Jeff Theisen
October 16, 2008
Reprinted with permission of the Novi News
The Baseline Battle which had so much on the line, lived up to its billing Friday night in Northville.
Novi held off a late two-point conversion and kept the Baseline Jug for the eighth straight year with a 14-12 win against rival Northville.
The victory gives the Wildcats the outright Central Division title. A Northville win would have forced a three-way tie with Novi, Northville and Stevenson.
"The Jug is a great thing, just in terms of Northville and Novi is such a special rivalry," Novi head coach Tab Kellepourey said. "Northville had a great offensive and defensive plan against us. We were fortunate tonight."
Northville struggled to put together an extended drive most of the night, but put together the best drive when it had to.
The Mustangs took over from their own 6-yard line with 7:25 left and trailing 14-6.
After overcoming a pair of fourth-down conversions, Mustang Jake Weddle scored his second touchdown from the three with 58.8 left.
Northville was forced to go for a two-point conversion after having an earlier point-after blocked.
Coach Matt Ladach called for a pass attempt on the two-point try. Matt Kreager rolled left before sending a pass over the middle, but Novi's Jimmy Pitcher stepped in front of the ball and picked it off.
"We had man coverage but no guy showed for me so I just went to the middle," Pitcher said. "The quarterback threw it a little over my head and I just jumped up and got it.
"It felt amazing. I knew we were going to win."
Northville attempted an onsides kick and appeared to recover it, but it was ruled to not have gone 10 yards, and Novi took over and ran out the clock.
"They defended it well. My hat goes off to them," said Ladach of the two-point play. "Our guys played well. There is no question about it.
"We executed our gameplan. We just made a couple of mistakes on offense that Novi capitalized on."
The Wildcats took the lead with a 20-yard keeper by Andy Donatto on a quarterback draw with 9:09 remaining in the first half.
"They threw me in as quarterback for the first time in a game," Donatto said. "The line made a nice wall and I cut it up. There were two defenders but I got in."
Northville responded on the next drive with a 1-yard plunge by Weddle, but only cut the lead to 7-6 after a blocked kick.
The Wildcats added to their lead with a similar score to their first touchdown. This time it was Chris Bellamy who took the quarterback draw in from 23 yards out with just 1:43 left in the half and a 14-6 lead that stood until the final minute.
"I dropped back and faked a pass and followed my blocks and found a hole," Bellamy said. "I had one guy to beat and beat him.
"We won the Jug, we got in the playoffs and won the division. We did everything."
Both defenses stood strong throughout the night. Novi was limited to 200 total yards, and Northville produced 255, but 96 of it came on the final drive.
The Mustangs coughed up the only turnover of the game with a fumble on its opening drive.
"We said this was a great opportunity," Kellepourey said. "You get this win and it's a divisional championship. It's six wins and now you're a playoff team.
"Ultimately, it comes down to the Baseline Jug. You saw how excited that we get when we get our hands on it."