Hurons look for win number two Friday vs. Boyne
The home portion of the Huron football season begins Friday as the Boyne City Ramblers come to town for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. A 25-14 winner over the Newberry Indians last week, the Ramblers are coming off a 7-3 season, following a 12-1 2001 campaign. ?Boyne City has evolved into a first-class high school football program,? said Huron coach Bob Brietzke. ?They are fundamentally sound in all phases of the game. We are definite underdogs against them, but I assure you our team will give its all against the Ramblers.?
IN ONAWAY last week, the Hurons overcame a so-so first quarter to defeat the Cardinals 38-12 behind a balanced attack. Senior quarterback Tim Cercone completed 12-of-26 passes for 214 yards while six Huron rushers combined for 211 yards on the ground. Brietzke used a combination of backs to confuse the Cardinal defense. The tight set uses faking and different blocking schemes to hide the ball and protect the runner.
?Our Wing-T offense involved all of the running backs, making it hard to key on a single back. Our backs ran hard and efficiently,? he said.
AFTER A SCORELESS first quarter, Rogers City got on the scoreboard first. Taking over at their own 37-yard line, the Hurons marched the field. The big play of the drive was a Cercone to Kyle Greene pass play down the left sideline, good for 27 yards and a first down at the Card 5-yard line.
Two plays later Cercone followed the block of center Nathan Darga into the end zone. Cercone?s pass to Greene on the conversion gave the Hurons an 8-0 lead with 2:07 left in the half. On the ensuing Cardinal possession, an incomplete pass, a short run, and a sack put the Cards in a hole. A short punt into the wind gave the Hurons time for one more scoring try. On first down wingback Cody Wenzel found himself wide open on the left side, and Cercone lofted a perfect pass?good for a 62-yard scoring strike. The pair hooked up again on the conversion, and what had been a scoreless tie moments before suddenly turned into a 16-0 lead for the visiting Hurons.
THAT WOULD GET worse for the Cards in the opening possession of the second half as Wenzel struck again. Following a roughing-the-passer penalty, which moved the ball to midfield, the sophomore cornerback stepped in front of Cardinal quarterback Taylor Beswick?s pass down the right side, picking it off and running for a 60-yard touchdown. ?We felt we put good defensive pressure on the Onaway quarterback all game,? Brietzke said. ?Cody had great defensive position and made the play when the ball was thrown to his man.? A Cercone-to-Greene conversion pass made the score 24-0 with 11:38 left in the third quarter. Onaway scored with 8:10 left in the third quarter as Randy Hoffmeyer bulled in from the three-yard line. But the Hurons answered with a drive to make the score 30-6.
Another long pass from Cercone to Greene set up long runs from senior back Dustin Streich. Streich?s second run, a 15-yarder, reached the end zone with 6:30 left in the third quarter. Rogers City scored again on the second play of the fourth quarter. Cercone passed 26 yards to Greene for the score. Cercone?s PAT pass to Wenzel made the score 38-6.
A long pass play on the next Cardinal drive
?WE FELT our team was very focused on defeating Onaway and gave a 100-percent effort throughout the ballgame,? Brietzke said.
Statistics: Offense: Rogers City-211 rushing, 214 passing. Onaway 87 rushing, 171 passing. Individual: Passing: Cercone, 12-of-26, 214 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int., 4 PAT. Fairbanks, 0-for 0, 0 yards.
Rushing: Streich 12/79/1, Schuiteman 8/71/0, Centala 8/23/0, Kelley 5/23/0, Cercone 2/8/1, Wenzel 3/7/0. Receiving: Greene 7/121/1, Wenzel 3/68/1. Centala 1/7/0, Kelley 1/18/0.
Tackles: Greene 9; Streich, 8 tackles, 2 assists; Konieczny 8 tackles, 1 assist.
Int: Wenzel. Fumble recovery: R. Brege.