QB Austin's five-TD night propels
'Cats over Rockets on homecoming

  Just before 7 p.m. Friday night, Plymouth's football team boarded Air Austin.

  Two hours later, the Wildcats had accumulated quite a few frequent-flyer miles.

  Plymouth junior quarterback Shaun Austin lit up Westland John Glenn's secondary, flinging five touchdown passes -- three to senior receiver Brennen Beyer -- to lead the Wildcats to a decisive 48-0 homecoming night trouncing of the Rockets.

  (To view the Wildcats' 93-yard TD pass, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4LqBea79gs)

  Four of Austin's strikes came during a four-minute stretch at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third.

  Altogether, Austin completed 11 of 23 spirals for 323 yards.

  The poised-beyond-his-years signal-caller said the John Glenn game film the team watched last week revealed some areas they thought could be exploited.

  "We thought we'd have an advantage with our big, athletic receivers against their DB's," Austin said. "We knew we had to throw the ball around.

  "It's a blast throwing to these guys -- Jake (Morris), Brennen (Beyer), all of them. Every receiver we have can make plays, which makes my job 10 times easier."

  Austin said he's a better quarterback than he was five weeks ago in the season-opening victory over Salem.

  "Our coaches have done a great job working on my mechanics to make me a better quarterback," he said. "Sometimes it doesn't show up in the games, but I'm getting better."

  Plymouth's defense was also flying high, limiting a dangerous John Glenn offense to 185 total yards.

  Linebackers Tyler Goble, Beyer and Donte Fox spearheaded the shutout. Phil Emminger picked off a pass and Goble recovered a fumble.

  "Our defense really swarmed and hit tonight," said Plymouth head coach Mike Sawchuk. "We challenged them at practice all week, telling them that John Glenn was going to run a lot of power stuff and try to jam it down our throats. We told them they were going to have to dig in and go, and they did."

  Following a sluggish first quarter, the Wildcats hit their groove early in the second when Donte Fox turned a simple slant pass into a 75-yard score. Kyle Brindza's first of five extra points made it 7-0 with 9:09 left in the half.

  Plymouth's offense really started cooking late in the half. With 3:21 on the clock, Austin threw a 22-yard alley-oop aerial to Beyer, who skied over the much smaller cornerback to haul in the Wildcats' second TD of the night.

  Just over two minutes later, Austin hit Beyer in the end zone again, just a few feet from where their first hook-up landed.

  With 5 seconds left in the half and the Wildcats facing a third down from the Rockets' 44, Austin lofted a perfect pass to Adedamola Adebiyi, who snatched it at the five and dragged a Rocket defender into the end zone.

  The most spectacular play of the night unfolded 34 seconds after the halftime intermission when Beyer ran under a dead-on Austin pass down the west sideline and dashed to a 93-yard scoring strike.

  Jerel Jenkins and Fred Dunbar closed out the scoring for the Wildcats on runs from 10 and 3 yards out, respectively.

  "Shaun's a great practice player and he's a real intelligent kid," Sawchuk said. "I'm glad he's on our team."

  Given John Glenn's defensive strategy, Sawchuk said the Wildcats would have been foolish not to put the ball in the air.

  "They were packing the box with eight or nine guys," he said. "If they're going to do that, we have enough athletes outside that we can throw the ball."

  Plymouth piled up 431 yards in total offense to John Glenn's 185.

  Jerel Jenkins paced the winners' running attack with nine carries for 47 yards. William Askew looked strong in the fourth quarter, gaining 35 yards on two runs.

  Ed Wright can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.

Plymouth's Thomas Afetian drags a Rocket defensive back several yards during the second quarter. (Ed Wright photo)

Brennen Beyer elevates above an overmatched John Glenn defensive back to secure the second of his three TD receptions. (Ed Wright photo)

John Glenn quarterback Jeff Kuhary tries to evade Plymouth's Tyler Goble (54), Brennen Beyer (7) and Phil Emminger. (Ed Wright photo)

Donte Fox sacked Jeff Kuhary on the Rockets' first offensive series. (Ed Wright photo)

Donte Fox rips off a huge gainer. (Ed Wright photo)