AFTON – At halftime, Andre Bradford was approached by Inland Lakes football coach Travis Meyer.
After losing senior quarterback Aidan Fenstermaker to an ejection late in the first half, Meyer needed someone to provide an offensive spark.
“We knew we had a quarterback that could just run our offense, but that wasn’t what was working super well, so we kind of had to resort to some of that, which was like Plan C, Plan B, somewhere down in there,” Meyer said.
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Bradford, who hadn’t played QB since fourth grade, told Meyer he would give it a try.
Because when you hate to lose as much as Bradford does, you’ll do everything you can to win.
With the final seconds ticking down in the fourth quarter and the game on the line, Bradford found enough space and powered himself into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown, which allowed the Bulldogs to capture a second consecutive MHSAA 8-Player Division 1 regional championship with a thrilling 32-26 victory at Alcona on Friday.
“It was like this relief moment,” Bradford said of the TD. “We worked so hard this season, and we didn’t want to come up short, so when I was able to get in the end zone, it was probably one of the greatest feelings in the world.”
When his teammates and coaches needed him most, Bradford rose to the occasion, keying Inland Lakes on a pair of critical TD drives, including a 90-plus-yard march to regain the lead early in the third. From there, Bradford settled in, gained confidence, and gave the Bulldogs a shot the rest of the way.
“In that moment, with us being down and us needing to go up, it was scarier than walking into my tree stand in the dark,” Bradford said.
Bradford’s adventure didn’t come without at least one setback, a fourth-quarter fumble that handed the ball back to the Tigers, who held the lead. However, the Inland Lakes defense forced an Alcona fumble on the ensuing possession, giving the Bulldogs another chance.
With 15 seconds left, Bradford got his redemption.
“I just really don’t like to lose, so I just gave it everything I had,” Bradford said. “I knew that if we drove down the field that (Alcona) wouldn’t have much time left. I really wanted to win for the seniors and it kind of motivated me to just not give up hope.”
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Not only was Bradford thrilled to keep the Bulldogs’ state title hopes alive, but he was also relieved that it wasn’t the end for Fenstermaker. When the clock hit zero, both celebrated like so many times before.
“(Fenstermaker) came up to me (at halftime) and I was just telling him how I didn’t want it to be his last game, and so when we finally marched down and scored the last touchdown, it felt great just to give him another chance in another high school football game,” Bradford said. “I was super proud of the offensive line and the whole team that we were able to do that.”
With a chance to return to Marquette, Bradford and the Bulldogs (11-0) travel to Pickford (11-0) in a rematch of last year’s state semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf atjgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter@sportsCDT
