Five For Fighting - Down To The Wire

Five For Fighting – Best Football Final Four Outings on Saturday

1 Grant Niemiec (OL St. Mary's) – The Eaglets' junior FACTOR BACK was a straight menace against upstart Battle Creek Harper Creek, rushing for 145 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with less than 50 seconds to play, and making eight tackles on defense

2 (tie) James Ross (OL St. Mary's) – One word; DEVASTATING. St. Mary's All-American linebacker showed off his Blue Chip status by absolutely destroying everything in his vicinity, racking up a game-high 18 tackles in only three quarters of play in the Eaglets 14-10 come from behind victory over Harper Creek.

2 (tie) Devin Church (Birmingham Brother Rice) – The leader of the Warriors' PRIMETIME POSSEE backfield busted up the Detroit King 'D' for 225 yards on the ground and one touchdown in Brother Rice's 27-26 nail-biter of a win.

3 Luke Cherocchi & Sergio Perkovic (Birmingham Brother Rice) – This tenacious Rice defensive tandem joined forces late in the Warriors' victory to snuff out a potentially game-winning 2-point conversion attempt by King star Dennis Norfleet.

4 Kyle Cooper (Novi Detroit Catholic Center) – Once again showing off his big-play ability under center, my boy KC tossed two COOP-A-LOOPS aka touchdowns, including the contest-clinching 8-yard scoring connection with junior tailback Anthony Darkangelo in OT of the Shamrocks 23-20 defeat of fellow state powerhouse Rockford.

5 Kyle Bambard (WL Western) – Continued to show why he's one of the top playmakers in the state's Class of 2014, throwing for a career-high 341 yards and 4 TDS in Western's heartbreaking 42-35 overtime loss at the hands of Lowell. Also an ace placekicker - one of the best in the NATION for his age grade - banged home a 47-yard field goal as time expired in regulation to force the extra session.