Spooky night is no fright as Bears beat Trenton
Keyshawn Stanley (3) and Christia Cooper celebrate one of Wyandotte's five touchdowns against Trenton. Photo by Larry Caruso.
Hank Minckiewicz
– Wyandotte Warrior
The Roosevelt football team improved its record to 3-0 (2-0 Downriver League) with an impressive 34-7 victory at home over old rival Trenton on Sept. 13.
Playing under a full moon on a Friday the 13, the Bears need no hocus-pocus as they ran up 321 yards of total offense and dominated the game. The Bears scored first in the game, led 14-0 at halftime and 27-7 after three quarters of play.
"We were physical, we put pressure on their quarterback and we were able to run the ball. When you do all three of those things, good things usually happen," said Roosevelt coach Ron Adams.
With the victory, Wyandotte kept pace with unbeaten Allen Park and Woodhaven at the top of the Downriver League standings. All three wins this year for the Jags and Warriors have come in league play, while Roosevelt has already played its one non-league contest.
Against Trenton, Wyandotte did most of its damage on the ground, hammering the Trojans with different ball carriers coming at them from different angles.
Cody Bower led the way with 18 carries for 89 yards. He also had a long run called back because of a penalty. Christian Cooper added 61 yards and quarterback Jalen Pitchford had 32 yards despite suffering a couple of sacks.
"Cody Bower has improved a lot since last year," said Adams. "He's 6-foot and 190 pounds and he is a lot faster than people expect. And he has shown good vision."
Pitchford completed just two passes in the game, but both of them were bombs, one of 40 yards to Donavan Canterberry and the other 28 yards to Keyshawn Staney.
The Bears have run 55 or more offensive plays in each of their first three games.
"When you run that many plays, you know you are pounding it," said Adams.
Defensively, the Bears kept the Trojans bottled up all night. Wyandotte hit Trenton with nine negative plays during the game, intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble.
That fumble recovery – by Jared Diechelboher – on the Trenton 8-yard line, set up Wyandotte's first score of the night. Cooper need two four-yards runs to get the job done.
Defensive coordinator Jason Carpenter's unit did a number on the Trojans, keeping their running game to a minimum and harassing quarterback Gabe Cavasos all night long.
"Cavasos is a dynamite quarterback," Adams said. "But he hadn't had anyone putting pressure on him like were able to do."
Before the first quarter ended, Wyandotte was in the end zone again.
This time, the Bears needed five plays to cover 31yards and Pitchford ran in from a yard out.
There was no scoring in the second period, thanks mainly to an interception by Camari Garrison, whose pick and subsequent return halted Trenton's best drive of the first half.
Roosevelt's third touchdown of the night came courtesy of the running of Cooper, who carried seven times for 46 of the 55 yards the Bears needed to get back into the end zone, including the final 14.
After the Trojans scored their only touchdown of the game, Roosevelt answered with Pitchford's 40-yard scoring rainbow to Canterberry.
The Bears finished their scoring on a five-yard run by Bowser. The senior set up the score with an earlier 27-yard scamper.
Trenton's only points of the night came when Cavasos threw a swing pass to Angelo Czarnecki and he carried it 54 yards for a score
The Bears faced a big test against Woodhaven Sept. 20 and will face Lincoln Park on Sept. 27.
Roosevelt 41, Edsel Ford 7
Roosevelt kicked off the Downriver League season with a laugher against the Thunderbirds.
Quarterback Jalin Pitchford had a big night. He was 9-for-16 passing for 183 yards and he ran for 31 yards more. The Bear signal-caller threw for two scores and he rushed for two others.
Cody Bowser rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown and Jacob Denison ran for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Keshawn Stanley and Anthony Peterson caught touchdown passes from Pitchford.
Roosevelt 28, Monroe 21
Coach Ron Adams' teams, which had not faced a regular-season non-league opponent since the Downriver League was formed, beat an old rival in Monroe to open the 2019 campaign.
It was not a perfect performance by the Bears, but it was enough to get the job done. The Bears scored first in the game and never trailed. Roosevelt's lead was 21-7 at halftime.
The Bears rolled up 380 yards worth of offense, 318 of it on the ground, led by Christian Cooper's 147 yards. Cody Bowser rushed for an additional 86.
Roosevet got touchdown runs from Bowser, Logan McGraw and quarterback Jalen Pitchford. Pitchford also threw a 28-yard scoring pass to Donavan Canterberry.
Between his 62 passing yards and his rushing, Pitchford accounted for another 87 yards for the Bears.
The defense was keyed by senior Keyshawn Stanley with a dozen tackles, Junior McGraw had 11.
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