Anyone who’s a fan of mobile, explosive dual-threat quarterbacks should not have missed Saturday night’s Division 3 state championship at Ford Field.
There was Ohio State commit Cameron Martinez powering undefeated Muskegon, the winningest program in state history making its seventh finals appearance in eight seasons. He had rushed for more than 1,800 yards and thrown for 1,100 this fall.
By contrast, upstart River Rouge had unheralded junior Mareyohn Hrabowski, who was under the radar after transferring from West Bloomfield in the offseason.
He won’t be under the radar anymore after rushing for three touchdowns, pushing the Panthers to a 30-7 upset victory and their first state football title.
“A lot of people were paying attention to Cam Martinez, and I wanted to show everyone that he’s not the only good quarterback in Michigan,” Hrabowski said. “I’m coming in more of a dual-threat quarterback, throwing and running. I got more comfortable with doing that.”
Two of his scores came in quick-strike fashion. He faked a handoff and cut through a hole to daylight from 40 yards with less than a minute to play in the first half, and from 35 yards on the first offensive play of the third quarter. The two long runs gave Rouge a 21-7 lead.
“I wasn’t surprised (at the openings on the line),” Hrabowski said. “We run those plays every single game, and most of the time that hole is open. I just hit it and got big plays. We came in and play the way we usually play, playing the Rouge way.”
Chance Moore, Josh Poole, Deshawn Smith, Dakare Spicer and Jalen Johnson manned the trenches for the Panthers.