Perfect Pewamo-Westphalia Wins State Title

For the first time in the school's history, Pewamo-Westphalia are State champions in football. The Pirates defeated Detroit Loyola on Saturday morning 28-14.

After getting to the final game and surrendering a 16-0 lead to lose a heart breaker against Ishpeming in 2015, P-W got a lead and held on to it for the rest of the game.

After a first quarter where they didn't muster a single first down the Pirates exploded with two drives into the red zone. The first ended in a blocked 32 yard field goal attempt but the second finished off with a wide open Logan Hengesbach in the end zone for the game's opening score with just under four minutes to go in the first half.

Hengesbach would be the recipient of the game's next score, a 37 yard touchdown strike where he skied over tight coverage and fell into the end zone to double P-W's lead. Hengesbach also delivered a devastating dagger to the hopes of Loyola with an incredible interception in the shadow of his end zone early in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback play is one of the many areas where P-W excelled to secure the title. Junior Jimmy Lehman completed his first four passes and finished the day 6-8 for 127 yards and two touchdown passes, he also ran one in on the ground. Senior quarterback Ryan Smith led the Pirates in yards rushing with 18 carries for 81 yards and a score.

On the other side of the field it took until the 4th quarter for Loyola's Price Watkins to complete his first pass, starting the game 0-7 with an interception but finishing 3-3 with 63 yards and a touchdown pass.

Running back extraordinare Jared Smith was kept in check on the day. He carried the ball 20 times for only 48 yards he also had five tackles (four solo). His senior season stat line finishes with 263 carries, 2,576 yards and 38 TD's. For a high school career he tallies 8,185 yards rushing over four seasons of varsity.

Pewamo-Westphalia proved their team mentality where in the face of their superstar getting bottled up, they presevered and had play makers all over the field that showed up when it mattered most. For Pewamo-Westphalia it truly is the perfect end to the perfect season.