Lumen Christi fullback makes Coldwater pay for keying on star halfback, as Titans cruise 34-7

By RJ Walters / For the Jackson Citizen Patriot

Lumen Christi High School’s football team proved Friday that it pays to have the area’s leading rusher in the huddle, even when he’s not touching the ball.

Fullback Jason Cross had the first three-touchdown game of his career, and play-action passes moved the chains on several occasions as the Titans cruised past Coldwater 34-7 on Homecoming night.

Lumen Christi has reeled off five straight wins to improve to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference East play, while Coldwater falls to 1-5 and 1-3.

Go-to halfback Michael Cremeans rushed for 107 yards and a score on 15 carries, but Cross scored touchdowns on the Titans’ first three drives and finished the night with 11 rushes for 74 yards.


“We got the fullback more involved tonight than we have all year, and I think part of this reason is because people are keying the tailback so much it opens things up,” Lumen Christi head coach Herb Brogan said. “(Cremeans) has been pretty much a one-man show this year, so they’ve had to (focus on him).”

Every time Cross touched the ball he kept his feet moving, and his combination of power and agility helped him break numerous tackles near the goal line. The senior is a first-year transfer from Western High School, and he said he feels like Brogan can now have some faith in him following Friday’s effort.

“It’s kind of a toss-up being my first year here at Lumen Christi and trying to start, but I just worked my butt off and made it,” he said.

Cross said his offensive linemen were “opening holes cars could drive through.”

Video: Highlights from Lumen Christi's 34-7 win over Coldwater

The Titans held the Cardinals to 42 yards rushing on 22 attempts. At halftime, Coldwater had lost 19 yards on the ground.

Coldwater had two big plays on the evening — a 37-yard pass from Mitchell Galloway to Josh Plant in the first half and a 46-yard touchdown run from Plant with 4:47 left.

Lumen Christi’s passers combined for 71 yards. Amani Bass and Connor Alexander were both 4-of-6 passing, utilizing mainly out-routes off play action.

“We’re getting better at that, and they’ve been open because we’ve been running the ball so much and people are really concentrating on that,” Brogan said.

Brogan was pleased with his squad, ranked No. 2 in the latest Division 5 poll, as it jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead. But he thought they could’ve played a more complete game.

He said he’d like to see his offense be more explosive. Two lost fumbles Friday night irked him.
Cross said it feels good to be 5-1, but the team has its sights set on something much greater than a playoff berth.

“We have a long way to go, we have to get better every week and we’re doing it,” he said. “The real challenge will be next week (against Harper Creek) and we’ll see how that goes.”