Hurons finish football season at home with Cheboygan

Low on numbers, but not short on heart, the Huron football team wraps it up at home this Friday. The Hurons take on playoff-bound Cheboygan in the last game of what has been a tough first season for coach Mike Kosiara. Rogers City comes into the finale in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, but will look to do their best to finish up respectively. “Parents Night, the last game for seniors, setting the tone for our performance next year are things we will focus on. We do expect their best effort this week,” Kosiara said.

Kosiara and defensive coach Nick Rethman expect to have everyone on their roster available for the finale at Gilpin. Cheboygan (7-1) has been on a run, winning its last six games. The Chiefs beat Sault Ste. Marie, 41-18, a team that defeated the Hurons by 40 points, and then topped Newberry 34-16 two weeks later. Their lone defeat came at the hands of Gaylord 42-28 in week two. Coach Kosiara knows what he is up against. “This will be the best team we will face this year,” he said.

LAST FRIDAY at Gilpin Field, the Newberry Indians (6-2) clinched a playoff berth for the second straight season with a 42-6 win over the Hurons. Played in a steady hard rain, each team kept the ball on the ground for the most part, with straight-ahead plays working the best. After forcing a Huron punt on the game’s first possession, the Indians scored in six running plays to make the score 6-0 at the 7:51 mark of the first quarter. They scored on their next possession, then tacked on the two-pointer to make it 14-0 with 2:49 left in the first quarter. Sparked by a 60-yard run to the Huron three-yard line, the Indians scored one play later to make the score 20-0 in the opening minute of the second quarter. The Hurons cracked into Indian territory on their next drive as flanker Cody Wenzel drew a pass interference call on a deep route down the left sideline. An Austin Fairbanks pass to tight end Mark Grulke gained eight yards, but the Hurons couldn’t convert from there. Later in the quarter Newberry started a drive on their own 30, and marched downfield. But Dylan Centala’s tackle on a fourth-and-one play gave the Hurons the ball on their own four for a touchdown-tackle.

THAT ONLY delayed Newberry’s score. The visitors took over after a Huron fumble four plays later at the Huron 11 yard-line and scored on a one-yard run with 31 seconds left in the half. The PAT run made it 28-0. Newberry scored on its first drive of the second half, using 10 plays to eat up 61 yards. The 36-0 score meant the clock would run continuously unless the Hurons could cut the margin.

SOPHOMORE RUNNING back Tyler Schuiteman got the Hurons on the scoreboard with his 63-yard run with 1

1:49 left to play in the fourth quarter. He took a handoff, broke a tackle on the left side of the line, and then out-raced the Newberry defenders to the end zone. That TD negated the running clock for the moment. Newberry answered with a five-play, 80-yard drive to run the score to 42-6 with 9:24 left, setting the clock in non-stop motion again. That would end the scoring on the rainy night. The Hurons ran for 78 yards and passed for 26, but lost 27 yards on quarterback sacks. Fairbanks completed three-of-18 passes with one interception. Wenzel caught two passes for 19 yards while Grulke had one for eight yards.

Schuiteman had 65 yards on four carries, Fairbanks carried seven times for 19 yards and Centala had five carries for minus six yards. Defensively, linebacker Tyler Gorlewski had 10 primary and two assisted tackles while Centala had seven primary and one assisted tackle.

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