Mistakes costly for Brighton in loss — with archived broadcast

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NORTHVILLE — Football is a game of numbers, and one number stood out to Brighton coach Brian Lemons after his team’s 20-10 loss at Northville on Thursday night.

That number was four, the amount of turnovers the Bulldogs had.

“If you turn the football over, you lose,” Lemons said, emphatically. “And deserve to lose. So I’m OK with that.”

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The turnover that likely hurt the most came in the third quarter.

Brighton employs two punters, the left-footed Cameron Tullar and the right-footed Rudy Ramirez. When one gets the ball, he rolls out left or right with the other blocking for him.

The Bulldogs had the ball on fourth down on their own 23 late in the third quarter.

Both dropped back, but when the ball was snapped, each thought the other was kicking the ball and took off to block.

Three Northville players followed the ball to the end zone and when it crossed the goal line, Caleb Sheehan fell on it to give the Mustangs a 17-7 lead, the second touchdown of the quarter for Northville.

“They had no idea what they were doing,” Lemons said of his punters. “A lack of communication, and you’re going to make a mistake.

“It’s never happened before,” he added. “Not in practice. Not in a game.”

Tullar and Ramirez were a big part of Brighton’s offense in the first half, connecting for the first score of the game on a 45-yard bomb near the end of the first quarter.

Cameron threw a really nice ball,” Ramirez said. “It was on the money, and I just capped it off with a nice catch and run. Can’t ask much about that.”

The Bulldogs led 7-3 at halftime and had stymied the Mustangs for much of the half.

In the second half, Northville entrusted the ball to quarterback Jack Burke, who was 6-for-6 passing in the second half and ketp the Brighton defense honest by gaining 51 tough yards on the ground on 15 carries.

“He’s a tough kid,” Lemons said. “He probably carried the darn thing a million times. He earned every yard. It was great. A nice job by him.”

Brighton rebounded after the punting snafu by switching quarterbacks, putting Will Jontz in the game. He led the Bulldogs to a Ramirez field goal on his first series, but threw an interception to end Brighton’s last drive.

“Those two guys have done a great job of cooperating at quarterback,” Lemons said. “I’m not disappointed in their play at all.”

“We just have to get better,” he said. “Mentally, we have to get as sharp as we are physically. I don’t think we lack anything in the physicality department. Mentally, we’re hurting ourselves now.”

 

The Bulldogs have the weekend off before reconvening on Monday to prepare for their home opener against Westland John Glenn.

“We gotta get over it and we gotta get next week,” Ramirez said. “It’s one loss.”

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