Sitting there before the game, watching a team who had only stepped onto a playoff field a handful of times before this season and had a combined 19-26 record since the turn of the century, the odds looked insurmountable for Caledonia in the Division 3 state final. The Cinderella tag is one Coach Tim Burrill's team has worn throughout the postseason, yet they come out and play like the favorites every week.

According to Caledonia quarterback Daniel Spitzley, however, while the Fighting Scots may be new on the playoff scene, there has always been an expectation to win in the locker room.

"We have what is called the "Fighting Scot Creed" that every player has to learn," said Spitzley. "One of the first lines is that our goal is to win the state championship and we always place that goal first."

The numbers in this game were staggering and really told the story in the 27-6 Caledonia victory. Haslett's first mistake came when they won the coin toss and deferred their choice to the second half. That played right into Burrill's hands because his offense went out and ran 15 plays for 80 yards and took 7:50 off the game clock en route to the first score of the night.

Ball control is the name of the game for Caledonia and they worked it to perfection Saturday night. Behind a running game that is built to wear down the opposition and an offensive line that dominates the point of attack, the Fighting Scots went out and put up 14 points on their first two possessions and held Haslett to negative 14 yards on their subsequent two possessions.

"I think one of the best things we did tonight was keep their offense off the field and when our defense was out there, it was three-and-out pretty much in that first half," said Burrill.

"If you look at either offense, our or theirs, what you want to do is create momentum and establish the line of scrimmage," commented Haslett coach Charlie Otlewski. "With them possessing the ball so long, I thought they did a great job of doing that. That's what we did to teams all season too. We know what it is like to be on the positive end of that, but not so much on the negative end."

On a micro level, fullback John Muuse was the player the Scots looked to when they needed a key play or conversion. He kept the opening drive alive by converting on third and three and fourth and one and set up running back Thomas Spitzley, brother of Daniel, on the three-yard line for the first score. Muuse would finish with 99 yards on 22 carries for the game.

"Muuse, the fullback, is tough and we knew that," said Otlewski. "I thought we were going to have a hard time bringing him down. I thought his yards after contact was huge for them tonight."

As dominating as the Caledonia offense was in the opening minutes of the game, Burrill said his defense is really the strongest aspect of his team. Facing a Haslett team that averaged better than 41 points per game over the course of the season, they had to be.

Quarterback Nathan Turner is the biggest weapon in Haslett's mulit-dimensional offense. Coming into the game he had accounted for 1,644 yards and 27 touchdowns this season, yet was stifled by a Caledonia defense out to stop his big play ability. Outside of an 80-yard touchdown run on his team's final possession with the game out of hand, Haslett's offense tallied just 60 yards and possessed the ball for only 14 of the 48 minutes in the game.

"Out of the T-formation, we had to make sure our corners came hard every play and tackled [Turner]," said Burrill. "Out of the spread we've got two pretty good outside linebackers who got up the field. You've got to contain him, you've got to get 11 helmets to the ball and you've got to make sure you tackle him."

Besides the time of possession statistics, some other numbers that told the story to this game included the 368 to 139-yard differential in offensive yards, the 20-5 advantage in first downs for Caledonia and their 73 percent conversion rate on third down. This Cinderella did not need magic to take the crown.

"I remember Coach Burrill coming to our practice in the eighth grade and saying to us with the talent and the type of kids that we had that if we worked hard, that we were headed to the [state finals]," said Daniel Spitzley. "He said that was a realistic goal and that was four or five years ago. Now we've accomplished it."