MARTIN, MI – A three-hour bus ride brought the Brown City football team to Martin Saturday for a top-five 8-player showdown against the Clippers.

The 170-mile journey across the state will certainly feel a lot longer for the No. 5 Green Devils, who were on the wrong end of a hard-hitting, 49-6 battle against top-ranked Martin.

PHOTOS: See our gallery from the Martin vs. Brown City showdown

Martin took an early 7-0 lead when senior J.R. Hildebrand raced 48 yards up the middle on a quarterback draw, and the Clippers defense produced a big play of its own when Sam Jager intercepted Brown City quarterback Lawson Cooper and toe-tapped the sideline before his momentum carried him out of bounds deep in Martin territory.

The Clippers ignited the home crowd on their ensuing drive, when Hildebrand found junior Taegan Harris for a full-extension 38-yard touchdown catch that was as good as any grab you’ll see at the 8-player level or beyond.

“I can thank my athletic trainer for doing yoga with us five minutes before the game and helping me make that grab,” Harris said. “Being able to make those catches in practice, it’s nothing, but being able to come out here in a game and make that type of play, it feels pretty good.”

The play, originally designed to be a wide-receiver screen, was well-scouted by Brown City, so Martin head coach Brad Blauvelt called an audible when he saw Harris, the team’s fastest player, singled up in the slot.

“We got a lot of guys, so he doesn’t get too many touches, and we need to use him more,” Blauvelt said with a laugh. “That was special.”

“It got everyone fired up,” Blauvelt added of the catch. “The sideline loved it; the crowd loved it. I heard the crowd for the first time there. We were just a little quiet on a Saturday.”

It was all Martin from there, as Hildebrand added an 8-yard touchdown run to make it a 42-6 game with 0:39 left in the third quarter, then capped the Clippers’ scoring with a 39-yard strike to Karter Ribble, who got behind the defense, caught the ball over his head in stride and waltzed into the end zone with 8:13 left in the contest.

Ribble also found the end zone on an 11-yard run that gave Martin a 21-0 lead with 3:33 left in the second quarter.

The Clippers scored touchdowns on their first three drives and were poised to take a 28-0 lead late in the second quarter, but Brown City’s defense stepped up with an interception in the end zone by Conner Vanlerberghe.

The Green Devils couldn’t capitalize on the turnover, however, as Cooper threw another pick, this time putting it right in the hands of Martin defensive back Braeden Shanley, who walked into the end zone from 25 yards out for a pick-six that extended the Clippers’ advantage to 28-0 with 31 seconds left before halftime.

Brown City finally got on the board thanks to an impressive 38-yard touchdown run by Cooper, who got stood up at the line of scrimmage, then powered and spun through a couple tackle attempts before outrunning Martin’s defenders to the end zone.

Martin’s defense snagged a third interception, when Jager stepped in front of a throw with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter for his second pick of the game.

Though Brown City had a clear size advantage in the trenches, Martin’s scrappy linemen made everything difficult for the Green Devils and held star running back Kyle Affer (6-foot, 190 pounds) largely in check.

“We felt we were faster and played a little bit more physical than they do,” Blauvelt said. “Specifically, the defensive line, we wanted them to win up front, and we knew we could do that. We knew we had to tackle low, which we weren’t great at, but just tackle No. 30 (Affer) because he’s a big kid.”

The Clippers (5-0) now have two impressive wins on their résumé, the other being a Week 1 30-28 comeback victory over Mendon, and another big game looms, as Martin replaced winless Bloomingdale with undefeated Grand Rapid NorthPointe Christian on next week’s schedule.

“We scrimmaged them (in the preseason), so we know who they are, and their quarterback’s really good. He’s elusive, and they’ve got big kids up front – big, athletic kids up front,” Blauvelt said of NorthPointe Christian, which is riding an 11-game regular season winning streak, though the Mustangs aren’t eligible for the playoffs because their enrollment exceeds the MHSAA limit for 8-player football. “It’ll be a challenge, and it’ll be a great game.”

That contest against NorthPointe Christian, which is No. 2 in the Associated Press’ 8-player Division 1 rankings, will kick off 7 p.m. Friday at Grandville Middle School.

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