Gladstone Gets Big Plays To Outlast Benzie In Dome

MARQUETTE---The Gladstone Braves football team did not have a sustained drive all afternoon long in their game Friday against the Benzie Central Huskies in Marquette.

Braves quarterback Ben Schwalbach was sacked six times. Gladstone had only 40 yards of total offense in the entire second half, 36 of them on one play.

The Benzie Central fullback, Devlin Philo, routinely broke off six, seven, eight yards a crack, on the way to 132 rushing yards for the contest.

So, Gladstone must have lost the game, right?

Wrong! The Braves made big plays in all three phases of the games, and it was enough for a 27-18 win over the downstate team.

Gladstone led, 13-0, at halftime, before the Huskies, with their big front line and punishing fullback, made things tough in the second half.

Add to the mix a mobile quarterback in the name of Noah Yacks, and the Braves were in tough several times down the stretch.

But, just as in last week's win over Gwinn, the Braves made the plays when it counted.

Kyle Egner solo tackle on punt return

One of the biggest performers for the Braves was junior Kyle Egner. He intercepted two passes, broke up two others, and had a solo, open-field tackle on a punt return.

And Egner had to shine in 1-on-1 cover against one of Benzie's top players, Michael Hoffert. That performance was not lost on Braves Head Coach Jeff Hansen.

"Eggy played an outstanding game in two different phases," Hansen said. "One, he had a great defensive game against one of their best players, and made all of the right plays, and he never flinched. But also, he's our long snapper. They were coming at us hard on all of our extra points, and his work was huge down the stretch for us."

For his part, Egner said that he was just doing his job. Even on the pass break-up.

"They'd been running slants on us all game," Egner said. "I just saw him coming down the side, and I saw the ball released and I just tried to make a decent hit on him."

Egner was humble when asked after the game about his two interceptions.

"He (Hoffert) was a good player," Egner said. "I have nothing bad to say against him. But nothing against the quarterback, but they weren't the best-thrown balls, a little under-thrown, and I was just there to make the play."

Also making a big impact was kicker Jim Bruce.

Jim Bruce post-game comments

He missed his first extra point attempt for the second straight week, but he more than made up for that with his strong kick offs and punts. Bruce routinely gave Benzie Central poor field position with kicks that nailed the Huskies deep in their own territory. One kick was especially big for Bruce.

In the second quarter, on fourth down, Bruce received a bad snap. He went and got it, rolled to his right, and punted the Huskies inside their own five yard-line.

"It was a bad snap and the ball was really high, and it slipped right through my finger tips and it went behind me," Bruce said. "I picked up the ball and looked in front of me, and their two biggest guys were coming right at me. So, I just wound up and kicked it off as fast as I could. I thought it might bounce back at us, but I got the lucky bounce."

Schwalbach-to-Greenfield touchdown pass

In the early going Friday, Gladstone got a 49-yard touchdown pass from Ben Schwalbach to Jake Greenfield on the first series of ther game, and then, on the first play of the second quarter, Jeff Stenson broke off a 44-yard touchdown run. Jim Bruce's extra point kick made it a 13-0 game.

But Benzie Central took the opening possession of the second half 56 yards in eight plays, with quarterback Yacks scoring from eleven yards out. He had also scrambled for a 17 yard gain on third and long earlier in the drive. Gladstone's Trevor Tomac blocked the extra point kick, and that would turn out to be huge later in the contest.

The Braves appeared to regain control of the game when quarterback Ben Schwalbach dumped one off to Kyle Pouliot out of the backfield.

Pouliot rumbled 36 yards for the touchdown, and Bruce added the extra point kick to give the Braves a 20-6 lead.

Who knew that this would be the last time the Braves would score on offense, and that the team would not get another first down the rest of the game?

The Huskies went on a 60-yard drive, helped along on a 21-yard pass to Michael Hoffert on 3rd and 9 on a ball that the Gladstone sideline swore on a stack of Bibles hit the ground.

Beznie Central resported to trickery to complete the drive, facing 3rd-and-16 at the Braves 26 yard-line. Yacks tossed it to receiver Austin Ross, who then threw to a wide-open Bryce Brouwer for the touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Ross Miron clutch pass-breakup

That made it 20-12, and, again, the Braves stopped the two-point play. Gladstone could accomplish nothing on offense, as Schwalbach was sacked on two straight plays by a Husky defense that blitzed on nearly every play all night long. Benzie went on another drive in the closing minutes of the game.

This drive started at the 42 yard-line, and took a brusing 16 plays to complete. Little by little, the Huskies moved toward the Braves goal line.

Yacks completed a key 4th-and-4 pass to Hoffert, who stumbled his way to a first down at the Gladstone 45 yard-line. Later, on 3rd-and-14 at the Braves 38, Yacks found Hoffert again for the 14 yards, and a first down.

Philo was tough on several runs, and on 4th-and-1 from the 15, Yacks got just enough for yet another first down. Then Yacks scrambled for a four-yard touchdown run, diving into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.

So, with 2:30 left in the game, Gladstone's lead was down to 20-18. Benzie Central went for the tying two-point conversion, and the Huskies went to their bread-and-butter runner. But Philo was stuffed by Matt Chenier and Dan Berg at the goal line.

Hunter Garling On-Side Kick TD Return

That play meant the Huskies needed to go for an on-side kick to try to get the ball back. The kick was not a good one, not making it the needed ten yards.

Gladstone senior Hunter Garling picked up the ball, and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown.

"The kicker didn't get it the whole ten yards, so they couldn't touch it," Garling said. "They all kind of moved away. So, I saw the opportunity and I took it."

"We usually to tell them to fall on it," Hansen said. "But he's an athlete, and he (Garling) scooped it. He's the kid who can make those kind of plays. So, we trust him to do that. And, boy, did he come through for us today."

Hunter Garling post-game comments.

That gave Gladstone a 26-18 lead, and Bruce came in to boot the extra point kick to make it a nine-point lead...with Benzie Central needing two scores to win.

But not after Hansen called a time-out.

"Coach told me, he was like, if you make this, it is a two-posession game," Bruce said, "so, just kick it through the uprights!" And that's exactly what Bruce did, making ot 27-18.

The Huskies went four-and-out, with Ross Miron tipping away the desperation pass on fourth down. Gladstone could have almost run the clock out, but tried a pass, and Schwalbach's throw was intercepted by Hoffert with 34 seconds left in the game.

"It was something that we meant to do," Hansen said. "It was a chance that we were comfortable in taking, because we had a two-score lead. Basically, the message was, if they intercept it, then we just go ahead and make a tackle, and play defense."

And that's exactly what happened, as Greenfield got an interception of his own on the next play. Gladstone improved to 2-0 on the season while Benzie Central fell to 0-2.

Jim Bruce clinches game with PAT kick.

The Braves host Negaunee next Friday night at the Marble Athletic Field. Game time is 7:00, and it will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www. rrnsports.com.

The Gladstone junior varsity team beat Benzie Central, 72-14, in Friday's morning game, to also improve to 2-0. (Photo below: Steven Busbye scores a touchdown).

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville, and to hear radio interviews.