It was Division 6 drama on Saturday at Midland in the highly anticipated Division 6 semifinal showdown between two undefeated teams: Ithaca and Montrose.
At the end, it was a missed extra point by Montrose that sealed a 21-20 victory for Ithaca and sent the Yellowjackets, winners of 55 straight games, to the title game Friday at Ford Field against 13-0 Clinton. Ithaca led 7-0 after the first quarter and it was 7-7 at halftime. Both teams scored seven points in the third and Ithaca had a 7-6 advantage in the fourth against horrible wintry conditions.
Travis Smith was 17-of-26 in passing for 258 yards and three touchdowns including a 67-yarder to Logan Hessbrook, who had eight catches for 183 yards and two touchdowns, Josh Hafner had four catches for 48 yards and Eli Villalobos three catches for 19 yards and one touchdown. The Ithaca rushing attack netted only 28 yards. Montrose kept Brian Shaw to minus three yards rushing. Smith had 28 yards on 16 carries.
A key stat was that Alex Vanderploeg made all three PATs for Ithaca while Montrose missed one.