Two Up, Two Down: Braves Earn Another Victory

GLADSTONE---This "winning stuff" could become contagious for the Gladstone High School football team.

The program that went 0-9 last year and had lost 16 consecutive varsity games beat Gwinn last week, and then, on Saturday, followed up with a 41-12 win over the Roscommon Bucks. The Braves scored 27 straight points to break open a close game.

"The hard work paid off that we've been doing all week," Gladstone lineman Jack Cronick said. "It as nice. We just worked as hard as we could."

"2-0. That's all I can say," Gladstone Coach Cody Kangas said. "Offensively, I think we did a very good job. I'll look at the tape and I'm sure I'll find something to work on for next week.

"But offensively, I think we did well."

Gladstone got off to a great start at Justin Jurek took the first play from scrimmage to the house with a 66-yard run. Jurek was on Cloud Nine after this game.

"The hamstring injury last year didn't help me too much," Jurek said. "Then 16 straight losses is never a good feeling. So, it was nice to get our first one (last week), and then to continue here tonight. We watched film on them, and we knew we were gonna have to run it. Our line, everything as good up front. They opened up a big hole for me."

Justin Jurek starts game with 66-yard TD run

Then after the Braves defense held the Bucks to a three-and-out, Gladstone overcame two penalties but still needed to convert a fourth down from its own territory.

On fourth-and-four at the 36 yard-line, quarterback Tyler Wells got good blocking and then turned on the speed, sprinting 64 yards down the sidelines for a 14-0 Braves lead.

Roscommon moved the ball into the Braves' red zone, as Doug Fishell broke off a 22-yard run and quarterback Don Jernigan converted a fourth-and-eight play deep in Gladstone territory.

But the Braves held on defense, forcing a bad pass on 4th and 3 from the 7.

Then it looked like Gladstone would go up by three scores when receiver Jake Peterson got wide open along the sideline in front of the Braves bench. But Wells' pass as too long as Peterson dove and came up short.

A potential 90-yard touchdown play was lost.

Roscommon completely dominated the second quarter, scoring touchdowns on a 20-yard pass from Jernigan to T.J. Murninger (on 3rd-and-18), and on a seven-yard TD run on third down by Jernigan. The Braves seemed to be scrambling after an knee injury to one of their only "big guys" on the defensive line, 255-pounder Luke Lueneburg.

"When Luke went down, it was not only him being down, but him being gone takes away a lot of that intensity," Jurek said. "It was kind of like 'oh, boy, who's gonna replace him'."

Jack Cronick post-game comments

"Any time a player goes down, he's not just a player on the team, but he's a friend to everyone else," Kangas said. "I think they were worried about their friend and they didn't ant anything bad to happen, and it kind of took the wind out if our sails."

But the Bucks took a gamble that helped the Braves regain momentum before halftime. They went for an on-side kick after scoring that second touchdown (closing to within 14-12). The on-side failed, and the Braves got the ball at the Roscommon 47 yard line.

An illegal subsitution penalty gave the Braves another 15 yards, and that helped the team drive into the red zone.

Then came the play of the game, as Gladstone faced 4th-and-goal from the three yard line.

Wells found Jake Peterson open in the end zone, his first completed pass of the game, with 6.5 seconds left in the second quarter.

On the two-point play, Wells fought off two tackles and held the ball over the goal line as he was being dragged down. That play gave Gladstone a 22-12 lead at halftime.

"That touchdown right before halftime was big," Jurek said. "I mean, going into halftime up ten is a lot nicer than being up two. Especially with them receiving the second half."

Wells-to-Peterson touchdown pass!

"We noticed that #25 (TJ Murringer) was on Peterson, and he's usually to our strong side," Kangas said. "We noticed that when we went 'trips' (three receivers) to one side, they brought the safety over and that left one-on-one on the back side."

"So that was the thought process there, and we put Peterson on the weak side. That left Peterson one-on-one with the corner, and I will take that every time."

Roscommon got the ball first to start the third quarter, but after getting one first down, the Braves forced an incomplete pass on 4th-and-10 near midfield.

Gladstone then used a steady diet of runs by Jurek and Wells, with Jurek scoring the touchdown.

The Bucks went three-and-out on their next possesssion, and on the first offensive play, Jurek busted off a 56-yard touchdown run with 1:30 to go in the third quarter.

It was Jurek's third touchdown of the game, and it gave the Braves a huge 35-12 lead. The final touchdown was a 39-yard strike from Wells to Peterson in the fourth quarter.

Gladstone had 393 yards of total offense while Roscommon had 204.

Justin Jurek Touchdown run #3

Jurek led the Braves with 179 yards rushing on 15 carries, and three touchdowns.

Wells had 133 yards on 12 carries with one score...plus he completed 3 of 9 passes for 49 yards and two more touchdowns.

The Braves did not commit a turnover. Neither did the Bucks. No fumbles or INT's.

For the Bucks, Fishell had 78 yards on 15 carries. Jurnisan scrambled for 50 yards on 12 carries, and he completed 4 of 14 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.

Tyler Wells TD. 12-0 Braves.

Gladstone (2-0) will play its first road game of the season next Friday night in Negaunee.

The Miners are also 2-0 after winning on the road at Manistique and Calumet. The game will be broadcast on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and the rest of the Braves Football Network on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Ron Jurek, videos shot by Nate Bellville, and listen to radio replays and interviews from the game and post-game show.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

8/28	7:00 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	34 - 8 (W)	1-0

9/6	6:00 PM	Roscommon Bucks	41 - 12 (W)	2-0

9/12	7:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	24 - 19 (W)	3-0

9/19	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	6 - 49 (L)	3-1

9/26	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	13 - 21 (L)	3-2

10/3	7:00 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	22 - 28 (L)	3-3

10/10	7:00 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	14 - 41 (L)	3-4

10/17	7:30 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	20 - 41 (L)	3-5

10/24	7:00 PM	Calumet Copper Kings	38 - 47 (L)	3-6