Tecumseh struggles at Saint Mary Catholic Central

There were no surprises in store for Tecumseh’s head varsity football coach Al Romano as he and his band of Indians traveled to Monroe Saint Mary Catholic Central (SMCC) on Friday, Aug. 29, for the season opener.“It’s nothing we didn’t know, nothing that we didn’t prepare for,’ Romano said after losing the game 35-13. “They just out-executed us.”Romano and the Indians knew the Falcons would be tough to beat at home and had prepared for the worst but did not expect to lose by such a large margin.“We had two weeks. Believe me, we prepared for it. We just had trouble stopping it,” said Romano.The Falcons held the Indians on their first drive of the season after receiving the opening kickoff. Tecumseh received the first penalty, illegal motion, and backed up to a 3rd-and-17 on the Falcon’s 32-yard line. Starting quarterback Jacob Treadway then threw an interception at the five-yard line to end the Indians’ first drive of 2014.“I wasn’t happy with our offensive performance, especially in the red zone,” Romano said. “We had a penalty early in the third quarter in the red zone that killed us. We marched down here early in the fourth quarter and penalty. In the first half we had another Red zone miscue. I mean, you can’t give up points like that to a good team. They’re a good program. They’re a good team and they just beat us in a lot of phases.”On their first play of the game, the Falcon’s Justin Carrabino broke free on an 85-yard run and set the ball on the Indians’ 10-yard line. Falcon quarterback Bryce Windham finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to Travis Vulch. A good point after touchdown kick (PAT) gave SMCC a 7-0 lead with 7:10 remaining in the first quarter.“Look at all the long runs. One long pass. One missed pass on fourth down that we didn’t play that was wide open. And a couple long runs, a fullback trap once, right down the tube,” said Romano. “We played the trap pretty well most the time but, they’re explosive.”After holding the Indians to a 4th-and-8 on their own 15-yard-line, SMCC’s offense began another drive that was completed in the end zone with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Windham to Vulch as time expired from the first quarter clock. The Falcons’ kick went through the uprights and gave SMCC a 14-0 lead.“They made the big plays and we didn’t,” Romano said. “They had trouble in the middle and they found some weaknesses on the edge, I thought. They made big plays. But, that’s their offense though.”Tecumseh’s Mitch Meger put the Indians on the board with 7:32 remaining in the second quarter on a five-yard touchdown run.Both Class B teams went scoreless in the third quarter but the Falcons would go on to add 21 points in the final quarter while the Indians added one touchdown.Carrabino broke free and scored a touchdown for the Falcons on an 85-yard run with 9:52 left in the non-conference game.Windham scored another Falcon touchdown on a quarterback keeper from 50-yards out approximately three and a half minutes later.Two minutes and 16 second after that, Mitchell Lamore added the Falcon’s final touchdown on a 30-yard run to give SMCC a 35-6 lead.Meger scored the final touchdown of the game with 1:37 remaining on a four yard run.Tecumseh exchange student Piet Stohschein connected on the PAT and finished all scoring.“We didn’t quit. That score at the end was a good thing,” Romano said. “Our kicker comes and makes the extra point, after the first [missed] one.“It’s one of those where you just have to go back and look at the film and see what the heck we could improve on.”Tecumseh rushed for 178-yards while SMCC totaled 436 rushing yards. Meger rushed 14 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Indians offense. Wyatt Cadmus had 13 carries for 76 yards while Jabob Treadway had eight carries for another 30 yards.The Indians added 188 yards from passing while SMCC gained 46 yards from the air.Tecumseh’s Jacob Treadway (6-25-1) passed for 70 yards while Jakob Coker (11-16-1) passed for 118 yards.Jimmy Terry had five receptions for 74 yards for the Indians.Landon Pelham led Tecumseh’s defense with 17 tackles, six solo.The Indians’ (0-1) first home game of 2014 is on Friday with Class A’s Thurston High School Eagles (1-0) traveling to Tecumseh. The Eagles are members of the Western Wayne Athletic Association. Game time is 7 p.m.