The Kalamzoo Gazette Newspaper

Three Rivers' best season is history


Sunday, November 30, 2003

BY DEL NEWELL
KALAMAZOO GAZETTE


Three Rivers' greatest football season is in the books and coach Scot Shaw, his assistants and the players can savor the success for months and years to come.

Eleven seniors who started, including three two-way players, finished their prep careers by winning schoolboy football's ultimate prize.

Tailback David Booko rushed for 209 yards on 34 carries and scored three touchdowns in Friday night's 24-6 victory over DeWitt in the Division 4 state championship game.

Quarterback/defensive back Nic Thompson picked up key first downs with his running and passing and was a threat on defense, intercepting a state championship-game record three passes.

The offensive line opened holes for 280 yards of rushing and the defense, after giving up an early touchdown, intercepted a total of five passes and held DeWitt to only five net yards rushing.

"I don't know if this is a Cinderella team or not, but after two weeks people were ready to throw us off the train," Shaw said about two losses, one reversed via a forfeit.

"But we made a decision at that time we were going to get better and take it one week at a time. And we got better." Three Rivers won 13 straight games, including five playoff games, and got better each game.

"Showing how smart I am, Booko wasn't even a tailback the first two games," Shaw said with a laugh. "He was a fullback. That really picked up our offense when Dave moved to fullback."

Booko, who runs a lot like former Green Bay Packer great Jim Taylor (searching out tacklers to run over), got better every week, too, and ended up with 1,601 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns.

The championship-game victory closed the book on Booko's prep career, as well as for Thompson, split end/defensive end Greg Hall, cornerback/kicker Chad Thornburgh, tight end/defensive end Tim Graham, guard Brandon Wagner, center Casy Brandys, tackle Nick Brown, defensive tackle Darrell Smith, noseguard Shawn Smith and linebacker Kyle Jones.

Back next year and starters this season will be fullback/linebacker Jesse Myers, tackle Rory King, guard Dusty Shugars, split end Taylor Bronson, defensive tackle Carl Howe, safety Steve Kimble and cornerback Derek Bent.

Del Newell can be reached at 388-2732 or dnewell@kalamazoogazette.com


© 2003 Kalamazoo. Used with permission