Mendon, Marcellus and Constantine advance in playoffs with Saturday wins

MENDON — Four local football teams are heading on to the next round of the MHSAA football playoffs. On Saturday, both Constantine and Mendon were able to pick up playoff victories at home in the opening round. Mendon to host regional finalThe top-ranked Mendon Hornets gave up nearly 60 points to Adrian Lenawee Christian in the regular season finale. As fate would have it, the two teams met up again in the opening regional round game for Division 8-player playoffs on Saturday.Mendon was a bit improved defensively. The Hornets scored on each of their first two offensive plays as well and ran away with a 54-7 victory over the Cougars."I thought in the first half, we played exceptionally well. The first three quarters, we did an outstanding job," Mendon coach Bobby Kretschman said. "I was very pleased with the way we executed, especially after last week, where we gave up 57 points. With the sloppiness of last week's game, we went back to fundamentals and it showed."GUMP'S NOT DONE: Ainsley Gump's SHS career is winding down — but it has not closed just yetFOOTBALLER OF THE WEEK: Mendon's Zak Iobe wins Footballer of the Week, presented by Glen OaksXavior Zinsmaster scored on a 48-yard run to open the game, just nine seconds in for the green and white. After forcing a Cougar punt, Mendon scored right away once it had the ball again.Owen Klinger tossed a screen pass over to Zak Iobe, is ended in a 66-yard rumble to the end zone. Zinsmaster ran in the conversion attempt, it made the score 14-0.A handful of minutes later, the Hornets found the end zone again. It was Klinger doing it himself this time, scampering in the end zone on an 11-yard run."I'm proud of our kids, we executed the game plan well," Kretschman said. "The way we approach the game, we have four downs to get 10 yards and we want to play physical football."Mendon controlled every aspect of the game. The Hornets were not about to let the Cougars have a repeat performance on the field."We were able to learn from that film and make adjustments. Yeah, it was great scoring 96 points, but that's not our style of football," Kretschman said. "If you want to make a run in the playoffs, you have to get some stops."The second quarter saw Mendon score with runs of 30 yards by Zinsmaster, 37 yards by Iobe and 13 yards from Jaiden Moyer.Mendon led 46-0 at the break. The second half was not nearly as exciting as the first.The clock ran. It ran quite a bit. But then, midway through the third, Mendon scored again to break up some of the boredom. Brayden Reinbold got some action for the Hornets on the field and found the end zone on a 45-yard run. He scored on the conversion attempt at well and the game was all but over.For what it's worth, Lenawee Christian scored midway though the fourth on a lengthy run.Mendon out-gained Lenawee 410-186 for the contest. The Hornets ran for 314 yards in the contest. "We really had an outstanding week of practice, last week was a little bit of a wakeup call," Kretschman said. "It's good for the kids to see how important the week of practice is. To me, that was the difference. It had nothing to do with today, but it was how we prepared during this week. We looked like a Mendon football team."Mendon forced four fumbles by Lenawee in the game with the Hornets recovering all four as Iobe, Bryce Zagon, Conner Doehring and Tristin Wood all gobbled up those loose footballs.Zinsmaster finished the game with 126 yards on nine carries, scoring twice. Iobe added 73 yards, Reinbold ran for 66.Ky Truckey was in on eight stops for the defense, Iobe totaled eight tackles as well. Tristin Wood totaled six stops.The Hornets will host Marcellus in the regional final on Saturday at 1 p.m.Marcellus extends its seasonThe Marcellus football team has reached the regional finals in Division 8-player football. The Cats won on the road Friday night, beating Litchfield 50-36 in a high-scoring affair.The win propels Marcellus to a regional final matchup with top-ranked Mendon on Saturday afternoon.In Friday's victory, Martelle Enright had himself a day. Enright ran for 288 yards on 26 carries, scoring twice. Elijah Gaborik also found the end zone twice in the game, he ran for 53 yards on 10 carries. Matthew Lehew scored a TD with 44 yards rushing, Cale Hackenberg also scored on the ground. Hackenberg finished with seven completions for 96 yards and a score as well. Lehew caught that TD, which was a 42-yarder. Gaborik hauled in five for 42, Enright caught one for 12.The defense was led by Blake McWilliams with 13 tackles and a forced fumble. Lukas Hurley had 10 tackles and recovered a pair of fumbles by Litchfield. Gaborik totals nine tackles, Gage Rumsey had six tackles and three pass break-ups.Constantine powers past SaranacThe Constantine football team won its ninth game of the season on Saturday. The Falcons reached the playoffs and finished as the top overall seed for their region, which earned them a home contest against Saranac.It went well for the Falcons on Saturday in a 34-6 victory. Constantine controlled the game from the opening kick, rolling up an advantage in total yards at 396-144. Constantine ran more than twice as many plays offensively than Saranac (74-34).The win allows Constantine to host another playoff game coming up on Saturday. The Falcons will be hosting Ravenna, which beat Cassopolis 54-12 in the opening contest of the playoffs on Friday night.Constantine scored twice in the opening quarter agains Saranac. Brody Godfrey found the end zone first for the Falcons on a 50-yard run. Brody Bienz would score for the Falcons in the quarter as well, his came on a 17-yard run.Saranac's only points came at the beginning of the second quarter. It was a 25-yard pass from Jacob Bush to Levi Warner.Constantine answered quickly, posting two more TDs before halftime.Cooper McGee dashed to the end zone on a 7-yard run. Godfrey then scored on a 1-yard plunge for the Falcons later in the quarter as they built a 20-point advantage.Late in the game, the Falcons completed a pass for a score. It was a 13-yard TD from Braden Bienz out to Maddix Jancasz.Bienz completed both of his passes for 40 yards and a score.Godfrey led the fishing attack with 135 yards on 18 carries and two scores. He rushed it 18 times. Brody Bienz finished with nine carries on the day for 64 yards and a TD while Jancasz ran for 57, McGee rushed for 53 and a score. McGee led the defensive effort with eight tackles on the day. Isaiah Peters finished with six stops, Chase Manes and Godfrey were both in on five tackles. Jancasz intercepted a pass for the Falcons.Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Mendon, Marcellus and Constantine advance in playoffs with Saturday wins