Junior Chase Paulus kicks a 50-yard FG in the Cranbrook victory. (S. Fairman, Photo)
The Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Cranes won their season opener on the road 41-0 against the Pontiac Phoenix. This marks the 9th straight season opener victory for Cranbrook.
The Cranes began their scoring on a 5-yard run by senior Jack Fairman to take a 7-0 lead early at 8:52 the first quarter.
The Cranbrook defense forced a safety with Pontiac pinned deep in their end zone. The Cranes went up 9-0 with 3:32 left in the 1st quarter.
Junior Chase Paulus kicked a 50-yard field goal at the :32 mark to make it 12-0 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, senior Anthony Vespa picked up a fumble and ran 4 yards for a scoop-and-score touchdown.
The Cranes led 19-0 at the 9:25 mark in the 2nd quarter.
Vespa caught a 20-yard TD pass from sophomore QB Shane Wittenburg to push the score to 26-0 with 8:19 left in the 2nd quarter.
Wittenberg scored on a 15-yard QB scamper to make the score 32-0 at the 5:44 mark in the 2nd quarter.
Jacob Peruski had a 23-yard interception and returned it for a touchdown to make the score 41-0 at the 2:13 left in the half to give the margin of victory.
“We were able to get going early and make some plays,” said Cranes Head Coach Ben Jones in the first victory of his career. “Pontiac has some good athletes that have big play ability. We were glad to match up with them and compete.”
Pontiac High drew a large crowd last night to view the opening game.
“It was a good atmosphere with lots of support from the community”, said Coach Jones. “It was good night for high school football.”
The Cranes will open their CHSL schedule next week against UD Jesuit on the road.