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Western bids farewell to seniors after spectacular 12-1 season

By BY DAVE WALCZYK, 11/28/15, 10:45AM EST

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Walled Lake Western fell to Lowell, 49-34, on Saturday in the MHSAA Division 2 semifinal game at Alma College. Heavy snow fell throughout the afternoon, but that did not stop either team from putting up gaudy numbers on offense as the teams combined for 83 points on the day.

Warrior senior quarterback KyleThomas threw for 246 yards (13-25) and a touchdown, and rushed for 80 yards and two scores on 15 carries.

Western junior standout split end Cody White had seven receptions for 143 yards while playing both ways, and junior Kam Ford added 51 yards on three receptions and a score.

Senior Javon Gabriel did not waste any time getting the Warriors on the scoreboard as he took the opening kickoff 90 yards to put the Warriors up 7-0.

Even in the wintry weather, senior kicker John Camilleri was perfect on the day, connecting on all four extra points and bothfield goal attempts (25 and 27 yards).

Lowell quarterback Ryan Stephens accounted for six touchdowns on the day as he threw for 188 yards (8- 15) and three scores, and rushed for 73 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries for the Red Arrows.

With the win, Lowell will face Detroit Martin Luther King at 1 p.m. on Friday at Ford Field, and Western bids farewell to a great senior class. fie 2015 Warriors were only the third team in school history tofinish the season undefeated. Under the leadership of the seniors, the Warriors won their third consecutive KLAA North Division title, third consecutive KLAA Conference Championship, and third consecutive Walled Lake City Championship.

Additionally, this season, Western extended their playoff streak to six consecutive years and appeared in theirfirst semifinal game since 2011.

The Warriors’ seniors include Darnell Lanier, Jackson Neracher, Drew Crawford, KyleThomas, David Langmeyer, Ryan Steiner, Cam Burke, Jacob McCarthy, Jake Prokes, Jacob Trotto, Christian Velkovich, David Price, James Hobson, Shane Stephens, Javon Gabriel, Chase Baldwin, Zach Dzialowski, Jake Galperin, Dan Barrett, Alex Gammo, Ryan Meister, Quinn Murphy, Connor Ryan, Tyler Shreve, John Camilleri and Cody Miller.

“The seniors were phenomenal,” Head Coach Mike Zdebski said. “They worked more than four years for this, and they’re as good as any group of kids we’ve had. It’s unfortunate that we came up a little bit short.”

Tag(s): Walled Lake Western  Walled Lake Western  Walled Lake Western