FARMINGTON HILLS >> The corner of 13 Mile and Farmington Road doesn’t see a lot of football on Thursday nights very often, but played host to an instant classic in the Oakland Activities Association Blue matchup between North Farmington and defending league champion Birmingham Seaholm.

With both unbeaten in division play entering the night, the Maples and Raiders each needed a win to secure a piece of the Blue title on Thursday, and North Farmington secured two key stops in the final 20 seconds for a 24-23 win.“After tonight, the ball is in our court,” Raider coach Jon Herstein said. “You take care of Troy, and we have our first title since 2019. You knew it was going to be a tight game. The way (Seaholm) plays, they minimize mistakes. They put themselves in opportunities to be competitive at the end, and their guys made plays.

“But I was super happy with the effort and physicality we played with tonight. It was a big challenge tonight and they came out on top.”

The entire game was a back-and-forth affair, but previously unbeaten Seaholm (6-1, 5-1 OAA Blue) had the ball and the game in its hands in the last three minutes of the game.

Utilizing 11 plays, Seaholm had the ball on North’s 11-yard line with 21 seconds to play. Junior quarterback Pat Hughes withstood a hit as he threw the ball that was tipped at the goal line and into the hands of senior wide receiver Aiden French to pull the Maples within one, 24-23.

But what happened next for North Farmington (5-2, 5-0) on the two-point conversion was a microcosm of not only the game, but the season.

On a keeper to the right, Hughes was stopped short of the goal line on a hit by star receiver and defensive back Duke Blanch, but engulfed by the entire defensive line.

“After we started the season off 0-2, we talked about having our backs against the wall, and our kids had to dig deep and fight every single play, every single practice and every single rep. When you might want to lose focus, you have to pull your mind back in and strain your body at every turn, and they did that. They bought in,” Herstein said.

“They came together as a group, as a team, and believed unsung heroes make plays too. And it took everyone to get here, and to make that stop.”

Regardless, Seaholm coach Jim DeWald was plenty proud of his kids. “They fought to the very end,” he said. “When we got down a score, the mentality they had was championship caliber.

“Credit goes to North. (Terrence James) is a great player. He ran the ball hard, and made plays in the air when they had to. It was just two offenses going at it all night, and North Farmington did a good job to win.”

James and Blanch got the Raider offense going all game, accounting for all of North Farmington’s touchdowns and two-point conversions. James had three touchdown runs of 15, 15, and 31 yards, and secured a pair of two-point conversions, while a pass to Blanch accounted for the first two-point conversion of the night.

Blanch also secured a game-sealing interception after Seaholm recovered the onside kick following its failed two-point conversion.

In the Maples’ dual-QB system, Hughes accounted for two touchdown passes, including one right before the half to pull Seaholm within one, 8-7, then later the other in the final moments of the fourth quarter. Finn Rouland had a five-yard touchdown run that gave Seaholm its first lead of the game with 4:59 to play in the third quarter.

With two weeks left in the season, and one more OAA Blue game on the schedule, North Farmington can’t look ahead and must focus on the task at hand week-by-week. The Raiders take on two road games against Rochester Adams next week, and OAA Blue opponent Troy before they can call themselves an outright champion.

The Maples finish the regular season with a home game against West Bloomfield followed by a rivalry matchup at Groves.