SPORTSBEAT BY PETER JAKEY: Undefeated Hurons doing the ?little things?

Off to their best start in eight seasons, Huron football coach Mike Kosiara has been hammering away at one continuous point: ?It is the little things that make big plays.? What are the little things? ?Linemen staying low, linemen coming off the ball, receivers running the right patterns, our nose guard doing what he is supposed to do in taking out the center, or whatever we ask them to do,? said Kosiara. Captain Chase McLennan said, ?The last two weeks our defensive tackles have been focusing on staying low and driving the center back to blow up the play. They don?t get credit for the tackle, but that is all part of the little things that will help us.?

Executing the ?little things? are paying big dividends for the Hurons as they were ranked ninth in the latest Associated Press Division VII polls. It also puts them two victories from qualifying for the playoffs and equals the win total of the last two seasons. With five weeks left until the post season, Kosiara?s only concern is the game at hand. ?Right now we are focused on Indian River,? said Kosiara. ?We are not even thinking about our record. We are thinking about Indian River.? After a well-played shutout victory at Lincoln, the Hurons traveled to St. Ignace and had their ups and downs, but came up with the plays when they needed to. Conditioning also played a key role in coming home with win number four. Kosiara said his boys are in extremely good shape.

?Conditioning probably won the game for us,? the coach said. ?We work our kids very hard. They do a lot of running.? It brought back the memory of grass drills in early August when the Huron National Bank temperature sign downtown read 100-plus. At the same moment, the football team was working out behind the high school building on an insanely stuffy day, but the pain experienced on the first days of training camp appear to be making a difference today, and who knows, it could bring them another victory somewhere in the next five weeks. The boys were tested in training camp and having been passing the midseason tests as well. They have been able to overcome the loss of starting linebacker/guard Brad Belusar due to a shoulder separation in the Alcona contest, but they did get James Bruning on the field for the first time.

With little or no depth at most positions, injuries can play a devastating role for schools with thin football rosters like Rogers City, but it is not something the coach or the players are dwelling on. The attitude of the squad has been excellent, Kosiara said. ?The kids care about each other, that is a big thing,? he said. ?We have a real good clubhouse. ?I have some kids that have been there for four years and have won very few games and they do look at it that way. Every

week is a test for them. We have our ups and downs. It is just a matter of working through them.? McLennan said the fan support is starting to build and that has been a welcome sight for the players. ?Everyone loves football,? said McLennan. ?We had a lot of fan support at St. Ignace and it was really nice to see.? Kosiara added, ?We don?t have any real standouts. We just have a good team of ball players.?

It is a group that hopes to pick up a third straight road win and bring a 5-0 record to Gilpin Memorial Field September 29 against Rudyard with a chance to wrap up the playoff spot.

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The Huron Sports Boosters are conducting a one-time fundraiser. Through the end of the month, the group will be collecting the names of individuals who want to sponsor the sports programs at RCHS. They will have their names listed in the sports programs during the fall and winter seasons. Contact Mike Stempky at 734-2422 if you are interested.