GAYLORD---For most of the day on Saturday, it didn't look good for the Menominee High School football team. The Maroons trailed by as many as 15 points in their MHSAA Division Seven state semifinal game, turned the ball over three times, and had a hard time running the ball against the Pewamo-Westphalia Pirates.
But in the closing seconds, two words: Dawson Bardowski.
Bardowski made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone, hauling down a high Tanner Theuerkauf pass for a 24-yard touchdown, giving the Maroons the lead with 26 seconds left in the game. An interception by Maverick Geniesse ended an incredible game, and sending Menominee to the state championship game at Detroit's Ford Field next Sunday morning.
“Dawson texted me last night and told me to give him a chance if it comes down to it,” Theuerkauf said. “That is exactly what I did. I know most of the time he is going to come down with that ball, and he did.”
Menominee actually took a 6-0 lead on a four-yard run by Clayton Miller, but the Maroons offense was stymied the rest of the first half. Pewamo, meanwhile, got its game in gear, scoring 21 straight points to take a 21-6 lead into the halftime break.
The Maroons fumbled the ball twice, leading to a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Ty Thelen of 50 and 17 yards, one to Trent Piggott and the other to Caleb Blyth, plus a seven-yard touchdown run by Alex Nurenberg. So Menominee was in a 15-point hole.
The Pirates had the ball to start the second half, but the Maroons got a key defensive stop. That gave the offense a chance, and Miller scored his second touchdown of the day on a three-yard run. A pass from Bardowski to Landon Daigneau brought the Maroons to within 21-14.
Pewamo answered, however. Theuerkauf had intercepted a Thelen pass late in the third quarter, but Thelen got his revenge ten seconds into the fourth quarter when he hit Piggott with a 73-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good for the fourth time, and it was 28-14.
The Maroons were far from dead. Theuerkauf hooked up with Bardowski for a ten-yard touchdown pass to bring Menominee to within 28-20, but the two-point conversion play did not work (again). The defense came up with another stop, and Theuerkauf went to work again, this time hitting Nathan Komp with a 48-yard touchdown pass, making it 28-26.
The two-point play to tie the game failed again, so Menominee was still behind.
A Thelen-to-Piggott 48-yard pass set the Pirates up at the Menominee 30 yard-line with a chance to ice the game. But the Maroons defense stopped Pewamo on two short runs and two incomplete passes, giving Menominee one last chance to steal the victory.
Menominee was in a tough 3rd-and-14 situation but a pass interference penalty saved the day, putting the Maroons on the Pirates 35 yard-line. Three plays later, Bardowski made that incredible leaping catch to put the Maroons in front, much to the delight of the large Menominee crowd that flooded the Gaylord High School stands.
Thelen had 22 carries, 151 yards rushing to lead the Pirates. In the air, he threw for another 220 yards, and three touchdowns, although he also threw three interceptions.
For Menominee, Theuerkauf completed 17-of-27 passes for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. That gives him 25 touchdowns for the season, breaking the old Maroons record set by Theuerkauf's older brother, Trevor, who is now the quarterback of the Northern Michigan University Wildcats.
And so, the Maroons will head down Interstate 75 again next week, but a few hours further south than this time. Destination: Detroit. Motor City. Ford Field.
“It means the world to me to go back to Ford Field,” Theuerkauf said. “We all love each other, and we all have the same mindset. There is no better feeling right now.”
“Going back to Ford Field means everything,” Komp said. “We've been working all year for this, and to accomplish it means everything. It is so surreal.”
Menominee (13-0) will face Schoolcraft in the state championship game Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. CT. It will be broadcast live on FM-103.7 in Menominee, and on FM-107.3 in Escanaba.
