Colon wins top-5 matchup over Climax-Scotts, 25-20

Colon football coach Robbie Hattan has a bit of an allergy to bee stings.

Ironic then, that Hattan, whose Magi came into Friday’s matchup with fifth-ranked Climax-Scotts, found himself with a baseball-sized reaction on his neck before the game. Hattan, who was giving former Colon alumni a tour of their facility, was stung by a bee during the process. Assistant coach Rocky Alva was able to pluck the stinger from the sting site and things went on as planned for Colon.

The second-ranked Magi won a slugfest over visiting Climax-Scotts in a battle of Top 5 teams in Division 2 for 8-player football, 25-20.

“Our kids did a heck of a job stepping up when we needed them to,” Hattan said following the game, which was Homecoming for the Magi and featured fireworks. “Our defense was a bend but don’t break tonight. Simon Vinson, great pass there at the end to pick up a first down.”

Colon led the game, 25-20, with fewer than three minutes remaining in the game when the Magi got the football back for the final time. The Magi were facing a third and medium with under two minutes to go and almost everybody in attendance knew Justin Wickey, the standout wide receiver for Colon, was probably going to get the throw his way.

However, Colon called a different play. Vinson tossed the ball over the linebackers, who both stepped up in an attempt to stop a Wickey catch over the middle, right to Conner Hetman.

“Well, both linebackers were coming up, we knew they were keying on Justin there for this quick little hitch route,” Vinson said. “I knew if I just tossed it up to Conner, he was going to be able to run under it and make the catch.”

Hetman secured the catch before being smothered by Climax-Scotts tacklers. Yet, the yardage was more than enough for a first down. The Magi faced 3rd-and-8 on the play, but the pass went for 22 yards, forcing Climax-Scotts to call its second to last timeout. Three kneel-downs later, the second-ranked Magi had secured a 25-20 victory.

“Plenty of confidence in him to catch that ball,” Vinson said of Hetman.

Wickey and Colon got the Panthers’ best effort on the night. Climax-Scotts ran its methodical offense, churning out yards on the ground repeatedly and keeping Wickey and the Magi offense off the field.

For the game, Climax-Scotts held an impressive 33:03-14:57 edge in time of possession.

But when Colon had the football, it scored when it needed to. The Magi finished with a small advantage in total yardage at 298-277. Climax-Scotts ran the football for 202 yards at an average of four yards per carry on 50 attempts. QB Daniel Matrau did the bulk of that running with 20 carries for 76 yards. He scored twice in the game. Luke Lawrence and David Clough each carried the football 13 times for 121 yards total.

Vinson and Wickey hooked up six times through the air for 102 yards. One of those catches was a touchdown. So far this season, Wickey has hauled in 20 touchdowns through the air.

“Everybody in the state now knows that Justin Wickey is the best wide receiver in the state of Michigan,” Hattan said. “But we still also had to do a good job of spreading the ball around because of that.”

Kyle Muntain caught three passes for 16 yards, Owen Wilson caught two for 49 and a touchdown and Hetman hauled in two passes for 33 yards.

“Owen Wilson, shout out to him on his first receiving touchdown on varsity,” Hattan said.

Climax-Scotts took the lead early in the game. Well, early as in the first quarter anyway. The Panthers received the opening kickoff and marched it down the field. The opening drive took 18 plays and went 79 yards for an impressive 9:08 off the clock. It ended in Matrau’s first TD.

Colon, though, would score less than two minutes later on a 1-yard TD plunge from Tucker Lafler that capped off a 5-play, 56-yards drive that lasted 1:35.

After the ensuing kickoff, Matrau fumbled on the first play for the Panthers’ next drive. Colon immediately found the end zone on a 40-yard TD pass from Vinson to Wilson. That made the game 12-6.

Colon would take an 18-6 edge a handful of plays later. Once the Magi got the football back again following a Climax-Scotts three-and-out, they scored in two plays. The first was a 48-yard run from Vinson, the second was another 1-yard TD plunge from Lafler.

The 18-6 edge for Colon held up to halftime and deep into the third quarter.

Lawrence found the end zone on a 3-yard run for the Panthers at the 2:16 mark of the third. It ended a 12-play, 81-yard drive that took 6:34 off the clock, making the game 18-14.

Each team would score in the fourth quarter.

Colon struck first on a 10-yard TD from Vinson to Wickey. That capped a 9-play drive that lasted 4:57 and went 64 yards. Colon led 25-14 after Alessandro Vanalli booted the extra point through.

Climax-Scotts continued to churn out yards and would eventually score with 2:20 remaining in the game. This was Matrau’s second touchdown of the night and capped a 12-play, 56-yard drive that went 6:54.

Colon would recover the onsides kick and eventually picked up the game-winning first down through the air from Vinson to Hetman. Vinson, who took many big hits in the game, said he was a bit tender, but the win was still more important.

“I had some personal stuff, got banged up a little bit and that didn’t make me too happy, so I had to regroup,” he said. “This team did what we had to do tonight. We all rallied to the ball tonight and got it done.”

Vinson led the Magi on the ground with 59 yards, Lafler ran it nine times for 36.

Through the air, Vinson threw a couple of interceptions, but also tossed it for 200 yards and two scores.

The Magi defense, which was on the field for 67 plays, was led by Maverick Downs with 18 tackles. Lafler made 16 stops in the game and recovered a fumble, Wickey totaled 12 tackles and Wilson added nine. Chuck Wagner and Hetman both were in on seven stops.

“We knew this game would be a dogfight tonight, Climax-Scotts is a damn good football team,” Hattan said. “They’re very well coached and we knew they were going to be physical. They want to win the battle at every point, so kudos to them for a great game.”

Colon, now 6-0 on the season, is in the driver’s seat for the league title. The Magi own victories over 1-loss Climax-Scotts and Adrian Lenawee Christian. Those two schools still have to play each other in two weeks. The Magi hit the road next week, traveling to Gaylord to play Eben Junction Superior Central in a non-league contest.