Fenton Football Team Hangs On For Win in Season Opener

Lapeer West opened Friday night's football team like a team playing its season opener, making a few mistakes in the first half that led to scores.

Fenton closed the game like a team playing its season opener, but the work they'd done earlier in the game was enough to hold on for a 24-16 win.

"Really, we capitalized on their mistakes in the first half and they capitalized on ours in the second half," coach Jeff Setzke said. "Our defense was able to make some big stops for us."

Fenton got on the board first with a 43-yard touchdown run by Gerad Wegener.

Then, moments later, West fumbled the ball at their own six-yard-line and Cameron Kovacs recovered, one of two fumble recoveries for Kovacs on the night. Houston Shaw found Mitch Shegos for a touchdown to make it 14-0.

"My teammates really did all of the work on that play," Shegos said. "They got me open and I just punched it in."

Just one minute later, Layton Mandle fell on a West fumble in the end zone to extend Fenton's lead to 21-0. Kenny Allen added a 30-yard field goal just before halftime.

"We played with a lot of adrenaline in the first half," Shegos said. "Our playmakers made big plays for us."

Miscues by Fenton, however, allowed West to get back into it in the second half. West's Chris Melton intercepted a pass and returned it to the Fenton four and Chad Ferguson punched it in for West's first touchdown three plays later. West got a field goal just before the third quarter ended to cut the lead to 24-10.

Early in the fourth quarter, West's big play receiver Zeshawn Parker-Jones caught a short pass, made three defenders miss and got free down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown catch and run. West missed the point after, but cut the lead to just one score, 24-16.

"We really think our corners are good," Setzke said. "We knew they'd throw there (to Jones-Parker) a lot, and on the play that he made, that was just one heck of an individual effort. That's the ability he has."

Fenton gave West a couple of opportunities to get even closer. West recovered a Fenton fumble at the Fenton 29 with just under six minutes left, but Fenton's defense forced West to turn it over on downs.

Then, with just under three minutes to go, West recovered another Fenton fumble at their own 29. A penalty helped West get the ball near midfield, but Fenton's defense once again made a big stop and Fenton was able to get the ball back and run the clock out.

"It's game one, you expect mistakes in game one," Setzke said. "The main thing is just coming out of here with a win. It was an away game and a tough place to play, so to come in here and win was big for us."