By Micah Cho, WKTV Sports Intern
East Kentwood, now 9-1, is traveling to Saline for the second round of the Division 1 state football playoffs with a narrow victory over Brighton last Saturday.
The Falcons were able to put 426 yards on the offensive stat sheet. A big contributor to the total yardage is senior wide receiver Stephan Bracey.
“We didn’t really click in the first half,” said Bracey. “We just thought about the bigger prize and executed the best we could.”
And clicked they did. With a juggled pass from quarterback Kyle Dent, Bracey ran for 81 yards in the second quarter which helped contribute to his 108 receiving yards for the game.
Trailing most of the first half, the Falcons were able to tie the game late in the second quarter, 28-28. That’s when East Kentwood head coach Anthony Kimbrough was able to readjust his game plan.
“They showed us some things we hadn’t seen in the (defensive) secondary,” said Kimbrough of Brighton’s passing attack.
With Brighton trailing 31-28 with 20 seconds left on the clock, a 41-yard field goal from Brighton could have tied the game up and sent it into over time. But after three consecutive timeouts, Brighton missed a field goal that would have extended play.
“I was just praying that he missed,” said Kimbrough. “It was a great battle on both sides. You hate for someone to come out as a loser but were fortunate to move on. … But give Brighton credit. They’re a well-coached football team.”
However, at the end of the game, Kimbrough did have some tough love for his players. Falcon quarterback Dent threw for 188 yards. but with three interceptions, and Bracey was a total of -16 yards rushing.
“We can’t play the way we played today and beat Saline, we just can’t,” said Kimbrough. “We have to have our best. We have to play like the team we’ve been all year.”
MaxPreps, a CBS affiliated website dedicated to high school sports, has East Kentwood football ranked 7th in Michigan with Saline behind at 18th.
Just like Brighton, the Falcons have never faced Saline. With an unfamiliar opponent, anything can happen. But for now, Bracey and his teammates are thankful.
“We’re just truly blessed for what happened,” said Bracey.
East Kentwood will be on the road Saturday facing the Saline Hornets, a team that also went 8-1 in the regular season. Saline beat Kalamazoo Central last weekend.
You can check out the MaxPreps state rankings here.
