The Mason Bulldogs met the Detroit King Crusaders in the semifinals for a third straight season. They say the third time’s the charm, and that was true in this one as Mason beat King 26-20 at Chelsea High School to make it to their first State Championship in school history.
King
Penalties…..Again
The penalty bug moved from River Rouge to King after the game last week. King was flagged ten times in the loss to Mason. The biggest flag of the game came with 44 seconds left when they were flagged for holding. The holding call negated a big gain on a pass from Darryl Flemister to Kavon Matthews that would have given King the ball deep on the Mason side of the field. It will go down as a big what-if for King.
Leaving It All On The Field
Freshman Quarterback Darryl Flemister left it all on the field in the loss. Flemister finished the game with 215 yards and three touchdowns on 14 of 30 passing. He also added 20 yards on nine carries. Flemister truly did leave it all on the field in this one, as he had to be carted off after the game. Teams, however, should start to take notice of the Freshman as he’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and making it to the semifinals this year will only make him a better player in the long run.
Mason
Home Field Advantage?
The Mason Bulldogs fans turned Chelsea’s stadium, a neutral site, into Mason South. Mason packed the stands, and they were loud all game for their boys. The Mason community is wholly in their team’s corner, and they made it known in the victory over King.
Third Time’s The Charm
There is an old saying, “Two efforts at something have already failed, but perhaps the third will be successful,” which was the case in this one. In the last two years, King was 46-7 and 52-17, but Mason could put what they learned from the previous two years into use in their 26-20 this year. While it didn’t look like a dominant win for Mason, and they were down by a field goal at the half, it felt like Mason was in control the whole time.
Heart and Soul
Cason Carswell might be the heart and soul of the Mason bulldogs; if he isn’t, he’s one of the leaders. Carswell finished the game 14 of 22 for 218 yards and two touchdowns. While he got injured in the third quarter, he didn’t miss the whole drive and could hobble back into the game, lead his team down the field, and find Tyler Baker for the 25-yard score. Carswell played injured for the rest of the game but managed to gut out the last quarter and a half.