Ravenna Destroys Merrill in Regional Football Final 77- 49 11-14-09
Things looked good for Merrill after going up by two touchdowns to start the game.
After a gutsy onside kick recovery by Merrill on the first play of the game Merrill drove the ball down field. Nate Tack threw a 7-yard TD pass to Jimmy Schoof, then connected with Tyler Guthrie on a 36-yard pass, Wood added the PATs for a 14-0 lead. Ravenna answered with two TDs of their own on 56 and 5-yard runs. Merrill responded when Tyler Gross threw a pass to Ryan Eggebrecht for a 79-yard TD. Merrill led 21-14 after the first quarter.
Ravenna added a 2-yard rushing TD, but Tack connected with Guthrie for a 87-yard TD. Ravenna scored two more rushing TDs from 28 and 24-yards for a 35-28 over the Vandals at the half.
Tack got the Vandals on the board again in the third quarter dashing in from 18-yards. Ravenna then got rolling and scored two more rushing TDs and added 9-yard TD pass for a 56-35 lead.
Tack tossed two more TDs, one to Eggebrecht on a 26-yard pass and another to Kyle Mayan on a 17-yard pass. Meanwhile, Ravenna scored three more rushing TDs to put the game away.
Ravenna amassed 580-yards on the ground while Merrill had over 600-yards in the air.
Josh Coburn led the defense with 11-tackles and Brandon Linhart and Tyler Guthrie both tallied 10-tackles each. Nate Tack led the offense completing 24-passes on 47-attempts with 516-yards and 5-TDs. Ryan Eggebrecht had 9-receptions and 2-TDs, Tyler Guthrie had 3-receptions for 104-yards and 2-TDs, Jimmy Schoof had 7-catches for 97-yards and 1-TD, Kyle Mayan recorded 4-catches for 62-yards and 1-TD and Tyler Gross had 2-receptions for 84-yards. Paul Wood booted in 7-PATs.
Merril finishes the season with a 8-4 record and a district title.
Ravenna advances to play Traverse City St. Francis in the state semi-finals.