DeWitt hands first Petoskey football loss in Division 3 region

DEWITT — The Petoskey football team has known only one emotion after games through 11 weeks of the 2024 season.

The person they were trying to avoid finally showed up in DeWitt Friday night.

Facing the 1st place team in the Division 3 regional championship, DeWitt lost to Petoskey for the first time in the final, 70-34.

The loss capped an 11-1 season for Petoskey; this was the most wins ever for a Northern team who only now knew the pain of a defeat.

“This group is a special group,” Petoskey coach Jim Webb said. “There’s no season like we’ve had without a special group. They showed their fight again tonight. It hurts. It hurts a lot, but that’s half the battle. They didn’t think too big about it.” a moment.”

DeWitt improves to 12-0 with the win and advances to face Zeeland West (11-1) in next week’s semifinal matchup.

The night came with one great trick after another; Between the two, six field goals were scored from 45 yards or more, including four from over 60 yards. The two teams also combined for 1,243 yards of offense.

The game also came with the Panthers taking a 35-7 advantage at halftime, before the Northmen scored 21 unanswered points to make the score 35-28 midway through the third quarter.

DeWitt then went on a 28-0 run of his own, finishing bottom of the pack on the defensive end.

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High power attack

Averaging just over 55 points per game, the Panthers have shown what surprising numbers they can put up all season long.

A number of big plays came early for the Panthers; Traverse Moore ran for a 65-yard field goal and Abram Larner ran for a 55-yard touchdown followed by an 89-yard reverse for a touchdown.

Elliott Larner finished the night with five touchdowns, rushed for 131 yards and passed for another 135 yards. Moore added two scores with 165 yards on the ground and Abram Larner had a pair of touchdowns on 202 yards on the ground.

The Panthers alone had 668 yards of offense.

“They are a good offensive team,” Webb said. “We knew this was going to come in. We were hoping we could pick up a few more stops and get everyone game.”

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Sulitis breaks records

As good as DeWitt’s quarterbacks performed Friday night, Petoskey quarterback Korbin Sulitis maintained his best performance of the season on the biggest stage.

Sulitis ran the ball 24 times for 361 yards and four touchdowns, scoring on runs of 45, 74, 2 and 85.

The 361 yards came just six yards away and seven yards shy of breaking the single-game record of 367 set by Brent Murray in 2014.

But the total set a new school record for yards in a season with 1,949 yards, surpassing Joe Robbins’ 1,769 yards in 11 games in 2011. His 27 field goals are also the second most of all time.

“He deserves it,” Webb said of his QB. “You won’t find another kid that works harder than him, and I think every kid on the team will tell you that. He just works his tail off in the weight room.”

Sulitis rushed for 888 yards during the playoffs alone and has surpassed 200 yards every week since the regular season finale.

In addition to Friday night’s rushing game, Sulitis added 165 yards on 13 of 24 passes with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Mitch Eberhart had seven catches for 127 yards, while Ely Pethers had two catches for 28 yards and a score.

History is made

It’s not enough to say that seasons like the one Petoskey puts together don’t often come along.

The Petoskey football program has never experienced a season like the one Petoskey is experiencing.

Neither team started the season 11-0, and they became the fifth team in program history to go 9-0 in the regular season.

The Northerners also finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press statewide poll.

Webb said of his team: “The kids are obviously great football players, but they’re a great group of guys and they work hard.” “This is a pretty talented, tight-knit group. It’s tough to look at it tonight, but it’s going to sink further over the next few weeks and years.”

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Along with Sulitis’ grades, seniors Haden Janes, Mitch Eberhart and Seth Marek also claimed offensive or defensive spots in the PHS record books.

The team also set a new program record with 489 points scored in a season, surpassing its previous mark of 390 points.

Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected] or send game stats/information. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article first appeared in The Petoskey News-Review: No. 1 DeWitt ends Petoskey’s perfect season in D3 region