Football: Dexter’s season ends with no time on the clock in District final

Dexter’s amazing 2024 football season came to a heartbreaking conclusion on Friday night when East Lansing pulled off a miracle comeback – in more ways than one – to knock out the Dreadnaughts 50-49 and win the school’s third consecutive Division 2 District title.

Dexter finished the regular season a perfect 9-0 and won its playoff opener 42-14 over South Lyon East last week. They also won the SEC Red Division title.

The No. 3 ranked Dreadnaughts led by 14 points at halftime before East Lansing made it a one score game early in the third quarter. But it appeared to be Dexter’s night when senior Grant Goodrich returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards to send the crowd into a frenzy and push the home team’s lead back to 14 points.

But the Trojans were going nowhere. They regrouped and answered Dexter’s answer with a 23-yard TD run and then tied the score at 35-35 on a 61-yard TD run. And suddenly the momentum had shifted to the visitor’s side of the field.

What do you do when facing a little adversity? You give the ball to Ronny Johnson. The senior running back ripped off an 11-yard TD run to push Dexter back in front early in the fourth quarter.

But the Trojans came right back again and scored on a 19-yard run.

With just 53 seconds left in the game, Dexter quarterback Cooper Arnedt threw a 32-yard TD pass to Cole Novara to give Dexter a 49-42 and once again send the home folks into a wild celebrating frenzy. Only problem was there was still 53 seconds left on the clock.

And East Lansing needed every second – and then some.

East Lansing QB Owen Fortman threw an 18-yard touchdown pass as time expired, cutting Dexter’s lead to 49-48. Instead of kicking the extra point and heading to overtime, the Trojans decided to go for the win. Fortman threw a pass to BJ Windham who dove for the ball, caught it and sent the Trojans to the next round of the playoffs.

Jaiden Juback caught a 25-yd TD reception from Arnedt to give Dexter a 7-0 lead. East Lansing tied it on a 35-yard run. The score was 7-7 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Johnson scored on a 1-yard run and then Arnedt threw a 14-yard TD pass to Jaiden Juback to give Dexter a 21-7 lead. After East Lansing scored, Johnson again scored from one yard out to make it 28-14 at halftime.

East Lansing advances to face Saginaw Heritage in this week’s Regional.

Arnedt had another massive game for the Dreadnaughts. The junior was 21-28 passing for 239 yards and three TDs with one interception. Johnson finished his amazing HS career with 135 yards rushing on 31 carries and three scores along with 4 catches for 29 yards.

Jack DeMerell had 4 receptions for 23 yards, Juback had 2 receptions for 38 yards and 2 TDs and Gabe Rychener had 2 receptions for 14 yards.