Advertisement

MANCELONA - As the sunrise painted Ironmen country orange Friday morning, Warriors rose and dressed for battle in Fife Lake, dawning game jerseys and getting anxious for what would go down in 12 hours.

It was one year ago to the day, Oct. 17, that Mancelona football coach Dan Derrer was quoted in the Antrim County News as saying, "Typical Mancelona-Forest Area gameÉcame down to the last minute. They played hard and we played hard, and we gutted one out."

Mancelona won the 2007 skirmish in Forest Area during the final minute of play (by one point), as quarterback Greg Blanco hit receiver Adam Duerksen from 22 yards out.

Ê As the sun went down over Mancelona Friday night, a 48-minute, 13-12 homecoming dogfight was just getting started.

Forest Area delivered the first bite on a 22-yard touchdown run by senior Tyler Denike and added the extra point in the middle of the second quarter.

ÊÊ The payback looked promising for the Warriors, who managed to quell the Ironmen twice in the red zone and somehow send Denike through traffic to led 7-0 at the half.

In characteristically cool fashion, Blanco returned to the field, received an onside kick at his own 49-yard line and began chipping away at the defense.

Forest Area nearly came up with another stop as Garrett Haas stuffed a run by Michael Dalton at the line of scrimmage to bring up third-and-nine on the Warriors' 36-yard line.

But Dalton was unshaken and worked his way into striking distance. The strike was one-handed, as Dalton reached across the goal line with 7:32 left in the third quarter. The two-point conversion failed, leaving Mancelona down, 6-7.

Ê On the ensuing drive, the Warriors reached their own 40-yard line, stalled and turned the ball over on downs.

Mancelona drove as far as the 28 before a holding penalty pushed them back. On second-and-long, Blanco went for the kill but was picked off Forest Area sophomore Victor Woodhams at the 10-yard line with 4:14 left in the third period.

Mancelona retaliated by forcing a fumble in the pocket for a turnover, but eventually punted the ball away with 9:12 remaining in the game.

Reaching their own 43-yard line on third-and-one, Forest Area looked to continue the march but was stopped for a 1-yard loss by senior Kodi Balhorn (15 tackles on the night). The next play was shut down by Trenton Sweet at the line of scrimmage, retiring Mancelona's defense.

Dalton advanced the offense to Forest Area's 31-yard line before connecting with sophomore Tyler Borst along the homecoming sideline.

Woodhams arrived to make the stop with less momentum and was knocked out cold by Borst's right shoulder pad.

Ê The hit, which left Woodhams laying face-down, stopped play for more than 30 minutes.

Watching their teammate leave the field in an ambulance, the remaining Warriors returned to defense burning, as Mancelona picked up their drive from the 19-yard line with six minutes remaining.

It appeared Forest Area would hold as Sweet held his hands out to catch in the end zone but was hit as the ball arrived.

Mancelona called a timeout on fourth-and-goal, and Forest Area coach Brian Lark could be heard from inside the huddle.

"You've got to stop them now!" Lark yelled.

Ê Blanco returned and hit Nick Lockman for the score, 12-7, with 4:17 remaining. The two-point conversion failed.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Mancelona's defense gave new life to Forest Area's next possession, granting a first down on the Ironmen's 15-yard line.

As the play clock settled on the one-minute mark, Denike caught a pass from Forest Area quarterback John Ricketts and ran into the end zone with a defender in tow.

The two-point conversion was crushed by Dalton and Balhorn.

Ê Trailing by one point, Mancelona covered ground quickly in a race against the clock. The Warriors, however, swarmed the Ironmen and allowed no time for Blanco to settle and throw.

Ricketts, playing on defense, picked off his counterpart on the 21-yard line with 32 seconds left. He took two steps and went down, returned to the field on offense and took a knee to complete the payback.

"They did it to us last year," Ricketts said after the game. "I knew when I got (the ball) it was over, so I kneed it."

"It was a tough hard-hitting game, back and forth," Mancelona coach Dan Derrer said. "I thought we played alright, just made a couple mistakes and took a couple penalties that hurt us pretty bad.

"All of our games with (Forest Area) have always come down to the last possessionÉYou either make the play or you don't and they did. It came down to the wire and they made a play."

Blanco went 10-of-22 for 113 yard passing with nine tackles on defense, Dalton rushed for 97 yards on 25 carries and received four for 33 yards, Lockman received three passes for 45 yards.

Mancelona, knocked out of the Ski Valley Conference title race, has one last chance to earn an automatic playoff berth.

"We wanted to win conference, it was a goal of ours," Derrer said. "But like I told them today, it's not an option anymore so we have to look to the (Bellaire) game and if we win we're in the playoffs. We have enough talent that we can make a run."

Contact Chris Tredway at ctredway@michigannewspapers.com. Ê