GRANDVILLE — Mona Shores’ reign atop Michigan’s Division 2 football scene came to a harsh halt on Friday night.

The Sailors, winners of back-to-back state titles in 2019 and 2020, saw their 2021 season end in a painful 49-12 loss to Caledonia in a district championship game at Grandville High School.

Mona Shores fell behind by three scores at halftime, lost its star player to injury, and never really got going as the Fighting Scots controlled the game.

“They’re a really good football team, they gave us a ton of fits on both sides of the ball,” Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak said of Caledonia. “Last week we were just really firing on both sides of the ball and got a great flow into both sides of the football. We really couldn’t get that (tonight).

Mark Konecny drops back to pass for Mona Shores. Photo/Mitchell Boatman

“We were off today and we didn’t play well enough to beat Caledonia, for sure. We needed to play better than that, and for whatever reason we couldn’t. We couldn’t get it going.”

The Sailors were playing shorthanded for the second week in a row, this time on offense. Center Sam Wahlberg was unable to play after an injury earlier in the week, and Mona Shores had several issues with snaps on Friday night.

Starting quarterback Mark Konecny was injured late in the first half and was unable to return.

“We lost Mark, we lost our starting center on Wednesday,” Koziak said. “We had some miscues that put us behind the sticks. Was that enough to beat Caledonia tonight (if they were healthy)? I don’t know. But I know they’re a really good football team, and our kids gave it all the effort they had, and we came up short.”

Mona Shores, which finished the season 8-3, had its three-year state finals appearance streak snapped. Caledonia, now 10-1, will play Traverse City Central in a regional final next week.

Ryan McNiff looks for running room after catching a pass, while Jaylen Vinton (2) prepares for a block. Photo/Mitchell Boatman

Koziak said the Sailors’ senior class leaves behind an “awesome” legacy with a pair of state titles.

“It’s easy to get caught up with the ‘Well, you didn’t do it again,’” he said. “You can’t win (state championships) every year. You try your butts off to do that, but in reality that’s not what happens. We can’t judge our program on that, we’ve got to judge it on the relationships you build and the memories and moments you won’t forget.”

Caledonia led 7-0 after one quarter on the strength of a five-yard scoring run by quarterback Mason McKenzie. He added a five-yard touchdown pass to Nicholas Fox on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-0.

Mona Shores scored its lone first half points on a one-yard run by Dahmir Farnum with 8:16 to play in the half. Caledonia added two scores – a 15-yard pass from McKenzie to Fox and a 51-yard run by Brock Townsend – and led 28-6 at the half.

Both teams had one TD in the third quarter, leaving the score 35-12. McKenzie ran in a 30-yard touchdown for the Fighting Scots, while Landon Thalman threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Demetri Roberson for Mona Shores.

Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak and his team watch Caledonia accept the district championship trophy Friday night. Photo/Mitchell Boatman

Caledonia added two scores in the fourth on a two-yard pass from McKenzie to Justice Reed and a four-yard run by Jett King.

Farnum led the Sailors with 51 rushing yards on 11 attempts. Konecny was 8-for-12 passing for 77 yards, while Thalman was 5-for-8 for 43 yards. Ryan McNiff was the leading receiver with five catches for 54 yards and Jaylen Vinton had 33 yards on five catches.

Elijah Johnson led the Mona Shores defense with nine tackles and a sack. Farnum and Jeff Lenartowicz both had eight tackles. Roberson and CJ Ivy both intercepted a pass for the Sailors.

McKenzie rushed for 195 yards and was 11-for-16 for 128 yards passing with five total touchdowns. Townsend had 114 rushing yards for the Fighting Scots.