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With an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter Friday night, it appeared host Allen Park Cabrini would cruise to a victory over Dearborn Advanced Tech Academy in its season opener.
However, the visiting Lakers scored two quick touchdowns to trail by just four points with just over six minutes remaining.
Dear Born Advanced Tech by Allen Park Cabrini Football Photo Gallery
Getting the ball back, Cabrini went on a drive that would run out the clock. With ATA getting one last chance, the Monarchs held on for a 42-38 victory in the non-league battle.
The game was a back-and-forth affair throughout, with ATA pulling within four points in the third quarter.
“At the end of the day, they dug deep and said we’re going to win this thing, we just have to get one or two stops,” Cabrini coach Randy Wojtala said. “They stepped up and made things happen when they needed to. If they had done that in the first and second quarters, it would have saved us a lot of headaches.”
Royals quarterback Carson Bradley threw two touchdowns and ran for two scores in the win over the Lakers, while teammates Owen Tomcic and Aleksandar Thompson each entered the end zone twice. Tomsic was also 4-for-5 kicking PATs.
For the Lakers, Cobey Cureton had a big night as he threw for four touchdowns and over 200 all-purpose yards.
Frank Wladyslawski – MediaNews Group
Cobey Cureton of Dearborn Advanced Tech celebrates after scoring one of Cabrini’s four touchdowns on Friday at Allen Park. The visiting Lakers made a late comeback attempt but ultimately fell short 42-38. (Frank Wladislavski – Media News Group)
Cureton, a sophomore, is one of several young players suiting up for ATA in 2021 as it looks to bounce back from an 0-9 season.
“I’m very proud of my guys,” Lakers coach Marlon Baker said. “To improve from last year, not winning a game … I feel like this is a big team that we’re up against, if we can play with them, we can play with anybody.
Cabrini immediately took a 7-0 lead in the contest when Thompson returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a score.
ATA’s Christian Calloway scored on a short run with 4:50 left in the first quarter. The PAT was blocked, and the team trailed 7-6.
Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Lakers 40-yard line. The nice return, combined with a big carry from Tomcic, helped set up Bradley’s touchdown run from six yards out. Cureton blocked the punt, and the Monarchs were up 13-6.
Cureton then scored the ensuing kickoff, rushing 75 yards to the end zone to pull the team within one point.
Returning the ball, Bradley Tomsic found himself open for a big gain and soon hit it for a 25-yard touchdown in the final seconds of the first quarter.
Bradley connected with Thompson for a 50-yard touchdown five minutes into the second quarter. Linebacker Ben Maffesoli (6-3,285) took the ball and converted a 2-pointer to make it 28-12.
This year, Bradley, Tomcic and Mfesoli are three of five seniors listed on the Royals’ roster.
“We’re really young, there’s a lot of learning to go on here,” Wojtala said. As long as we keep improving week by week, we can be competitive all year long.
“We have to improve, and that’s one thing we have to do. “We have to make better decisions offensively and defensively.”
With five minutes left in the first half, Cureton took a pass from quarterback Derewan Polk ahead of Cabrini’s defenders. Three minutes later, Cureton scored on a 12-yard scamper. After a failed 2-point conversion attempt, ATA finally went into the break trailing 28-18.
Frank Wladyslawski – MediaNews Group
Dearborn High Tech quarterback Derewan Polk runs the ball during Friday night’s game at Allen Park Cabrini. Polk and the Chargers gave the Royals a fight but lost 42-38. (Frank Wladislavski – Media News Group)
With about eight minutes left in the third quarter, the Lakers’ Julian Jones hit Paydirt on a short run to cut the deficit to four points following a missed layup.
“This team is going to keep fighting,” Baker said. “I have a lot of young men here. These young men are hungry, they are going to keep fighting. They believe in themselves. We battled, we had a lot of 7-on-7s in the finals, we competed well, so we were hungry, we got something special here.
The Monarchs extended their lead when Bradley connected with Tomcic for a 34-yard touchdown before the end of the third quarter.
Just as the final quarter began, Cabrini’s Logan VanNorden scampered 28 yards into Laker territory. Less than a minute later, Bradley scored his second rush of the night and the home team had what looked like a 42-24 lead with 10:45 left.
Two minutes later, Cureto struck again. This time, the All-State track runner sprinted across the finish line. Polk cashed in on the 2-point conversion to make it a 10-point game.
With exactly 6:16 left in regulation, Cureton got open and took a 66-yard touchdown from Polk. A failed 2-point conversion cut the score to 42-38.
Looking to run out the clock, the Monarchs got two first downs and were aided by a personal foul call against the Lakers.
On a second-down play, deep in ATA territory, Cabrini had trouble snapping and ended up in a 3rd-and-16 situation with 1:23 left in the game. The Monarchs were unable to get one more first down, but ran the clock to 19 seconds before running it down.
Looking to score, the Lakers offense failed to get off the field on first down. Polk put the ball away with 0.6 seconds on the clock to give his team one last chance. The signal caller got the ball but was picked off by Nicholas Bakela to end the game.
In Week 2, the Monarchs will go on the road against Sterling Heights Parkway Christian on Thursday, September 1 at 7 p.m. The same night, ATA will host Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest at Lawrence Tech.
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