ROYAL OAK — “We out-hearted them.”
You won’t find the word in any dictionary that Coach John Goddard used to sum up Shrine’s exciting 13-6 win over Madison Heights Bishop Foley in a CHSL Intersectional confrontation between these two traditional archrivals.
At the heart of the Knights victory was junior Tim Niehaus, the team’s best receiver last year as a sophomore but converted to quarterback this fall.
“He loves to play the game,” Goddard said.
The teams — both of whom came in with 3-0 records in non-league action — punted six times between them until Niehaus, from his safety position on defense, intercepted a pass by Foley’s veteran senior QB, Brendan McMahon, and returned it 18 yards to Foley’s 48-yard line with just under two minutes remaining to halftime.
Niehaus scampered twice for 29 yards and passed six yards to Stevie Erwin to move the ball to Foley’s 10. A 10-yard holding penalty moved the scrimmage line back to the 20.
On third down, Niehaus rolled to his right, managed to elude a pair of pursuing tacklers despite the slippery footing on a gooey, rain-soaked turf, and connected with sophomore Jeremy Reese in the end zone for a touchdown with 31 seconds on the clock. Erwin kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
A swarming defense — led by senior cornerback Jordan Gee, junior linebacker Chris Kelly and junior linemen Will Arce, Ken Kruliski and Josh Brazelton — prevented the Ventures from crossing into Shrine territory until nine minutes in the fourth quarter.
That’s when McMahon — the heart of Foley’s offense — pretty much took the rest of the game in his hands. He directed an 8-play, 46-yard drive, culminating in an 11-yard sweep of left end for a TD. The Ventures attempt at a two-point conversion was stuffed by a gang of Shrine tacklers to keep the Knights in front, 7-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Shrine responded with a 65-yard march, kept alive by a pair of 15-yard personal foul penalties by Bishop Foley. The Ventures were whistled for eight penalties (five of them 15-yard infractions) in the game. First-year coach Sean Cobb called them “silly. They cost us.”
Kelly slanted over tackle for a 14-yard touchdown, untouched through an opening wide enough for the proverbial Mack truck created by Arce and 310-pound junior Kruliski. Erwin’s extra-point kick was wide right to make it a 13-6 score.
McMahon, after the game, said the difference in the game was “we didn’t execute the way we should have.”
However, for about the next two minutes, all the pieces fell into place. He had the Knights players on their heels and their nervous fans on their seats, covering 70 yards from Foley’s 30 to Shrine’s 10 with 39 seconds left, doing it all in the air on five passes to four different receivers, the last catch for 29 yards over the middle to junior running back Reginald Golfin.
His sixth pass was also caught — a diving one by Reese in the end zone to save the game for Shrine.
Niehaus ended up with 58 yards rushing and 36 passing. Gee bulled his way for 44 yards and Kelly for 39 to account for the Knights’ 141 yards rushing.
Bishop Foley amassed 215 yards in offense, 79 on the ground (McMahon scrambled for 44) and 136 passing (McMahon 12 for 26).
The game was played under portable lights, the first night game at Shrine, according to athletic director Tim Dobrzeniecki.
“If we play another game like this,” Goddard laughed, “I’d like to play them all at night.”
