One dropped pass did not lead to another, fortunately, for the Portland Raiders.
Tanner Allison’s 94-yard touchdown pass to Auston Brandt turned out to be the winning score in the 12-9 state championship victory over Grand Rapids West Catholic in Division 5.
Ironically, Brandt dropped the ball on an almost identical play prior to the game-winner.
With Portland leading 6-0, Allison passed to a wide open Brandt at the 50, but Brandt dropped the football. On the next play, Allison, who nearly was sacked before he got off the pass, threw it to Brandt, who hauled it in for a 94-yard touchdown play.
Brandt remembers the words he was thinking when he dropped the ball: “I can’t believe I just did that.”
This is what went through Allison’s mind: “Disappointing. I knew he was a great receiver, and I knew he could shake it off.”
When he saw the next pass coming his way, this went through Brandt’s mind: “I need to redeem myself. I need to redeem my teammates. I had confidence in my team and in myself.”
When Brandt caught the ball, these were Allison’s thoughts: “That picked my heart up a little bit. He always makes plays. I trust him.”
After his drop, “[Allison] told me to go back out there and do what I’ve been doing all season,” Brandt said. “I don’t think [the next pass attempt] was the same play we ran.”
“Their kid made an amazing play when he’s down for a sack and throws a 94-yard touchdown,” West Catholic coach Dan Rohn said. “Their ability to throw the ball was better than I anticipated. Their quarterback’s a special kid. But he’s a senior. We knew [Brandt] had some speed and could make some plays.”
“I saw them blitz and I knew the play was blowing up right away,” Allison said. “I was getting tackled and I was trying to throw the ball away. He happened to be there. I saw him, so I knew I had to throw it somewhat close. He caught it and just ran like he always does.”
“We have a great passing game,” Portland coach John Novara said. “I’m just too stubborn to throw it. Tanner’s a great quarterback and we have some great receivers. We probably should put the ball in the air a little more. But Tanner was injured for the first three games and didn’t play a ton. We want to run first, but we do have some great receivers. Tanner can put the ball on the money and is calm under pressure.”
Brandt caught four passes for 178 yards. He also had a reception in which he and a teammate nearly collided while going after the ball. It was hard to tell which of the two was the intended receiver.
“We’re primarily a run team,” Brandt said. “We know we’re good at passing. We have a good quarterback.”
From the beginning of the season, Brandt felt strongly that this could be a special year for the Raiders.
“Every win, we battled every game and came out on top. It was awesome,” he said. “Right from the beginning, we had no doubt.”
“Starting off the year, we didn’t know how good our offense would be, but we knew our defense would be strong,” Allison said. “We went into the season, got better and better, and wound up here.”