Almont football preparing for familiar playoff foe Ovid-Elsie in state semifinal
ALMONT — For 32 high school football teams in Michigan, the dream of a state championship is still alive. Now it's time to cut that number in half.
Almont (11-1) will meet Ovid-Elsie (8-4) in a Division 6 state semifinal at Grand Blanc High School at 1 p.m., Saturday.
"There's definitely a lot of excitement in our community," Almont coach James Leusby said. "As it gets closer to Saturday, the nerves will probably start picking up (for the kids) a little bit until the ball is kicked off. Then, they'll go away and it'll just be another game that we're playing."
The winner of this game will face either Kingsley (10-2) or Reed City (9-3) in the state final on Nov. 25 at Ford Field in Detroit.
While Ovid-Elsie and Almont are separated by 82 miles, there is some recent history between the two programs. The Marauders held off the Raiders, 21-14, in a Division 6 district semifinal last season.
"Their offense has changed a little bit," Leusby said. "They're not (lining up) under center as much as they've been in the past. And they still have a quarterback that, pretty much, singlehandedly beat us last year — he did."
Added Leusby: "They have a good running back and, defensively, they play hard-nosed, in-your-face football. They load the box and they're physical."
On paper, Ovid-Elsie's 8-4 record pales in comparison to Almont's mark of 11-1. But, after starting the season at 3-4, the Marauders haven't lost since Oct. 6.
"Obviously, they're playing their best ball right now," Leusby said. "They've gotten better (over the year)."
Ovid-Elsie's three playoff wins have come against Ida (14-3), Lansing Catholic Central (42-13) and Constantine (38-25).
The Raiders enter with postseason victories over Clintondale (35-8), Warren Michigan Collegiate (40-38 OT) and Detroit Edison (49-24). They're averaging 36.5 points, 274.7 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns per game.
Clearly, it's no secret that Almont is a run-first team. However, the Raiders are anything but one-dimensional.
"There are multiple facets of our game," Leusby said. "We do have a passing game and we actually have a spread game that no one really ever sees. But we work on it every week. We have a jet game too but we haven't had to break that out yet either. We do a little bit of everything and we try to do everything well."
Junior quarterback Chase Davedowski is 22-of-50 passing for 431 yards and eight touchdowns against one interception. Those eight touchdowns have gone to four different receivers in Cole Walton (three), Chase Battani (two), Luke Winkler (two) and Nolan Maxlow (one).
Keep in mind that Almont usually plays on grass. Saturday will be one of the few exceptions, as Grand Blanc has turf.
It'll be the Raiders' second playoff game on turf, after their district semifinal against Clintondale was moved to Richmond High School.
"We're going to Romeo (High School) on Thursday and Friday to practice," Leusby said. "They've been nice enough to let us use their turf field, so we can get used to playing on turf after playing on grass the last two weeks."
Ultimately, Almont knows the playing surface will have little signifance. It's more concerned with learning from past mistakes.
"Last year (against Ovid-Elsie), we feel like we shot ourselves in the foot so many times that we didn't deserve to win that game," Leusby said. "But (this year) really comes down to the fact that it's a new (opponent) — live in the moment now, not in the past.
"If we want to get to Ford Field, then we've got take care of business."
Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Almont football preparing for semifinal matchup with Ovid-Elsie
