RC has shot at conference title Friday
With a share of the conference title still up for grabs, the Huron football team knows there is still something to play for. A 38-6 loss to playoff-bound Pinconning last Friday will be forgotten by the time the team crosses the bridge to take on the best team Newberry has fielded in many years. ?Our players understand the opportunity that lies before them in Newberry on Friday night,? said coach Bob Brietzke. ?We will do our utmost to win that ballgame.?
THE INDIANS are 6-1 behind the accurate passing of junior quarterback David Carmody and 100-yard-per-game rusher Derek Chamberlain. The Newberry Indians are 6-1 on the season so far, 3-0 in Straits Area Conference. They lost their first game of the season to Boyne City 25-14. They have defeated Alcona 44-8, North Central 70-0, Rudyard 28-12, Munising 28-0, St. Ignace 26-15, and Gwinn 24-6 last week.
The Indians feature one of the state?s premier linemen in Matt Payment, a sophomore who stands at 6? 4? and weighs 260 pounds. ?Newberry is a very sound football team,? Brietzke said. ?They run and pass the ball very well. They play great defense, they have an excellent kicking game. That is why they have a 6-1 record and are ranked fourth in the state.?
The game will be the final road game, and long bus trip, for Brietzke, set to retire as coach at the end of the year. The Hall of Fame coach has seen many miles go by while riding in a big yellow school bus. ?Bus rides are a necessary component of high school football. This year we had bus rides of 170, 130, and 130 miles?one way. Imagine riding in a cramped school bus for 300 miles, getting home in the middle of the night, then tending to tasks that need to be done. It certainly is no picnic,? he said.
LAST WEEK the Hurons ran into what may be Pinconning?s (6-1) finest team in school history. The Spartans have never made the playoffs and have an enrollment of 650 students, to Rogers City?s 280. ?Their players were so much bigger than us that it made competing against them very difficult,? Brietzke said. Pinconning went up 16-0 after scoring with 5:22 left in the second quarter,. converting a third-and-29 play to set up a three-yard TD run. Pinconning scored on a nine-yard run with 2:49 in first quarter for its first score.
ON HURONS’ first possession of second quarter, Kyle Greene’s punt was blocked, setting up great field position at the Hurons? 27. Two plays later, a three-yard run and two-point conversion gave the Spartans a 24-0 lead. The Hurons punted on their next possession to the Pinconning 48. On that drive Cody Wenzel, sophomore defensive back, intercepted a pass to end a Spartan drive at the four yard-line. On the next play, deep in the Hurons? own end, senior quarterback Tim Cercone?s pass for Wenzel was intercepted and the Spartan defensive back returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. The kick sailed through for a 31-0 Spartan lead at halftime.
ROGERS CITY CAME back with TD drive to open the second half. Starting at the Hurons? 26, Cercone hit Dustin Streich out of the backfield for a 41-yard gainer. A facemask penalty moved the ball to the 29, then Greene jumped high for a reception and plowed to the Spartan 4. Cercone?s toss to Greene on the next play would be the only Huron score of the day. Pinconning returned the kickoff to the Huron 31, but fumbled away the ball at the Huron 5 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. A roughing the passer penalty gave RC a first down, but Cercone, under a heavy rush, was intercepted. The Pinconning back ran it into the end zone, but a holding call brought the ball back to the 15. On third and 11, the Spartan QB fumbled and Greene recovered at the 19. A PENALTY made it third and 24. Pinconning took over at the Huron 30, after a punt, and then scored on the next play on a 27-yard run. The PAT made it 38-6, ending the scoring. The Hurons took over at their own 26. An incomplete pass on first down, then a four-yard pass to Wenzel set up third down. Greene, triple-covered, couldn’t haul in a pass on third down.
On fourth down, Greene, in punt formation, had to run under a heavy rush, but fell short of gaining the first down. Pinconning took over at the Huron 35. Pinconning, now with the second unit in on offense, drove to the Huron nine after two long runs as the third quarter ended. On Pinconning’s next possession, senior defensive lineman Randy Brege made two touchdown-saving tackles on consecutive plays. Taking over on their own 4, Streich ran for 6 and 21 yards to get the Hurons out of trouble. The Hurons would lose the ball on downs.
WITH A WIN Friday, the Hurons (3-4, 2-1) would put the Straits Area Conference championship race into a three-way tie with St. Ignace and Newberry. Brietzke?s plan is to vary the offense and go all-out for the win. ?We will spread the field from time to time with Kyle Greene and Cody Wenzel. We are putting in new plays which feature
STATISTICS Total offense: RC 52 rushing, 101 passing. Pinconning 285 rushing, 117 passing. Individual: Cercone, 6-of-25, 101 yards, 1 TD 3 INT. Receiving: Greene 3/58/1; Streich 1/41/0; Wenzel 1/4/0; Vekaryasz 1/-2/0. Rushing: Streich 9/38/0; Schuiteman 3/9/0; Centala 7/7/0; Greene 1/4/0; Vekaryasz 4/4/0; Kelley 2/-4/0; Cercone 2/-6/0.
Defensive leaders: Greene 8 tackles 6 assists, one fumble recovery; Gorlewski 8 tackles, 1 assist; Vekaryasz 7 tackles, 8 assists. Cercone and Heinzel each had a fumble recovery.