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Touchdown Club

 DeWitt Touchdown Club   DeWitt Football Official Picture Site   TCP Photography  Please remember those who served.

Last Update: 11-19-2022   

Special thanks from DeWittFootball.org to the Greenville Athletic Department on their organization for the game Saturday. Dozens of volunteers helped get people in and out and to the right places and never a complaint about the weather. Always a "Hello" coming in and "Drive Carefully" on the way out. Helpful all day. A special thanks to the lady (wish we had her name) that ushered people into the proper places in the press box. It was a special treat for Andrew, Michael and myself to sit with our press box coaches while we kept stats and listened to them talk with the sideline. Seven of us in a room squeezed together. She came in while we were trying to wipe the steam from the windows and told us to open the vents above. Very quickly, the steam was gone and we could see. And drinks and snacks on every seat.

The had five guys with leaf blowers continuously blowing the snow from the sidelines, hash marks and goal lines. At half time, several pickup trucks quickly cleared the field of the heavy snow. A very coordinated effort which DeWittFootball.org wants to say Thanks.

 Greenville, MI (11/19/2022): The DeWitt Panthers lost in the Division 3 semi-finals to the Muskegon Big Reds Saturday afternoon at 1:00 in Greenville 49-21. With the win, Muskegon will move on to play Detroit King Saturday evening at 7:00pm for the Division 3 championship. King defeated Mason 52-17 on the other side of the Division 3 bracket.  The game should be a good one and will be shown on Bally Sports.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Ugly. The weather. Several inches of snow fell through the game. Horizontal. With a steady 25mph "breeze" from the south end zone to the north end zone. The weather was a positive for Muskegon as they played a similar game as Grand Ledge, hike it to their running back M'Khi Guy (32 carries, 313 yards and 6 TDs) and let him find holes in the massive front line and edge. The Panthers depend on much more finesse and lost the ability to run the jet sweep and slowed the backfield action and timing down considerably. And the ability to consistently pass the short routes.

The Bad. DeWitt has had trouble tackling this year and had trouble laying a lick on Guy. He was able to squirm out of arm tackles. On one 40 yard run, four Panthers had hold of him and he slipped out of their grasp. At the half, Muskegon had 336 yards of offense and DeWitt 20 with one first down. Speaking of a hold, the Big Reds were only called for three holding penalties, that is how Guy was able to get to the edge a lot.

The Good. The young Panthers did not quit. Down 35-0 at the half, the offense drove 65 yards in 17 plays in nine minutes into the wind with Kurncz taking it in from four yards for the score. Brandon Soltis' first of three extra points was perfect. DeWitt had two other scores, a 57 yard pass from Elliott Larner to Jensen Ridley and a Rece Baker 3 yard run capping a 76 yard drive. The last Panther possession ended with an interception in the Big Red end zone. The second half showed the Panthers were able to play with Muskegon and we believe gave the younger players a much needed boost. DeWitt out gained Muskegon 222 to 130 and outscored them 21-14. Yes, Muskegon kept their starters in to the end of the game.

The Good. A lot of young players coming back. Looking forward to next season already. Work hard guys.

The Good. The young players learning from Kurncz, Haller, Taber, Adkins, Nehf and Schafer.

The Good. The run through the end of the season and playoffs. After a 3-3 start against some tough teams, the Panthers reeled off six consecutive wins to march to the semi-finals. A top 4 team again.

The Good. Coaching. After the Haslett game, Zimmerman revamped his offense to get Kurncz more touches. And he and the team responded.

Guy finished with 313 yards on 32 carries and six rushing TDs. Jakob Price ran it 15 times for 102 yards. Defensively, the Panthers were led by Landon Taber with 12 tackles, Trav Moore with 8, Matthew Nehf with 7 and Dylan Adkins and Blake Haller with six.

For the Panthers offensively, Larner was 7 of 8 passing for 158 yards and one TD. Kurncz rushed for 60 yards on 13 carries and was not able to break any long ones. Kurncz also had four catches for 70 yards.

More good. The several hundred Panther fans that made the trip and stayed till the bitter (cold) end. Click on image above.

Much more to come; check in with us for the next few weeks as we wrap up the season.

Please send inquiries and comments to info@DeWittFootball.org