Tecumseh beats Calvin Christian

Two wins in a row have Tecumseh’s varsity football team pumped up and ready to play its first home game of the season on Friday, Sept. 7 against Ann Arbor Huron.The Indians traveled to Grandville Calvin Christian on Thursday, Aug. 30, and defeated the Calvin Christian Squires 45-20 after a rough start. The 148-mile one-way trip to face the Squires almost wore out the Indians before they even hit the field.Tecumseh coach Al Romano said his offense was especially sluggish in the first half with one problem leading to another before the Indians settled down.“I’m just glad that trip is over because it was quite a deal,” he said. “We really started off sluggish.”Two games were featured in one during the Thursday evening game where the Indians and Squires were basically evenly matched in the first half. Calvin Christian held a seven-point lead in both the first and second quarters but Tecumseh finished the first half with a 17-14 advantage.The Squires opened scoring with an 84-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter before the Indians knotted the game with Dreslinski scoring a touchdown on a two-yard run.Calvin Christian again took the lead early in the second quarter on a 46-yard touchdown pass. The Indians added three points on a 29-yard field goal and took the lead for good on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ben Dreslinski to Spencer Adams with 1:05 remaining in the second quarter. “Our special teams were unbelievable,” said Romano. Casey Hunt hit one of two field goals for the Indians during the game.“He missed the first but nailed the second one,” said Romano. “And he made all of his extra points and punted wonderfully.” Romano added that the one time special teams broke down on a kickoff return Hunt made the big tackle after booting the ball. “He had a great night,” Romano said.The second half belonged to the Indians. Tecumseh added 28 points to the scoreboard before allowing the Squires their only touchdown of the second half on a 46-yard pass while using reserves with just two seconds remaining in the game.Dreslinski threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Adams and a 5-yard TD pass to Eric Eldred to help the Indians close the third quarter up 31-14.Adams ran the ball into the end zone from 10-yards out in the fourth quarter before Luke Marsten intercepted a pass and returned it 15-yards for Tecumseh’s final touchdown.Preston Pelham led Tecumseh’s defense with 10 tackles while John Terry had five.The Indians face Ann Arbor Huron at home on Friday and Romano hopes to have a more balanced attack. “We’ve got to get our running game going somehow,’ said Romano. “Right now we’re a little over 2-to-1 passing to rushing yards and that’s not how we want to play.”The Huron’s have yet to pick up a win and will be itching to leave Indian Stadium with their first of the season. Plymouth Salem beat the Hurons 41-17 and Ypsilanti Lincoln defeated the Hurons 35-14. Tecumseh travels to Lincoln next Friday, Sept. 14.Everything will need to go the way of the Indians right from the start in their upcoming games and Romano feels his Indians are up to the task.While Ann Arbor Huron has a lot more students to draw from than Tecumseh, Romano wouldn’t call his Indians underdogs going into Game 3.“We’ll be back to our regular routine with a full week he said. “We’ll be ready to go Friday but they will put us to the test. We’ve got to go out and play the game hard because it’s not going to be easy.” Tecumseh’s JV football team defeated Grandville Calvin Christian 28-27.Tecumseh’s freshmen team defeated Dearborn Edsel Ford 34-8.