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Cats and
Dogs -
Round 5
8/15/2006
When Coaches Brad Bush
(Chelsea), and Tab Kellepourey (Novi) agreed to a ‘home
and home’ football opener between the two schools back
in 2002, little did we know it could be this
entertaining. Well, actually we did given the fact the
Chelsea Bulldogs had two players on their roster that
were the sons of Academy Award Winner Jeff Daniels!
And when the Bulldogs
and Wildcats square off on Aug 26th at 8:00pm as the
main event of the Big Day Prep Showdown, it will mark
their 5th contest, as the series is knotted at two
apiece.
The inaugural game was
played on a beautiful evening in a packed house at
Chelsea in 2002. Novi held a 10-7 lead late in the 4th
quarter, but with just seconds to go Chelsea scored on a
quick pass to the right corner of the end zone…and a
rivalry had been born.
Chelsea invaded Novi in
2003, and before the seats were warm Novi led 7-0. On
that 80 degree Friday night, Coach K’s unit put on an
aerial display that would’ve made Donald Rumsfeld happy,
and they evened the series at one each by crushing
Chelsea that evening 49-20. Chelsea went on to make the
playoffs that year, just as both schools had in 2002, so
the rivalry intensified. In fact, the scuttlebutt
revealed that Novi’s whipping motivated the visitors to
rally even harder in their playoff march as they were
openly embarrassed by the outcome.
And just for fun,
Chelsea lost the next week to #2 Adrian, a team that
Novi defeated in November 2003 to capture the District
Championship.
It was back to Chelsea
in 2004, and this time the game went overtime, as a
determined group of Bulldogs were Hell-bent on holding
serve at home. The 28-21 final was deceiving, as both
defenses were stellar during regulation.
Last Season in Round 4,
Novi and Chelsea locked horns in the First Annual Big
Day Showdown as part of a Quadruple-Header at Eastern
Michigan. Once again, defense dictated the action, as it
appeared the two squads might be headed for overtime
with the scored tied at 7-7 in the waning minutes.
But it was déjà vu all
over again!… sort of. This time it was a quick slant
pass to Adam Chandler and he scampered into the end
zone, scoring a dramatic touchdown as time was running
out, and Novi held on for the victory 14-7.
There is every reason
to believe that Game Number 5 between these two storied
football traditions will be packed with excitement and
drama once again.
Even though Jeff
Daniel’s kids have graduated, and many of the names and
faces have changed on both squads, one thing is for
sure… tradition never graduates.
Novi Football is back
in business… and business is good!
(C) 2006 Novi Information
Network
All rights reserved.
Bernie
Fratto's
column appears right here each
week during the football season.
Bernie is a member of the Minor League Baseball Alumni Association
and in his former life, he spent time in the Cincinnati Reds Farm
System. He is an accomplished Freelance writer, and sought after keynote
speaker, appearing often at Award Ceremonies, Athletic Banquets, and
Company functions.
He is passionate about sports and the life-lessons
they teach. "Behind every sports story lies the hearts and minds of real
human beings," Fratto said..."And these athletic endeavors often serve
as a metaphor for the game we call life."
Bernie is also on the broadcast team at Live 97.1FM talk-radio, and is a
frequent
co-host on the popular "Parker &
The Man Show," a nightly sportstalk show which airs Monday-Friday from
7-11pm.
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