MHSAA football live score: Orchard Lake St. Mary's vs. Byron Center for Division 2 title

MHSAA football live score: Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. Byron Center for Division 2 title

Posted by Admin November 30, 2024 Football

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Byron Center face off in the Division 2 MHSAA state championship to close the first day of title games at Ford Field.

Byron Center is playing for the state championship for the first time in school history. The Bulldogs (12-1) avenged their only loss this season in the playoffs and handled East Lansing in the semifinals for their first Ford Field appearance.

St. Mary’s (10-3) knocked off Birmingham Groves in overtime, led by Michigan State running back commit Bryson Williams, to advance to the state championship for the first time since winning three straight Division 3 titles from 2014-16. It also has two other Spartans commits for the 2025 recruiting class: linebacker Charles White and tight end Jayden Savoury.

Watch MHSAA finals live on Fubo (free trial)

Follow along below as Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Byron Center battle it out for the Division 2 championship at Ford Field.

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s vs. Byron Center Division 2 state championship live updates, highlights

St. Mary’s delivered the first big defensive play to flip the script on the close battle. On third-and-10 from its 26, Byron Center dialed up a rollout pass with Tungate trying to hit Isaac Lee down the sideline, but Harrington got around the right edge of the line and smoked Tungate as he got ready to throw to force a fumble. Defensive tackle Kyrie Williams scooped it and returned the fumble to the 3-yard line to set up Williams’ second rushing touchdown, a handoff right up the middle, to go up by eight.

The only thing that separates the Division 2 finalists after 24 minutes of action is a Bulldogs’ missed extra point. Both teams leaned heavily on the running game, leading to success, and found the end zone twice.

Byron Center had 154 total yards, with 138 coming on the ground, and two touchdowns from Cam and Kellen Payne. The Bulldogs popped a few big plays to spur the scoring. St. Mary’s has had a more methodical approach, leading to 187 total yards and 179 of those coming on the ground with touchdowns from Darrin Jones and Bryson Williams.

St. Mary’s stuck to their rushing philosophy and reached the end zone with eight runs to cover 47 yards. At the 12-yard line, Williams took a jet sweep left, cut inside of his outside blocker and then stopped on a dime to make the last man miss and walk in for a touchdown. Williams had two carries for 18 yards for the drive, while Darrin Jones chipped in 13 yards and Richard Goike and Lorenzo Barber combined for 16 yards on three carries.

The Bulldogs decided to pull out some trickery on fourth-and-7 from its own 47. The Bulldogs lined up in a traditional punt formation but snapped it to the up-back, quarterback Landon Tungate, who fired into the flat. But the St. Mary’s gunners were ready and De’Mari Hendrix got in front to knock the ball incomplete. Byron Center got one first down on a Cam Payne run, but a false start put them behind in the next set of downs.

Byron Center’s defense got its first stop of the game by stuffing Darrin Jones on a fourth-and-3 run at the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line. St. Mary’s got backed up behind the sticks with an illegal shift, and then couldn’t create enough push for Jones off the right side to create a hole big enough to gain three yards. Luke Laska and Isaac Lee were in on the tackle for Byron Center.

On third-and-five from its own 40, Byron Center got a 4-yard scramble from quarterback Landon Tungate to set up a fourth-and-1 from its own 44. Byron Center called a timeout to get the right play, a sweep right to Cam Payne, who got to the edge and made one defensive back miss before taking off down the sideline for a 56-yard rushing touchdown. Byron Center missed the extra point to keep the lead at six points.

It’s been relatively even between the Division 2 finalists in the first 12 minutes. Byron Center scored a touchdown on its opening drive, and St. Mary’s answered with one of their own three minutes later. Byron Center faces a third-and-5 from its own 40 on the first play of the second quarter.

St. Mary’s had an immediate answer by running it on every play to go 62 yards in nine plays. Darrin Jones got the final handoff on a power run right out of a tight T-formation, followed his blockers through the hole, and then got pushed over the goal line for the touchdown. Quarterback Axel Newell had three scrambles for 19 yards to extend the drive, Jones carried it twice in the red zone for 16 yards and Bryson Williams popped a 20-yard rush.

Byron Center started its drive with a 36-yard run from sophomore back Cam Payne, who made two defenders miss on the second level to reach the St. Mary’s 25-yard line. The Bulldogs then faced a fourth-and-5 from the St. Mary’s 20, and converted with a Landon Tungate scramble for 11 yards. On the next play, senior running back Kellen Payne took a handoff wide left and cut up outside of the offensive line into the end zone for a 9-yard score.

St. Mary’s got the ball first but had to punt. The Eaglets picked up three first downs with 41 rushing yards, but came up empty with its first pass on a third down.

Due to earlier games running long, the Division 2 state championship was slightly delayed in getting started. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s is receiving the opening kickoff.

Division 2 state championship kickoff time, TV channel

TV channel: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit Extra.
Streaming live: On Fubo with free trial.
Start time: 7 p.m.
Where: Ford Field, Detroit.
Tickets: They can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com or at mhsaa.com. All seats are general admission and get you into all four championship games on Day 2, Saturday. A ticket costs $20.