McKenna's spark lifts Grosse Pointe South over Anchor Bay on Homecoming (Story by: Terry Foster)

Grosse Pointe South senior running back Conor McKenna did not like the way his team was playing entering the fourth quarter of its key homecoming game Friday night against Anchor Bay.

His team trailed the underdogs 13-6 and South’s quest for an unbeaten season was in jeopardy. In desperate times like this McKenna likes to become a spark. He became more than that while scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns and leading the Blue Devils to a 27-13 come from behind victory.

He kept his word and became the spark as South outscored Anchor Bay 21-0 in the fourth quarter. But he was also the closer and Conor McKenna turned a bit Conor McGregor as his runs turned from fluid to punishing. When his work was done the Blue Devils (6-0) could finally focus on homecoming festivities, celebrate in the mist with friends and family and focus on next week’s game at L’Anse Creuse North, who won’t be in a good mood after a 24-0 shellacking to Utica Eisenhower.

Defensive backs James Rauh and Grant Hart could finally breathe and take turns clutching the Blue Devils gold turnover pitch fork in celebration.

“I knew my team was better than we were showing and I needed to be that spark plug,” McKenna said. “I am the spark in the fire, especially when we are down in games. I like changing it.”

Don’t be fooled by the final score. This was a scary night for the Blue Devils. The Tars came to spoil a homecoming where South honored its girls tennis teams from the mid 1970s to mid 1980s which won a then state record 11 consecutive Class A state titles.

McKenna turned the night around by running the ball 19 times for 193 yards and added fourth quarter touchdowns of three and eight yards during the comeback.

“He is such a good player that he knows when our backs are to the wall he is the player we are going to depend on and he puts us on his shoulders,” Brandon said. “We knew they were going to wear down at some point. We ran our basic stuff tackle to tackle and we were able to move the ball.”

Anchor Bay (2-4) came down from New Baltimore to ruin South’s homecoming, just as South did a year ago at Anchor Bay. And it looked as if the Tars were going to pull off the upset by sweeping running back Bryce Heaney and quarterback Nikko Parrelly around end from an unusual off balanced line formation.

Anchor Bay also kept its corners and safeties deep to prevent big play passes from quarterback Ryan Downey to freshman speedster Will Johnson.

The Tars were gritty, ready and willing but lacked stamina for the knockout blow. They scored the game’s first 13 points on touchdown runs by Michael Harper and Heaney but led just 13-6 at the half as South’s Downey snuck in from the one-yard line.

“They (the Tars) hit us on the chin in the first quarter but you could see it in (our) eyes at half time,” South coach Tim Brandon said. “They knew what they had to do to get the job done.”

The stakes are high for South. They Blue Devils are standing alone in first place in the Macomb Area Conference White division (3-0) going into their game with L’Anse Creuse North (2-1) who sits just a game back. That’s why Brandon gave his team the rest of the weekend off, but issued warnings to his players. Be careful and don’t do anything stupid.

That meant no drinking and driving or getting arrested or into fights. This is a team with conference title dreams and hopes of making a run in the state playoffs. Every hand must be on deck.

South has a saying during practices and work outs called “putting money into the bank. Friday nights are deposit nights and putting every ounce of energy into games.

“We kind of came out slow,” McKenna said. “We weren’t working to our full potential. We recognized that. We talked about it at half time and we realized we had to be the competitors we’ve been all year. And we brought it in the second half.”