Kingsford Tops Braves To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

KINGSFORD---The Kingsford High School football team overcame a slew of penalties and early offensive sluggishness to beat the Gladstone Braves, 41-20, Friday at Flivver Field. The win kept Kingsford's playoff hopes alive, and ended Gladstone's chances.

Kingsford rolled up 376 yards of total offense, doubling the Braves' total of 180 yards.

It was a wet night, and a windy night, in Kingsford. And it seemed to effect the Flivvers on their first possession, with two fumbles...both recovered by the home team.

On their second possession, another fumble...but again, recovered by the Flivvers.

Kingsford got things going with a 54-yard drive that ended on a Cole Moreau seven-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-3.

The Flivvers missed the two-point conversion, but got the ball back in the second quarter when Ethan Metras blocked a Tyler Wells punt.

That gave the Flivvers the ball at the Gladstone 13 yard-line. Five plays later, quarterback Joe Hofer found Austin Stanchina wide open in the end zone for a touchdown pass on 3rd-and-goal from the three yard-line.

The two-point conversion failed again.

Matt Chenier Player Spotlight Interview

When the Braves got the ball back, Wells was intercepted by Quintin Pratt. He returned it to the Gladstone 20 yard-line, leading to a Sam Santi 15-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-5.

The two-point conversion pass to Trevor Schaut made it a 20-0 Flivver lead.

Gladstone did not quit. The Braves completely fooled the Kingsford defense by giving the ball to Matt Chenier on a counter play. With all of the defenders keying on Justin Jurek, Chenier was off to the races. He was prevented from scoring a touchdown by the speedy Dan Harrington, but it was still a 53-yard run to the Kingsford nine yard-line.

It looked like the Braves might squander the scoring chance, as three plays went nowhere.

But on 4th-and-goal from the 11 yard-line, Wells found Lucian Burge open in the end zone for a touchdown. It was Burge's first varsity TD reception.

That play happened with nine seconds left in the half, and it gave the Braves some momentum heading into the second half.

And then Jurek gave his team another boost as he took the second half kickoff 92 yards to The House for a touchdown.

Jurek stepped in front of two teammates at the eight, and cut to the near sideline. He put on a sharp stiff-arm at the 28 yard-line, ran a long the sidelines for a while, and then picked up a caravan of blockers in the middle of the field at about the 50 yard-line.

Lucian Burge touchdown catch on 4th down

At that point, it was off to the races for Jurek as he accelerated to the end zone. But the Braves missed another two-point play, so they still trailed, 20-12.

Kingsford took over at its own 30 yard line and put together an impressive drive that chewed up more than half of the third quarter clock. A key play came on 4th-and-8 from the Gladstone 14 yard-line. Hofer found Harrington open in single coverage near the sidelines, and they got just enough for a first down at the Gladstone 6.

On the next play, Ben Moreau scored a touchdown from six yards out.

From there, Kingsford simply wore the Braves down. Gladstone had only 18 players available, with injuries to Jake Peterson, Luke Lueneberg, Troy Chenier, and Dallas Potvin leaving them shorthanded. One piece of good news was that Jake Bilkey, who was hurt in Week Two, was able to suit up and be a back-up center if needed.

Trailing 27-12, the Braves went for it on 4th-and-6 at their own 47, and Wells' pass was incomplete as the Flivvers brought a blitz.

Kingsford scored with four seconds left in the third quarter on a two-yard touchdown run by Luke Wahoviak.

Kingsford Coach Chris Hofer cleared the bench in the fourth quarter, but his reserves did a nice job of moving the ball against an exhausted Gladstone defense. Wyatt Caylor's 19-yard run, which included several broken tackles, gave Kingsford its final score.

Gladstone scored its final touchdown with 1:15 left in the game on a 20-yard run by Wells. Wells found Chenier for the two-point pass to make it a 41-20 final.

Kingsford (4-4) still holds state playoff hopes if it can get a win at Escanaba next week, and then hope to get into the Field of 256 as an "added at-large" team.

Gladstone, which had high hopes after a 3-0 start, lost its fifth straight game and was officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 3-5 record. The loss also meant that the Braves would go winless within the Great Northern Conference yet again.

Gladstone closes the season at home next Friday night against the Calumet Copper Kings.

Calumet (5-3) needs a win to automatically qualify for the playoffs, while the Braves will be playing for pride. Game time is 7:00. The game will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Ron Jurek, and hear radio interviews and replays.

Braves senior Lucian Burge (15) gets the TD catch as Kingsford's Quintin Pratt looks on. (Ron Jurek photo)

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