DETROIT - The Detroit Public School League Division A semifinal between King and Cass Tech had all the makings of a heavyweight classic. Twenty-two Division I recruits, two storied football programs that hate each other, and one trip to Ford Field on the line. In the end, it was King who landed the early haymakers, winning the bout 17-7.

The Crusaders (7-1) did all of their damage early in the first quarter. Iowa State commit Jae'Veyon Morton got things started, taking the opening kick 93 yards for a touchdown to give King the early 6-0 lead. Cass Tech (5-2) then fumbled the ball back to King on its first offensive possession, which Dequan Finn turned into a touchdown from five yards out to take a 14-0 lead. The Technicians fumbled the ball again on its next possession, resulting in a field goal for King. And before you knew it, they had a 17-0 lead with 4:11 left in the quarter.

"Our guys came ready to play, I can tell," said King head coach Tyrone Spencer. "We had a walk-through practice on Friday, and I could tell that they were ready to go. They were locked in and focused, and they took it personal, and they came out and showed that early on."

King's defense did bend at times in the game, but it never broke, holding Cass Tech's offense to zero points. The lone score for the Technicians came just before halftime, when Kalon Gervin intercepted a Finn pass, taking it in for a touchdown. King's defensive linemen and linebackers limited Cass Tech's run game and passing game. Their longest run on the day was 14 yards. The longest passing play was 16 yards. Quarterback Aaron Jackson was hit so many times by the defensive line, that he was unable to return for Cass Tech in the second half.

"We really wanted to stop their run game," said Spencer. "We know they're an option team, and we wanted to contain their quarterback. That fact that we already played the bets running back in Markese Stepp that is going to Notre Dame, at Cathedral (Indianapolis), so we felt like anybody else we could handle. We just wanted to make sure we had that quarterback under wraps."

Neither offense was able to gather enough momentum to sustain a drive, due to the stout defenses settling in early, and costly penalties. King had two touchdowns called back in the second half for holding penalties. Cass Tech had a couple of chances near the end of the game to pull within one score of King, but turned the ball over on downs on one possession, and fumbled the ball at the one yard line of King, which the Crusaders recovered with 3:02 remaining. Finn scrambled for a first down, and that was the end of the game, as the Crusaders got in victory formation.

"It's amazing, how we win games with the penalties we commit," said Spencer. 'We had some holding penalties that were kind of bad. But I told them that if we stay discipline, we'll win this game. We were still able to overcome, because we're resilient, but I want to see a cleaner game, so we can be dominate."

Things won't get any easier for King, as they face the No.1 seed in the playoffs next Friday at Ford Field in East English Village Prep, who is undefeated. The two teams last played for a city title in 2012, with King winning a thriller, 51-48. King is 7-1 all-time against EEVP, but historically, this has been a toss up game.

"Our guys know those guys, and they are a little closer," Spencer said of EEVP. "I think our guys know what they have to do next week."