Led by Kinnie, Seaholm defeats Bloomfield Hills for season-opening victory at home

BIRMINGHAM – Seaholm varsity football coach Jim DeWald seemed to channel his inner Al Davis during the season opener.

Davis’ “just win, baby” post-game quote following the 1984 Super Bowl XVII win by the Los Angeles Raiders, now Las Vegas, morphed into one of the most iconic quotes in all of professional sports.

While Thursday night's 27-14 victory over Bloomfield Hills did not offer a flawless display by the Maples from DeWald’s vantage point, he focused on the only thing that mattered most – the win column. 

“(We) got a win, that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “Getting that first win of the season is always hard. There were a lot of mistakes out there. We turned the ball over too many times, but we’ll fix it.”

Senior quarterback Colton Kinnie led the way for Seaholm (1-0), throwing a pair of touchdown passes and running for another to complete an impressive three-TD performance. His 33-yard strike to Penn Roberts with 4:07 remaining in the fourth quarter created a 27-7 edge.

Things got somewhat interesting late as Jace Reed sprinted 98 yards for a kickoff return and the Black Hawks (0-1) recovered an onside kick with under four minutes left. However, the Maples were able to make some big defensive plays to keep their opponent from making it a one-score contest.

“The positive thing is we got the win,” Dewald said. “I think our players played together. The best thing is that we had some adversity at the end and I loved it. It was a close two-score game and they got an on-side kick, but we shut them out of the end zone.”

The Maples stormed out the gates. Kinnie’s 15-yard run at the 7:30 mark in the first capped off an eight-play drive to begin the game. Jack Lewis was on the receiving end of Kinnie’s first touchdown pass, a 16-yard strike with 6:53 to go in the second that snapped a 7-7 tie.

Brock Hartwig, Alejandro Rauth and Luke Thurswell each had a sack for the Maples, who will aim to remain unbeaten as they travel to face University of Detroit Jesuit for Week 2 action.

“I look forward to seeing us grow,” DeWald said. “Every school is going to get better from Week 1 to Week 2 and I am looking forward to seeing what our growth looks like against U of D next week.” 

Seaholm’s Kyle Robbins contributed on the defensive end with a second-half interception and Granden Kinnie had a 3-yard TD run right before halftime.