Nowack Has Career Night As Maroons Rout Braves

GLADSTONE---The Gladstone High School football team knew that it would be a huge challenge when the Menominee Maroons came to town Friday night for a Great Northern Conference game.

The Maroons had dominated three Wisconsin teams to start the season, and arrived in Gladstone with the #2 ranking in the state in Division Five.

Menominee showed that it is well worth that ranking, as it posted a 63-13 win over the Braves on Parent's Night at the Marble Field.

The Maroons scored 56 of those points in the first half, rolling up 484 yards of total offense, scoring on eight of nine possessions.

"We lost to the better team," Gladstone Coach Jeff Hansen said. "They executed very well. But some of that is on me as a coach. I should have found a way to prepare the guys better, and maybe we could have stopped a few of their things on offense."

But truth be known, an NFL coach wouldn't have been able to make much of a difference in Friday's game. Menominee dominated in every aspect of the game, from the line of scrimmage out to the running and passing games. The Gladstone boys battled hard all night long, and kept hitting hard, but the Braves just couldn't dent the Maroon armor.

"I am proud that these guys kept playing the game," Hansen said. "They worked hard. Amd the community gave us tremendous support. The score wasn't what we wanted, but they (fans) stayed and supported us. I can't tell you how much we appreciate that."

Menominee quarterback Nathan Nowack had a career night, and he did all of his damage in the first half as the Maroons scored 56 points and rolled up 484 yards of total offense in the first two quarters.

Nowack set a Menominee High School record with seven total touchdowns: five in the air, and two on the ground. Nowack threw touchdown passes of 25 and 63 yards to Hunter Hass. He threw touchdowns of 60 and 26 yards to Ethan Mileski. And Nowack threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Boucher. In total, Nowack had 238 passing yards.

Hunter Garling Kick-off return for TD

Nowack also had touchdown runs of 63 yards in the first quarter, and 19 yards late in the second quarter.

Keifer Rasner added a 36-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for the Maroons, and then Josh Hanson scored on a seven-yard run in the third quarter as the mercy rule set the running clock in motion.

Nowack ended up with 412 yards of total offense, when combining running and passing plays. And that was all done in the first half, as he did not play in the second half.

For the Braves, there were a few highlights. Hunter Garling returned a kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, and then, with 2:38 left in the half, Garling caught a short pass from quarterback Ben Schwalbach and started running.

Garling broke two tackles and got a monster block from receive Jake Greenfield to score on an 85-yard touchdown play.

Jeff Stenson had several tough runs for the Braves, getting 36 yards on 16 carries. Greenfield had two catches for 23 yards.

While Menominee improved to 4-0, Gladstone dropped to 2-2. The Braves will travel to Marquette for another GNC game next Friday night. Marquette got its first win of the season Friday night in Escanaba, 28-21. Game time next Friday is 7:00. The game will be broadcast on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville; and Alex King, Dallas Potvin interviews.