By John RittenhouseThe Adrian Dragons earned their first berth in the championship game of Section 3A Playoffs in three years after defeating Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin in Adrian Saturday.Trailing 8-0 after 12 minutes of play, the Dragons rallied to score 17 unanswered points to post a 17-8 win over the Wolverines.The win was Adrian’s fourth straight, and it upped the team’s season record to 7-3.The seventh-seeded Dragons will face a monumental task when they travel to Springfield for Friday’s section title tilt.After coasting to a 55-0 win over Murray County Central in Saturday’s section semifinals, the Tigers raised their record to 10-0. Springfield is the state’s top-ranked Class A team, and AHS coach Randy Strand respects what the Tigers have accomplished this season."We’ll have our hands full," he said."Springfield runs the triple-option (offensively), and they are huge on the line. It will be a challenge for us, but I would rather be playing at this time of year instead of being on the outside looking in."The Dragons found themselves in an 8-0 hole during Saturday’s game against the seventh-seeded Wolverines.After taking over on the 12-yard line, the Wolverines drew first blood at the end of their second offensive possession of the contest.ML-B-O advanced the ball 88 yards in 19 plays. The drive ended with Danny Snyder scoring on a one-yard plunge during a fourth-and-goal situation. When ML-B-O quarterback Lee Fast tossed a successful conversion pass to Derek Radtke, the Wolverines sported an eight-point lead with 1:18 remaining in the first quarter.The Wolverines had a golden opportunity to increase their lead when they recovered a fumble on the ML-B-O 40-yard line moments later. The visitors advanced the ball inside Adrian’s 20-yard line, where they attempted a pass that was picked off by Nate Engelkes and returned 88 yards for a touchdown at the 11:02 mark of the second quarter.An Adrian penalty negated what was a successful two-point conversion following the touchdown, and the second attempt failed, leaving the Wolverines with an 8-6 edge.The game’s second half belonged to the Dragons, who asserted themselves on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball."We controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half," Strand said."Our linemen came alive, our runners picked it up and we started to control the ball offensively. Our defense shut them down, too."The defense helped give the Dragons their first lead of the game when Cody Reverts picked off a pass in ML-B-O territory during the third quarter.Adrian’s offense moved the ball from the 41 to the 20 before facing a third-and-long situation. The Dragons elected to kick a field goal, and eighth-grader Adam Diekmann came through when he booted a 36-yarder through the uprights to give AHS a 9-8 edge at the 1:09 mark of the third quarter.Adrian iced the contest with an impressive fourth-quarter drive.The Dragons advanced the ball 66 yards in 13 plays before Reverts scored on a 15-yard run with 5:21 left to play. When Reverts carried in the two-point conversion, Adrian owned a nine-point cushion at 17-8.ML-B-O did move the ball inside Adrian’s territory with less than four minutes remaining, but the drive stalled. AHS took over and successfully ran the remaining time off the clock.Team statisticsAdrian: 199 rushing yards, 21 passing yards, 220 total yards, 15 first downs, three penalties for 25 yards, one turnover.ML-B-O: 139 rushing yards, 67 passing yards, 206 total yards, 12 first downs, two penalties for 10 yards, three turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Billy Anderson 18-67, Reverts 18-92, Jory Haken 7-40.Passing: Reverts 2-14 for 21 yards, Cody Kontz zero for two for zero yards.Receiving: Kontz 1-10, Ryan Lonneman 1-11.Defense: Engelkes one interception, Will Lutmer nine tackles and one sack, Reverts one interception, Glen Kruger 15 tackles, Clint Metz 10 tackles and one interception, Alex Suedkamp two sacks.
