Division 7 final: Jackson Lumen Christi comes back to topple Traverse City St. Francis

Detroit — After being shut out in the first half with negative rushing yards and multiple turnovers, it would have been easy to count out Jackson Lumen Christi in the Division 7 state championship game Saturday.

But sometimes, all it takes is one drive to swing momentum back in your favor, and that’s what happened against Traverse City St. Francis.

Lumen Christi scored 15 unanswered points in the second half, beating St. Francis, 15-12, in an inspired comeback at Ford Field, avenging a loss from a prior matchup and winning its first championship since 2018.

BOX SCORE: Jackson Lumen Christi 15, Traverse City St. Francis 12

“It’s what makes coaching fun, when you got kids like this who give everything they have, you can’t ask for anything else,” said Lumen Christi head coach Herb Brogan, who won his 10th state title with the win.

The teams met earlier in the year, with St. Francis escaping with a 42-35 victory in what would be its closest game of the season.

It was a fast-paced, defensive first half that featured St. Francis’ defensive effort showing off, including forcing three turnovers.

The first turnover was Joey Donahue forcing a fumble on Kadale Williams, as St. Francis recovered the ball in Lumen Christi territory, but it couldn’t take advantage with a missed 24-yard field goal.

Even when Lumen Christi quarterback Joe Lathers went 5-for-5 for 56 yards passing on his first drive, Garrett Hathaway would sack Lathers and make a huge tackle for a loss of 14 yards that forced Lumen Christi to punt.

A fumbled handoff on fourth down gave the ball back to Lumen Christi, but Lathers immediately threw an interception to John Hagelstein, ending a first quarter that saw three of the first five drives end in turnovers.

Donahue finished the next offensive drive, punching in the touchdown from one yard out for the first score of the game with 9:38 left in the second quarter. The snap on the extra point was bobbled and thrown away to keep the score at 6-0.

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Lathers found his groove, but on third down his pass was tipped and intercepted by Jack Pritchard, giving the ball back to St. Francis with 3:16 left in the first half.

With only one timeout left, St. Francis let the clock wind down on its last drive of the half, ending with Wyatt Nausadis running on second and goal for an 8-yard touchdown with just 31 seconds left. It could not covert the two-point try and entered halftime with a 12-0 lead.

The third quarter showed how tough it was for both these offenses to move the ball, with the first four drives leading to quick three-and-outs and allowing the quarter to drain at a fast pace.

Lumen Christi knew time was running out, and tried to get the offense going on its third drive of the half, which included finally beginning to get positive yards when running the ball, but false-start penalties put it deeper in the hole.

It didn't hold Lumen Christi back, as Lathers ran on fourth down and sprint right down the middle of the field for an 18-yard score. With the extra point good, Lumen Christi capped off the longest drive of the game: 12 plays and 83 yards that took over 7 minutes and trailed 12-7 with just over 11 minutes left.

“The first half was definitely frustrating, I got upstairs and I was telling everybody, we gotta come out and kill these guys in the second half… and I came out and did it,” Lathers said.

The Lumen Christi crowd came back to life, and you could hear them on the next drive after the defense overcame a holding penalty to force a quick three-and-out.

Lathers would go for the longest play of the game on third and 10, a 36-yard run where multiple defenders had to converge to drive Lathers down to the St Francis 13. Derrick Walker finished the job with a 2-yard rushing touchdown, and Lathers was able to stretch the ball out on a reviewed two-point conversion.

There was still 7 minutes left but all momentum had swung toward Lumen Christi. After two successful runs from St Francis, Nausadis forced a cross-field pass that was easily intercepted by Alex Pastoriza.

Lumen Christi would not give the ball back, including converting on a short fourth-and-one to drain the clock and complete the comeback.

“It means so much. I wouldn’t trade this team for anybody, these are my guys,” Lathers said.

Kameron Goodwill is a freelance writer.