Coach Al Fracassa and the Warriors “went to Church” 33 times in the game Friday afternoon at Ford Field. Kevin Church repaid their faith in him with a dazzling 244-yard performance and three touchdowns to lead Rice to its seventh state title.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior, who’s expected to accept a football scholarship to Northen Illinois in February, gave the Warriors an early lead with a seven-yard run in the first quarter.

With the game tied at 7-7, Church reestablished Rice’s lead – this time for good  – on a 53-yard fake reverse around left end with 50 seconds remaining in the half. At that point, he had carried the ball 17 times for 151 yards of the team’s 171 yards on 22 rushes.

Sophomore Jason Alessi’s third-quarter 26-yard field goal pushed Rice’s lead to 17-7.

Church’s third TD came after senior cornerback Eddie Kidd returned an intercepted pass to Lowell’s 24-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. Junior Greg Marzec bulled his way up the middle for nine yards, and Church covered the remaining 15 with a sweep of right end.

“He’s been doing that all year,” said Fracassa. “And not just this year, but in every game he’s played all three years . . . he’s a good team player.”

Fracassa said the team’s motto, “Anything is possible,” personified the team. A chance to make the playoffs, let alone vie for a state title, seemed remote for Brother Rice, sporting a 5-4 record late in the regular season. Three of the losses by a total of four points were dealt by fellow-Central Division opponents, Warren DeLaSalle, OL St. Mary’s and Catholic Central.

“Our schedule prepared us for the playoffs, but you have to be lucky to get here,” he said.

In the playoffs, Rice upset Farmington Hills Harrison, 30-7, for the district title and squeezed past Detroit Martin Luther King, 27-26 (after leading 27-0), in the semi-finals to make it to Ford Field.

Church went on a tear in the five playoff games, running up more than 900 yards to give him 1,919 to set a school single-season record, two yards more than John Goebel ran in 2005.

Lowell (12-2), which had beaten Rice for the 2002 Division 2 title, came into the game with more than 6,000 yards in offense. A tenacious Rice defense limited the Red Arrows to 55 rushing and 190 passing, led by senior Mark Doman (13 tackles, 1.5 sacks), junior Jon Reschke (10 tackles), junior Sergio Perkovic (two sacks), senior Michael Bouchard (sack and interception), senior Joe Warner (1.5 sacks) and Kidd (two interceptions).

Brother Rice (10-4) wound up with 330 yards total offense, 288 of that rushing.

Fracassa brought Perkovic and Reschke with him to the post-game interviews. “What about next year?” he was asked, a veiled reference to speculation that the 79-year-old coach, the winningest in Michigan history with 405 victories, might retire after 43 years on the sidelines.

“They’ll be here” – pointing to the two players – “and we should have a good team. But you never know,” he smiled.