win over St. Francis in the 2022 title contest.
Lumen beat Almont 25-19 in triple overtime Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Stags and Eagles were scoreless at halftime as both defenses rose to the occasion.
“It’s one step closer, one more week,” Hodges said. “That’s all it is. It was a great win. They were competitive, all the way to half 0-0, back and forth.”
Each team forced a turnover on downs on the other’s first possession. Brody Ferris’ tackle for loss on Kent City 6-foot-3, 230-pound quarterback Andre Meade gave the Stags the ball in Eagles territory. Kingsley drove to the 5-yard line before Kent City stopped a fourth-down QB keeper of its own.
Kingsley forced a fumble on Kent City’s next drive, and the Eagles answered with an interception by Kale Freeland in the red zone. Colton Goethals punched the ball out of running back Logan Thompson’s hands as he was on his way to finishing what would have been a 54-yard touchdown run.
“Colton came to the sideline saying, ‘I think we can pop it out,'” Kingsley head coach Tim Wooer said. “Just an incredible effort, to chase the play down and tomahawk it from behind. That’s a senior that doesn’t want to play his last game.”
Tucker Dreves slowed down Thompson near the 25, diving for his legs. That enabled Goethals to catch the Eagles runner inside the 5-yard line, swatting the ball out before Thompson could cross into the end zone. Goethals also recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.
“We all came in, we hit him, and the ball came out,” Goethals said. “It was a big game-changer. We really needed that.”
After its interception, Kent City punted and Kingsley turned the ball over on downs inside the 30 in the first half’s final minute.
Halftime came without a score, and took only 45 minutes as the teams combined for just seven passes.
Kent City came up with a goal-line stand on the Stags’ initial second-half drive, stopping Kingsley at the 2. The Eagles were driving when the Stags declined a holding penalty that eventually brought up fourth-and-6. Kent City went for it, and Goethals came up with the game’s biggest single play, intercepting Meade and returning it for a touchdown, stiff-arming an Eagles defender to the ground on the way.
“I saw the pass and got back, but I really owe it to our edge guys,” Goethals said. “They really put pressure on the quarterback so he couldn’t get the best throw out. I saw it coming to me, and I was like, ‘That’s my ball.'”
Perry Smith was coming off the edge, with Hodges out getting a tweaked knee tended to.
“They were sucking in on the edge,” Eagles head coach Zach Gropp said. “I thought that we could get them on the edge there, and they got pressure and the ball was just under thrown. It was the right read. Kudos to them, being in a spot, making a play.”
The pick six gave Kingsley a 6-0 lead after a failed two-point conversion with 2:59 left in the third quarter.
Scott Stremlow’s fumble recovery ended Kent City’s next possession near midfield, and Kingsley drove 11 plays the other way, culminating in a Hodges 5-yard TD run with 6:09 left. Dreves completed a pass to Gavin Lewis for the conversion and a 14-0 lead.
“They stopped us three times, and we finally got it,” Hodges said. “We needed that for sure.”
Lewis intercepted Meade on the next drive after a Blaine Summerfield tackle for loss set up Kent City trying a 4th-and-13 throw.
Hodges converted for two first downs, including a big one on 3rd-and-5, that allowed the Stags to run out the clock.
“We played great defensively,” Wooer said. “Offensively, certainly, we left some points out there. A couple fumbled snaps, missed fourth-down conversions, which is not typically us, and playing through multiple injuries.”
Alex Drury didn’t play, and lineman Collin McCoy was injured in the first half. Senior Julius Ensley and junior Barrett Bielas came in for Drury and Perry Smith for McCoy.
Captain and defensive lineman Alex Figueroa wore a big brace on his right leg and said it’s a very slim chance he plays next week.
Hodges ran 23 times for 111 yards, while Lewis gained 86 yards on 17 carries. Lewis and Goethals each produced seven tackles.
“Our defense stepped up with two or three goal-line stands,” Gropp said. “We just couldn’t get over the over the hump offensively.”
Thompson led Kent City with 95 yards on 12 carries, while Cooper Stinson added 51 yards on seven carries and Meade was 3-for-7 passing for 19 yards and two interceptions.
Kingsley wasn’t whistled for a single penalty, and the Stags have committed only one over the last two games.