Posen looks to win first and wait and see who they play later
Win and they’re in. Anything beyond Friday night, as thoughts drift to playoff scenarios, just doesn’t matter if the Vikings don’t wrap up their sixth win of the season in the last regular season game of the 2004 season against the visiting Atlanta Huskies. Ever since early October, the Vikes have been fighting for their playoff lives, needing to win their last three games. They knocked off Hale October 8, and with a strong finish in the second half, pulled away from Hillman last Friday and won game number five, 46-14. Now with one win left, Posen has its toughest opponent since the Mio game.
“Atlanta has a very multi-dimensional offense,” said coach Glenn Budnick. “They run power-I, they run shotgun, they run four wide outs, five wide outs. They pretty much do anything. They are going to throw caution to the wind much like Hillman did. They (Atlanta) will be a very dangerous team and we’ll have to be ready to stop them.” The Vikings have won the last six meetings with the Huskies and seven of the last eight. Game time is at 7 p.m.
BUDNICK BELIEVES a competitive game will prepare his squad for the post season, if and when they get there. “If we do what we are capable of doing and play the way we are capable of playing it will be a good strong game for us, and if we are successful like I’m hoping we are, it’ll get us ready for the following week,” said Budnick. The list of possible playoff opponents include Pickford, Mid Peninsula, Johannesburg-Lewiston, and Gaylord St. Mary, just to name the schools at the top of the list. The dust has to settle from week nine action, but the strongest possibilities seem to match the Vikes up against Joburg or St. Mary’s, who play each other tomorrow. The 2004 playoff bracket will be official October 24, which is Selection Sunday. Pairings and sites will be announced on FOX Sports Net at 5:30 p.m., as well as on the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Web site (mhsaa.com).
POSEN DEFEATED Hillman for the seventh year in a row by getting off to a hot start and scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half. It’s what happened in between that kept the score at 18-14 in favor of Posen at halftime. With the help of a quarterback sack from Andy Styma and a blocked punt on fourth down from Matt Szczerowski on Hillman’s first possession, Posen had the ball at the Tigers’ 30-yard line.
Richie Kroll would run the ball in from seven yards out for the first points of the night, less than 30 seconds after the block. About three minutes later, Matt Ponik went deep to a streaking Szczerowski for 39 yards and six more points. Both conversions were no good, but the Vikes were in command 12-0, until the pigskin started slipping from their hands. “We got going early, but the down side to that in the second quarter, we fell flat,” said Budnick. “We had a case of not hanging on to the football very well. It was a wet night. There are no excuses; you have to hold on to the football. We just didn’t do a good job of that in the second half.” Hillman scored on consecutive possessions and made the second two-point conversion, and was leading Posen 14-12. To make matters worse, the ensuing kickoff was fumbled. The momentum was clearly in favor of the visitors, but the P-Town defense rose to the occasion and got the ball back and recovered a fumble with 3:40 left to go in the first half.
THE OFFENSE MARCHED down the field and capped off a drive with Kroll’s second touchdown of the game with 1:08 left in the second quarter. He would rush for 187 yards on 21 carries. “We went back to the leather ball in the second half and told them it would be a heavier ball, but we are going to make sure we keep our hands on it, and they did that,” said Budnick. Hillman had problems right out of the gate, botching a punt snap in the shadow of its own goal, which went f
Kroll rushed for his third touchdown of the game and freight-trained his way in for the two-point conversion, giving the home team a 20-point lead, 34-14. At that point, the game couldn’t end soon enough with the rain continuing to pour, but there would be more excitement as freshmen running backs Nathan Strzelecki (eight yards) and Josh Worthington (29 yards) scored their first varsity touchdowns.
The offense had 445 total yards, 361 on the ground, distributed among seven backs. They included Kroll, Ponik nine-for-62, Matt Schuch eight-for-35, Curtis Beach eight-for-32, Worthington one-for-29, Strzelecki three-for-13, Jason Romel three-for-three. Ponik passed for 84 yards. Szczerowski caught two passes for 53 yards, while Hincka brought in two himself for 31 yards.