Forest Hills Central wears down Trojans

By MIKE ECKERT
meckert@record-eagle.com

August 29, 2008 10:42 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- The construction at Thrilby Field wasn't quite ready for the 2008 season opener Friday.

Neither was Traverse City Central.

The Trojans struggled to move the chains on offense and Grand Rapids Forest Hills took advantage for a 28-7 non-conference win.

"A lot of credit goes to Forest Hills Central," Trojans coach Tom Passinault said. "They wore us down and executed their option offense very well. Looking back, we had some missed opportunities, but they're a better team than we are right now."

Traverse City (0-1) scored first, but gave up 28 unanswered points.

Forest Hills made it 14-7 at the half and iced it with a late touchdown drive in the fourth quarter for the 28-8 final.

"I'm a little surprised that we were able to hold them off that well on offense because of how big they are and how physical they are," Rangers coach Rusty Erander said. "We're in fairly decent shape, so I knew if we could hold even with them, when we came out for the second half we'd be okay."

All four Forest Hills scores came from quarterback Alex Chopp. The third-year starter finished with 21 carries for 145 yards and three TDs while also going 5-for-8 through the air for 111 yards with a pick and a touchdown.

"I think we played great as a team," Chopp said. "We worked so hard in the off-season just for this night. That's what made the difference."

Chopp, who is being recruited by Princeton, set a career best with the three rushing touchdowns. But, the highlight was a 62-yard pass to Nick Rodriguez with 12 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 21-7.

"We work on that play all time," Chopp said. "We know in cover-3 the safety's got a tough job, especially with our four verticals. We know he's got to choose, so we come off and throw the other way."

Passinault wasn't surprised with how well Chopp played, after having a strong performance last year in a 17-7 win over TC Central.

"He was the starter last year and he hurt us," Passinault said. "He did a great job tonight. We had to take some chances to stop their run game and they found that and hit that long pass."

The Trojans scored their touchdown early in the second quarter when sophomore quarterback Mack Sovereign dove in from a yard out. The drive was kept alive by a 6-yard scamper from Jacob Borysiak on fourth-and-one at midfield.

Offensive highlights were limited in the second half, where TC Central was held to three first-downs and three turnovers.

"We're very young at the skill positions, and that showed today," Passinault said. "I don't know whether it was the bright lights or what, but it was just one game. We're not going to put much emphasis on it."

Sovereign was 3-for-15 for 40 yards with a pick while Borysiak had eight carries for 76 yards.

"We've got to be better on first down and more consistent," Passinault said. "There were a lot of first game errors."

One highlight was senior Marrek Lacey, who punted five times with a 57-yarder that dropped at the Forest Hills 2-yard line.

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