The final game of the High School football season came to a close with Detroit Martin Luther King beating Muskegon 56-27.
Martin Luther King
Three-Headed Monster
The King Crusaders had a three-headed monster in the finals and, quite frankly, all season. The trio of Dante Moore, Sterling Anderson, and Jameel Croft Jr was on full display in this one. Croft started the scoring on the opening kickoff as he returned it 96 yards for the score. That would be the first of three touchdowns Croft would score, with the other two coming on passes from Moore. Moore would pass for two more touchdowns, giving him four on the day, and Anderson would rush for two scores. On the night, Moore would finish 21 of 26 for 275 yards and four touchdowns. Anderson would finish with 207 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. He would also add five catches for 58 yards to finish with 265 yards. For Croft, he would rack up 64 yards and two touchdowns on six catches and then add 115 return yards and a touchdown on two tries. Out of that trio, the only one uncommitted to this point is Sterling Anderson. With Dante Moore committed to Oregon, which is up in the air following the departure of offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham for Arizona State, and Jameel Croft Jr committed to Kansas.
Using Your Youth
In the Championship game, King used their youth. Of the nine different people to touch the ball out of the backfield and out of the wide receiver position, six of them will be back next year. Of those six, Damon Stennis, a sophomore, had the most production. Stennis had a score receiving and a score rushing. King will be in good hands at the skill position; they need to find a replacement for Dante Moore.
Bonus: Down in the History Books
With the state title game, two members of the King Crusaders went into the history books. Dante Moore finished with the most touchdown passes in his career in state history with 130, and his 9,862 passing yards in his career are good for second most. The other in the record books is Jameel Croft Jr. For Croft, his five interceptions returned for a touchdown is the second most in a season. Congrats to both of these players for going down in the record books.
Muskegon
Run It Back
Muskegon will be able to run it back next season; they are graduating two offensive linemen and four defensive starters. However, Muskegon will return their big offensive weapons in quarterback M’Khi Guy and running backs Jakob Price and Destin Piggee. Guy rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns; while he only attempted four passes, he completed two of them for 97 yards and a touchdown. Price rushed for a touchdown, and Piggee caught the only passing touchdown of the night: a 71-yard score. With those three back, the offense should stay where it was this year, if not be even more advanced. Next season looks bright for the Big Reds of Muskegon.