Panther perfection: DeWitt football tops Mount Pleasant for state title

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DETROIT — Traverse Moore and the other seniors on the DeWitt football team have had state championship dreams since their days in elementary school.

Those dreams became reality on Sunday, Nov. 30.

Behind a record-setting day by Moore, the Panthers put the finishing touches on their special season by capturing the Division 3 state title with a 54-20 victory over Mount Pleasant at Ford Field.

The victory gave the Panthers (14-0) their second state title in program history and first since breaking through in 2020. DeWitt set a school record with its 14th victory.

Moore, a Central Michigan commit, had his second straight 300-yard rushing performance and set a MHSAA state championship game rushing record. He had 32 carries for 397 rushing yards and four touchdowns and also passed for 58 yards and a TD.

Channing Ridley had two rushing TDs, Tyler Bashore rushed for a score and Jadon Bender had a receiving touchdown and an interception on defense for DeWitt.

Moore tied a state finals record with three touchdown runs during a strong opening quarter that helped DeWitt take control.

Mount Pleasant (13-1) scored on a 31-yard touchdown reception by Riley Olson in the middle stages of the opening quarter to make the score 13-7, but Moore had a 74-yard touchdown run — his third of the day at that point — on the first play of DeWitt's next drive. That started a stretch of 27 unanswered points for the Panthers.

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: DeWitt football tops Mount Pleasant for Division 3 state title

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