The Vikes look to shake two game losing streak at Twining
A game-clinching first down for Au Gres late in the fourth quarter last Friday told the story of the last two weeks for the Posen football team. The host Wolverines were clinging to a one-point lead with 57 seconds left and the Viking defense was in need of a stop with a fourth-and-inches play coming up for Au Gres. The way the Posen offense had been moving the ball, when their backs were against the wall, the Vikings were still in the game, but they needed the defense to come up with a big play.
Posen (2-2, 0-1) got a break as an Au Gres lineman was penalized for being offsides. That put the ball back into a fourth-and-sixth situation with 45 seconds remaining and the Vikes down by one. The Wolverines ran it up the middle for the first down to wrap up their first victory against Posen in six tries, 29-28.
“They (Au Gres) had fourth-and-six and we needed a stop,” said coach Glen Budnick. “We had two kids hit him at the line of scrimmage, and then he went six yards for the first down. That was the story of the night. We just didn’t do the job done that we needed to do, and we just have to get better at it next week at practice.” Much like the Pickford loss the week before, there were occasions when the Viking defense pinned the Wolverines back into a third or fourth and long situation, but the opposition has been able to convert.
“WHAT WE have to do is become better at our assignments and better at tackling,” said Budnick. “We had a lot of missed tackles tonight. Where we had them wrapped up, or hit in the backfield, a kid fell off, (the back) got away and ran for another four or five yards.” Statistic-wise, Posen had a better night offensively, with more than 100 yards of total offense, 418 to 301. The rushing yardage was about the same margin, 301-268. “Au Gres came out, they had a solid game plan, and they executed it well,” said Budnick. “They made very few mistakes and when they did, we didn’t capitalize on them.” It’s the Vikings first back-to-back losses since 1998, when the school dropped games against Mio, October 9 and Hale, October 16. It’s also the first regular-season road loss since October 8, 1999 at Hale.
THE GAME couldn’t have started better for Posen, which received the ball and needed only five plays to put the ball in the end zone. The drive was capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by Jason Romel. Curtis Beach ran in the conversion, and with less than two minutes off the clock, the Vikings had an 8-0 lead. It got even better for PHS. On Au Gres’ first possession, near midfield, the Wolverines put the ball on the ground. It was recovered by the Vikings at their own 41. After a flawless first drive, Posen was in business, looking to tack on some more points, but fumbled the ball back to Au Gres a couple of plays later.
The Wolverines got on track and moved it to the PHS 10. With a third-and-three James Sobek made the stop to set up a fourth-and-two, but the Wolverines converted on a quarterback sneak and punched in a two-yard score with 3:53 left in the first quarter. The conversion was stopped short. The score was 8-6, Posen. After the kickoff, the Vikings had good field position, and with the aid of an unsportsmanlike penalty and a 13-yard pass play from Ponik to Aaron Hincka, Posen increased its lead to eight on a three-yard touchdown run by Ponik with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
THE VIKINGS would get the ball again after an interception by Ponik, but the drive stalled at midfield when the Vikes were unable to convert a fourth-and-four play. The ball went to Au Gres on downs and they took the ball down the field and scored with 1:14 remaining in the half. The two-point conversion also was successful and the game was tied at 14. To conclude the half, Posen had the drive of the game, taking the ball from their own 20 to the Au Gres 11 with hardly any time on the clock.
With .05 second left, and one shot at a touchdown, Ponik was flushed from the pocket and threw up a jump ball to Hincka. He caught it and was coming down for the touchdown, but it was knocked from his hands as he was coming down, possibly by an Au Gres defender’s helmet. The score remained tied at halftime. The Wolverines got the ball to start the third quarter and used about half of the quarter to score the go-ahead points. The two-point conversion also was good and the lead was 22-14.
POSEN WOULD get back on the scoreboard board early in the fourth quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by Beach, but the conversion attempt failed, leaving the Vikes down by two, 22-20. T
Ponik was five-for-12 for 66 yards. Hincka caught four of the passes for 58 yards. To Posen’s credit, both the schools they have lost to are undefeated with a combined record of 7-0. The Vikes look to get back on track with a road game at Twining-Arenac Eastern (1-3). The Eagles defeated Hillman for their first win since 2001. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.