UP crusade continues in the Soo Friday

Heartbreaking. Stunning. Disappointing.

Any of those words would work to describe the way the Hurons (1-3) lost 18-14 to the Saints (2-2) in a Straits Area Conference football game last week in St. Ignace. A late score by the Saints and an early whistle in the closing seconds of play left the Hurons wondering what happened to take away their lead and then cost them the chance to run one more play before time ran out. With the Hurons up 14-12 with 3:15 left to play in the game, they had the ball at their own five-yard-line. That is where a Saint drive stalled, after a fourth-and-two play resulted in a fumble at the line of scrimmage.

NOW WITH the lead and the ball, the burden fell to the offense to get a score or work the clock. Two runs by sophomore running back Tyler Schuiteman netted five yards, but a penalty made it third-and-ten. Dylan Centala got the call on a counter, and as he neared the first down marker he fumbled, but a Huron fell on the ball at the Saint 19, saving the drive. With 2:35 left, and the clock rolling, another Huron penalty made it first-and-15. Two Centala runs into the line made only one yard, but the clock kept running with 1:34 now left in the game.

A delay of game penalty on the Hurons moved the ball back to the Huron 10 with 1:16 showing on the game clock. Huron quarterback Austin Fairbanks hit Justin Wilbert for a 15-yard gainer, four short of what they needed for a first down. With 1:08 left in the game the Saints called timeout, trailing 14-12. On the next play Cody Wenzel’s punt rolled to the Saint 37 and the Saints had 50 seconds left to do something.

AND DO something they did. St. Ignace had great success all night long running the ball against the Hurons, but chose to put it in the air. A first down pass gained 14 yards to the Huron 49. Then the Saint quarteback piked the ball, stopping the clock with 37 seconds showing. On the next play Tyler Huskey caught a pass for a 34-yard gain to the Huron 15. With 28 seconds left, the Hurons called timeout to regroup.

On the next play the left-handed Saint quarterback rolled left and found a receiver in the left corner for a touchdown pass past a stunned Huron defensive unit. The PAT failed but St. Ignace had rallied from trailing 14-6 to lead 18-14.

AN ONSIDE kick by the Saints was kicked to lineman Joe Kuchinski, who returned it to the Saint 40. With the capacity for big-play strikes, the Hurons were not dead yet, with 16 seconds left on the clock and a timeout remaining. Fairbanks threw the ball to Wenzel on the left side, where the elusive flanker dodged defenders guarding the sidelines as he took the ball to the center of the field to the Saint 23 for a first down. The clock stopped temporarily while the chain gang moved the first down marker, and Fairbanks frantically motioned his teammates back to the line of scrimmage to get the next play off.

The ball was placed, the referees cranked up the clock and Fairbanks quickly spiked the ball into the turf to stop the clock. The refs stopped the clock with four seconds left while Coach Kosiara sent in a play. As the Huron quarterback came to the line to get the snap from center Scott Kamyszek, the officials raced in to say the game was over. Coach Mike Kosiara was left to explain the finish to his stunned players.

“Austin’s knee hit the ground before he spiked the ball,” Kosiara said. “They (the officials) did stop the clock, however. They did have a conference, but they failed to go to the sidelines and explain their ruling to the coaches. “We believed that since the clock was stopped, we would have time for another play. Then they started the clock. When the game ended they explained their ruling to us.” The explanation came too late to do the Hurons any good, as Kosiara could have called timeout, had the ruling been explained after the officials huddled. The team can take a few positives out of a tough loss. There were no injuries and a few players had a chance to heal some old bruises. The taste of a bitter loss might prove a motivator. “The players feel robbed. They seem resolved not to allow a game to get to the point where it can be decided on a final play like that,” Kosiara said.

THE SAINT RUNNING game gave the Hurons problems all night, leading to the Saint scores. A 13-play running drive covered 85 yards, eating up four minutes on the clock to give the Saints a 6-0 lead. To the surprise of many, the Saints tried a pass on the PAT, which failed. The Hurons stopped the next Saint drive when Wenzel came up with an interception at the Saint 41, but the host team answered by intercepting Fairbanks at its own nine with 9:24 left in the opening quarter. Another Saint turnover set up the first Huron touchdown. Tyler Gorlewski fell on a Saint fumble at the St. Ignace 20 with 2:29 left in the half. From there, the Hurons needed six plays before Fairbanks bulled over from the one. Wenzel’s kick made it 7-6 with 35 seconds left in the first half. On the ensuing Saint drive the Saints moved the ball quickly into scoring position, aided by a Huron penalty. With time running out, Centala broke up a pass at the goal line with five seconds, saving a certain score. The half ended with the Hurons leading 7-6.

THE SAINTS turned the ball over again, with Mookie Vogelhiem coming up with a fumble recovery to end the Saint drive to open the third quarter. Great field position set up the next Huron score. Key tackles by outside linebacker Mark Grulke and defensive tackle Jeremy Karsten forced the Saints into a fourth-and-13 from their own seven. After the punt, the Hurons took over at the Saint 24 and wasted no time getting on the scoreboard again. On the next play, sophomore running back Trent Holmes ran through a big hole up the middle right into the end zone. Wenze

l’s kick made it 14-6 with 2:46 left in the first half.

THE SAINTS struck quickly, with fullback Nick Robinson going 21 yards before Huskey ran 44 yards for the score. The third quarter ended with the Hurons leading 14-12. Fairbanks connected on 11-of-18 passes for 127 yards and one interception. He teamed with five different receivers. They included Wenzel, four catches for 66 yards, Grulke (2/10), Chris Santini (2/24), Centala (2/13), and Justin Wilbert (1/14). Centala led the running game with 15 carries for 35 yards. Others included Holmes (3/33), Schuiteman (11/19), Fairbanks (7/22) and Wenzel (1/1).

The Saints rushed for 319 yards and passed for 65 to total 384 yards of offense. Rogers City had 110 rushing and 127 passing for 236 yards. Defensive leaders included Centala with 12 solo tackles and 1 assist, and Tyler Gorlewski with nine tackles, two assists and a fumble recovery. Evan Vogelheim and Schuiteman each had a fumble recovery and Wenzel had an interception.

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