Constantine holds off Bucks for district title

Published 9:50 am Sunday, November 5, 2023

By Scott Novak

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CONSTANTINE — Visiting Buchanan traveled to Constantine for the Division 6 District Championship game seeking its first-ever victory over the Falcons, who are celebrating their 100th season of high school football.

The Bucks gave Constantine everything could, but came up short against the Falcons, 21-14, as the Falcons claim the district title and earned a spot in this weekend regional championship game against Ovid-Elsie.

Constantine has won most of the games in comfortable fashion. But on a perfect Saturday afternoon for playoff football with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees and bright sunshine, the Bucks kept close.

In fact, it was the second-closest finish between the two programs since 1992 when the Falcons edged the Bucks 38-34 in a playoff contest.

“Our guys played hard yesterday,” said Buchanan Coach Mark Frey. “We had a couple things not go our way, but our guys kept fighting and just came up short on the final drive of the game. I am proud of our team and our staff, I am excited to see the direction in which our program is trending.”

One of the things that did not go the Bucks’ way came on the opening drive as Constantine marched the ball down the field to the Buchanan 5-yard line. On fourth-and-2, it appeared that the play clock had expired before the Falcons’ snapped the ball. No flag was thrown and Bennett VandenBerg rumbled into to the end zone to give Constantine a 7-0 lead following Isaac Swearinger’s extra point kick.

Undaunted, the Bucks battled back, tying the game in the early in the second quarter when Jake Franklin connected with Nico Finn on a 16-yard scoring strike. Mason Frontczak tied the game with his kick.

The two teams would struggle to move the ball much of the remaining time in the second quarter before Constantine put together a late drive, which reached the Buchanan 1-yard line with two seconds remaining in the first half.

Following a time out, Falcon quarterback Brody Jones called his own number and scored as time expired. Constantine took a 14-7 lead to the locker room following Swearinger’s kick.

Neither team was able to put together sustained drives in the third quarter, which ended with the Falcons still leading 14-7.

The Falcons (10-1) scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Brendan Presswood got free around the left end and scored on a 16-yard run to make it 21-7,

Buchanan (7-4) was able to tie the score midway through the final 12 minutes of play when Franklin and Finn hooked up again, this time for a 70-yard touchdown that cut the lead to seven points.

The Bucks would make one last run at Constantine in the closing minutes of the game, but eventually turned the ball over on downs in Falcons’ territory.

Constantine ran out the clock and celebrated its first district title since 2020 when it defeated Buchanan 55-28.

The final statistics were as close as the outcome of the contest.

Constantine outgained Buchanan 234-231 in total offense. The Falcons’ offense all came on the ground as it was 0-for-1 passing. The Bucks had just 10 yards rushing, but Franklin was 19-of-35 for 221 yards and the two touchdowns.

Finn had eight receptions for 151 of those yards.

Defensively, the Bucks were led by Drew Andersen’s 13 tackles, while Dean Roberts and G Tompkins both had nine tackles. AJ Camille-Mcleod added eight stops.

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