Chippewa Valley football runs through Sterling Heights Stevenson, 49-13
The Chippewa Valley Big Reds (5-1) hosted the Sterling Heights Stevenson Titans (1-5) on homecoming night. Sterling Heights Stevenson fought to stay in the game in the first half, but the Big Reds ran away with a 49-13 victory.
Their two games in 2021 both went Sterling Heights Stevenson’s way, with the second game-ending Chippewa Valley’s season in the second round of playoffs.
Here are four takeaways from the game:
Chippewa Valley Run Game
The Big Reds found success moving the ball on the ground Friday night. Senior running backs Klement Krasniqi and Darren Hawkins each ran for two touchdowns. Junior running back Cash Shaw also added a rushing touchdown late in the third quarter.
“I think our offensive line played well,” Chippewa Valley head coach Scott Merchant said. “There were some nice holes there, especially that last one we got a great push. Hawkins played a great game and looked really explosive running the ball, and he’s a senior captain. Krasniqi is another senior captain, so those are the guys that have to lead our team if we’re going to be successful.”
Big Red Pass Rush
The Chippewa Valley defensive line was in the backfield all night. Stevenson freshman quarterback Andrew Knight was forced outside of the pocket almost every time he dropped back, and the Big Red pass rush kept him bottled up for the majority of the game.
“I thought we had good pressure all night,” Merchant said. “I give their quarterback a lot of credit. He really moved around well back there, especially for a freshman. I thought we would have a couple more sacks, but he’s pretty slippery back there.”
Receiving and Returning
Junior wide receiver Shamar Heard had a night to remember for the Big Reds. To open the second half, Heard returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown to put Chippewa Valley up by three scores. Junior quarterback Andrew Schuster often looked Heard's way when he dropped back and Heard finished with over 150 all purpose yards.
“Shamar is a pretty special talent,” Merchant said. “He did some Shamar-like things, but obviously we can’t coach that or teach that, that’s all him. We had some great blocks on that kickoff return that sprung him and then he did the rest. He doesn’t need a lot of room.”
Big Red Redemption
In 2021, Chippewa Valley lost both games to Stevenson by a total of seven points. The Big Reds came into Friday night’s game with a lot of respect for the Titans, but they weren’t going to let them spoil homecoming night.
“Every year is a new year,” Merchant said. “I’ve got a ton of respect for coach (Justin) Newcomb and his staff. We lost two really tough games to them last year, and it was nice to turn it around and get them this year. They’re a good football team; they’re young and getting better. Any Mac-Red (Macomb Red Division) win is a good win, so we’ll take it.”
Scroll to see our photo gallery from the game.
Sterling Heights Stevenson vs. Chippewa Valley
