Posen earns sixth straight playoff appearance

The Michigan High School Athletic Association Division VIII playoffs begin for the Posen Vikings (6-3) with a rematch in the upper peninsula Friday against the 6-3 Pickford Panthers. Posen put an exclamation mark on the end of the 2004 regular season with a resounding 52-16 defeat of Atlanta to qualify for the post season for the sixth consecutive season — all under head coach Glenn Budnick.

“Our program is excited,” said Budnick. “Our kids are excited. Hopefully, we can go up across the bridge and turn the tables on them.” The players came out and made a statement in the second half against Atlanta. On the first play of scrimmage, Richie Kroll ran 77 yards for paydirt to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark and give P-Town a commanding 36-8 lead. Kroll, who rushed for 228 yards on the night, becomes the first player since Josh Konieczny to reach the rushing milestone.

THE VIKINGS PROVED they belong in the playoffs, averaging 45 points over their last three games. The defense improved as well, allowing an average of 12 points a game during that span. When the Vikings line up against Pickford in the rematch tomorrow at 7 p.m., it’ll all be about whose defense plays better. Coach Budnick believes Pickford will see a much-improved P-Town defense. The Panthers won the regular season outing 34-20. “Our defense is getting better since the Mio game,” said Budnick. “We’re coming together as a group. Everybody is playing together, everybody knows their responsibilities and their assignments now.” The Viking offense didn’t have too many problems against the Pickford defense, compiling 383 yards on 58 plays, but the Panthers were a little better with 408 yards of offense on 64 plays. “Kids are getting healthy again. I think we’ll be more than adequately prepared for Pickford on Friday night,” said Budnick.

ANOTHER ADVANTAGE for Posen is the offense is also playing better than it did in week three. Regardless, it’ll still come down to holding onto the ball, playing four quarters of football, and stopping Pickford’s running game. “They will run primarily between the tight ends,” said Budnick. “They like to pull both guards and tackles from the backside and get as many guys at the point of attack that they possibly can.” The focus in practice this week was to find a way to defend the off tackle plays.

“I think my coaches (Howard Madsen and Joe Veselenak) have come up with a solid game plan on how to stop that and limit their opportunities,” said Budnick. The Panthers come into the game dropping three of their last four, but it can be deceiving because all three were against teams in the playoffs. It should be noted that Pickford lost 26-12 to Cedarville October 1, a team Posen defeated in week one.

POSEN OWNED the first quarter against Atlanta, scoring 24 points. Matt Schuch had a long run to set up the first touchdown of the game by Matt Ponik. The next possession, Jason Romel had a big gain of 16 yards to set up a five yard touchdown run by Kroll and th

e lead was 16-0 with only half of the first quarter played. Romel, who started at quarterback, fired a 27-yard touchdown pass to Matt Szczerowski and the lead was 24-0 heading into the second quarter. The lead was 30 when Kroll rushed for his second of four touchdowns. Atlanta finally answered with 3:08 left to play in the first half, but the Vikings didn’t let up in the second half. “I think our guys rose to the occasion in the second half and showed them what Posen football is all about,” said Budnick. Kroll busted through with the 77-yard touchdown, and the momentum belonged to the home team.

ROMEL HOOKED up with Szczerowski on a 28-yard pass play to the Atlanta 11. Kroll and the offensive line did the rest with another touchdown and a 44-8 advantage. The final highlight for the Vikings was a 95-yard touchdown run by Romel. He took the ball outside, turned the corner, and sprinted down the Posen sideline. Romel also ran in the conversion to wrap up the scoring at 52-16. Romel rushed for 130 yards of Posen’s 463 rushing yards. With 75 passing yards, the total yardage reached the 538 mark. Schuch was 10-for-65, while Ponik carried the ball six times for 29 yards. Another successful regular season is in the books. Now the Vikings will look to extend their playoff run to next week with their second post season win in three seasons and their first road playoff win since 1999.