The top two teams in Division 1 eight-man football battled for the state championship title today at the Superior Dome in Marquette with the 12-0 Deckerville Eagles coming out on top of the 12-0 Pickford Panthers 30-28 in front of 3,145 fans.
Panthers head coach Josh Rader's plan was to put the ball in his star's quarterback's hands early. And it worked.
Senior Tommy Storey led the way with 15 carries for 282 yards and all four touchdowns in the first half for the purple and white.
Pickford went into halftime leading 28-16.
However, Deckerville head coach Bill Brown made some crucial adjustments at the intermission and shut down the Pickford offense in the second half while maintaining ball control on their offensive end.
Pickford had a total of 329 yards on offense with Storey earning 304 rushing yards on 21 carries.
Deckerville's Hunter Garza had 225 yards on on 37 carries.The Eagles had 398 total yards on offense.
Time of possession was dominated by Deckerville 33:05-14:55.
The winning touchdown for Deckerville came early in the fourth quarter when Garza hit Brandon Salowitz on a 36-yard pass to give them the 30-28 advantage.
Pickford could not advance the ball and score on their next possession.
Ball control after that was all Deckerville as they ran out the clock to secure the championship.
Eli MacDonald had a stellar defensive performance with 16 tackles and a half-sack. Caden Chromy, Gunner Bennin and Haydn Radar each had 11 tackles for the Panthers.
