WESTPHALIA, MI (WHTC) – For the third time in four years, Saugatuck High’s state football tournament dreams were dashed in the farmland of mid-Michigan.
Jimmy Lehman threw two touchdown passes to Logan Hengesbach while state career touchdown record-holder Jared Smith ran for two more scores, giving him 119 for his career, as Pewamo-Westphalia downed the visiting Indians on Saturday, 26-19. Cole Hartman and Noah O’Shinski ran for Saugatuck touchdowns while receiver Jackson Shriver and quarterback Blake Dunn swapped roles, with Shriver throwing a touchdown pass to Dunn in the third quarter.
However, the game hinged on the Pirates stripping Dunn of the ball midway in the second quarter, nursing a 12-7 lead at the time. Matthew Baker recovered, and two plays later, Smith scored the first of his two touchdowns that enabled PW to keep Saugatuck at arm’s length the rest of the way. Saugatuck last offensive drive ended with a Hengesbach interception with 39 seconds left.
A disappointed coach Bill Dunn, who saw his Indians (10-1) lose at PW for the second straight year in the district finals, said after the game, “It’s an emotional ending to a great group of seniors,” which included his son Blake, Hartman and seven others. “I’ll be honest, I hurt.”
The loss ends the high school football season along the Lakeshore, as Zeeland East, Zeeland West and Hamilton were eliminated last week. The Pirates (11-0) play in Traverse City against the 11-0 St. Francis Gladiators next Saturday in a state Division 7 regional final.
