Moment: 100-Yard TD Lifts Pennfield

September 17, 2020

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties

NOTE: This week we begin a series of MHSAA Moments from Football Playoff Finals of years past. Over the coming weeks, we’ll offer video highlights including some of the longest plays and game-deciding moments from 1988 to the present.

In high school football, there are only two plays where you can score a 100-yard touchdown – both by the defense bringing the ball out of the end zone on a turnover.

For Battle Creek Pennfield in the 1991 Class CC Football Playoff Final at the Pontiac Silverdome, such a big defensive play got the Panthers out of the hole in a 14-8 victory over Negaunee.

A bad snap on a Pennfield punt resulted in a safety for a 2-0 Miners lead in the first quarter, and they had driven into the red zone after the ensuing free kick. But on a fourth-down play, the Cereal City contingent came up big.

Negaunee quarterback Ron Logan rolled left and threw to the end zone, where Pennfield linebacker Jason Livengood stepped in front of the intended receiver for the interception. Two yards deep in the end zone, Livengood found an alley and was off to the races for a 100-yard return. (High school statistics rules do not count end zone yardage.)

“I couldn’t believe it,” Livengood told the Battle Creek Enquirer after the game.  “All I had to do was fake one guy and then it was open the rest of the way.”

The big play steadied the Panthers after their shaky start.

“It showed us we could do something,” running back Jim Martens told the Enquirer. “We needed a stop and we got more than that.  We got six points.”

Still, the Panthers had to come up with a big drive in the third quarter – 67 yards in 17 plays taking 9:58 off the clock, with three fourth-down conversions – to take the lead to stay on Martens’ five-yard scoring run.

Negaunee mounted a drive from its own 37 to the Pennfield 18 during the final two minutes of the game. But after they completed a pass to the 11, the clock ran out on the Miners.

Performance of the Week: DeWitt's Traverse Moore

December 5, 2025

Traverse Moore headshotTraverse Moore ♦ DeWitt
Senior ♦ Football

Moore ran 32 times for an MHSAA Finals-record 397 yards and four touchdowns as DeWitt defeated Mount Pleasant 54-20 in the Division 3 championship game Sunday at Ford Field to finish this season 14-0. He put his name in the record book that day seven times total, with his three first-quarter touchdowns tying the all-time high for one quarter and his 461 total yards ranking second on that list.

The Finals performance gave Moore – the team’s quarterback and main ball carrier in its single wing-heavy running attack – a total of 2,512 yards and 33 touchdowns rushing and 734 yards and 13 TDs passing this fall. The rushing yards and touchdowns will be added to single-season record book lists. Moore played on the DeWitt varsity all four years and signed this week to continue at Central Michigan University. He also plays baseball for the Panthers. 

@mhsaasports 🏈POW: Traverse Moore #football #Dewitt #highschoolsports #performanceoftheweek #MHSAA ♬ Bright and fun upbeat pops, Kids, Animals, Pets, Fun, Cute, Happy, Playful, Upbeat(1465232) - SAKUMAMATATA

@mhsaasports 🏈POW: Traverse Moore #funfacts #tiktalk #performanceoftheweek #highschoolsports #MHSAA ♬ Girly and cute synth pop - SAKUMAMATATA

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Previous 2025-26 honorees

Nov. 28: Elizabeth Eichbrecht, West Bloomfield swimming - Report
Nov. 20:
Brady Kieff, Blanchard Montabella football - Report
Nov. 13:
Ella Laupp, Battle Creek Harper Creek swimming - Report
Nov. 7:
Hunter Eaton, Charlevoix cross country - Report
Oct. 31:
Stephen Gollapalli, Lansing Christian tennis - Report
Oct. 23:
Talya Schreiber, Pickford cross country - Report
Oct. 16:
Avery Manning, Dexter golf - Report
Oct. 9:
Brady Van Laecke, Hudsonville football - Report 
Oct. 2:
Sarah Giroux, Flat Rock volleyball - Report
Sept. 25:
Sam Schumacher, Portage Central tennis - Report
Sept. 18:
Kaylee Mitzel, Saline field hockey - Report
Sept. 11:
Natasza Dudek, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
Sept. 4:
Kate Posey, Big Rapids golf - Report

(Headshot courtesy of TCP-Photography.)