Menominee junior Landen Daigneau returns an interception for a touchdown during a MHSAA Division 7 district championship game against Traverse City St Francis on Nov. 9, 2024 at Walton Blesch Stadium in Menominee. Daigneau's interception gave the Maroons a 21-17 lead at halftime in a 35-32 overtime win. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

MENOMINEE — Playoff football creates opportunities for any player to go from someone wearing a jersey to a living legend in a moment of seconds.

Saturday’s Division 7 district championship game between Menominee and Traverse City St Francis was no exception. It’s easy to point out the game-winning play as an example of this.

Menominee junior Tanner Theuerkauf dropped back to pass, rolled to his right, pivoted to roll his left and found junior Dawson Bardowski wide open.

Theuerekauf fired a pass. Bardowski adjusted beautifully as the ball approached him. He caught it. It’s a touc…. (insert record scratch here) hold up a second, how did we get here?

What led to Theuerkauf and Bardowski’s moment of immortality which led to the Maroons winning a district championship and becoming two wins away from returning to Ford Field for a second straight season?

In reality, there were three game changing moments that happened before Theuerkauf connected with Bardowski on third down for the game-winning score.

Theuerkauf completed it to who?

The Gladiators turned a Theuerkauf redzone interception into a field goal for a 17-7 lead with 2:29 left in the second quarter. The Maroons marched from their own 21-yard line to the Gladiators’ 43. Facing a 2nd-and-8, Theuerkauf dropped back to pass and fired the ball to his right.

It’s tipped at the line of the scrimmage. Anyone can grab it whether they’re wearing a maroon jersey or white jersey on Saturday.

After what felt like an eternity in the air and a few airborne bounces, the ball landed in the hands of a Menominee player, but not the one you expect.

It was Lucas Thoune, Menominee’s 6-foot 2, 285 pound right tackle.

To some he’s considered one of the greatest linemen to ever wear a Menominee jersey. But at this moment he wasn’t a lineman. He was a receiver with multiple Gladiators trying to bring the three-sport athlete to the ground after making his first career reception.

“I am willing to be a playmaker for Menominee 10 times out of 10,” Thoune said. “I’ll never stop being the player that I can be. I’m going to do everything I can while I can.”

Thoune made his way to the St Francis 30-yard line. Two plays later senior Isaiah Odom, running off the right side of the offensive line, scored from 30 yards out, pulling Menominee to 17-14 with less than 30 seconds until halftime.

“He really bailed me out on that one,” Theuerkauf said of Thoune. “I thought that one was going to get intercepted. Next thing I know I saw him run with (the ball). That was pretty cool.”

Daigneau makes Gladiators go ‘dang it’

With 26 seconds left St Francis got the ball from the Menominee 29-yard line. The Gladiators had one last chance to extend their lead before intermission.

Their bench appeared ready to go. Menominee’s bench, on the other hand, had a small miscommunication before the play.

According to Thoune, the Maroons installed a pass rusher package leading up to last week’s 62-6 win over Houghton Lake. This package did not include Thoune.

So there was Thoune, standing on the sideline as coaches cried out for the pass rusher package. One coach screamed “Thoune, I meant you go get a pass rush.” Thoune immediately bolted onto the field, but the ball was snapped when he was 2/3 of the way to the line of scrimmage.

It looked unorganized from the stands and the field. But it didn’t change the pass defense responsibilities for junior defensive back Landen Daigneau.

He dropped back as the outside corner in cover 4. He was responsible for his fourth of the field.

Then, suddenly, the ball came his way. He caught it for an interception.

“I caught it with my chest,” Daigneau explained. “When you catch it with your chest you never really know what’s going to happen. I was just like ‘please don’t drop this.'”

He immediately bolted for the endzone, and with one institutionally massive dive toward the pylon, he scored.

“I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not,” Daigneau admitted. “I saw their quarterback come for me. I didn’t know if I was going to be short or not. If I fumble it and it goes out the back of the endzone it’s a touchback.”

Daigneau’s pick-6 was the final first half shot in turning a 14-0 first quarter deficit into a 21-17 lead at the half.

“We were running a guy on the field, but Landon saw the play. He jumped that route and took it to the house,” Menominee coach Chad Brandt said. “That was a big touchdown to have right before halftime. It really gave us some good confidence and energy going into the locker room.”

Beal the baller

The Maroons 21-17 lead stood for a majority of the third quarter, but the Gladiators were threatening. Both teams punted on their first possessions of the second half in a series of events which led to St Francis slanting the field, starting its second possession on the Menominee 42-yard line.

On 1st-and-10 from the Maroons’ 18-yard line, the Gladiators handed the ball off to senior Eli Biggar. He gained eight yards before being taken down by Theuerkauf.

As the referee’s whistle blew 21 players returned to their feet. One stayed on the ground. That player was Theuerkauf, who was shaken up on the play.

He eventually got back up and was helped to the Menominee bench. Theuerkauf was out. Enter Dylan Beal to take his place.

“That’s not an easy situation, but he’s ready,” Thoune said of Beal. “We have that next up mentality here. Everybody’s ready to go when we need them.”

The Gladiators capped off the drive with a touchdown and took a 23-21 lead. Menominee then set up shop on offense from the St Francis 21-yard line.

This time it wasn’t Theuerkauf at quarterback. It was Beal, a sophomore, stepping in at the most important position on the field in the most important game and the most important drive of the season.

No pressure, right?

“Everyone was telling me to step up,” Beal said. “(St Francis’s) student/parent section was loud. I had to scream. I didn’t even know what I was doing out there.”

The Maroons kept it simple for Beal early in the drive with back-to-back runs, setting up a 3rd-and-6 from the Menominee 24-yard line. To say Menominee needed a big play at this moment would be an understatement with the Gladiators in the front end of establishing their run game in the second half.

The play call was a pass. More specifically, a flood pattern which allowed Beal to make an easy completion to the wing back.

One problem: the wing back wasn’t open.

So what was the sophomore going to do? He found the next open receiver. It just so happened to be Bardowski on a deep route.

Beal dropped back to pass. He stepped and fired to Bardowski. He caught the ball and dashed down the field before being brought down at the St Francis 36-yard line.

It was a gain of 46 yards which brought a once deflated home crowd back into the game with a thunderous ovation.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Theuerkauf said of Beal. “For him to step up and lead the team down the field right there is amazing.”

Two plays later Theuerkauf returned to the game, eventually scoring from a yard out to give Menominee a 29-23 lead.

“I can’t say enough about the confidence we have in him, the way he portrayed himself in the huddle and brought us right down the field with confidence,” Brandt said of Beal. “We expected that of him, and he didn’t flinch. The kid’s a baller, we believe in him. I’m very happy for him and the team. That’s why we have each other’s back.”