Big Plays Lead Gladstone Past Bark River-Harris

HARRIS----One team won the game, and the other lost. But you'd be hard-pressed to know which one won by talking with the coaches after the Gladstone Braves played the Bark River-Harris Broncos in a non-conference football game Friday night.

Gladstone won the game, 34-6, but Coach Josh Mileski was unhappy with his team's lack of intensity and numerous mistakes, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Blake Ballard with an interception return.

"I was extremely disappointed at halftime," Mileski said. "We had talked all week about being mentally prepared, and not looking past an opponent. We, I believe, took them a little lightly."

"We have enough athletes that we covered the field extremely well, he continued, "but I feel offensively that we had maybe six people (out of 11) playing on any given play."

Meanwhile, Bark River's new coach, Brad Wiljanen, had a different take on the game.

"I couldn't be more impressed with our guys," Wiljanen said. "From where we were last week to where we were this week, our intensity, coming off the ball, everything was there. Our defense played strong, but we just made a lot of mistakes."

The Braves had great field position all night long, starting many of their drives from within Bronco territory. But Gladstone could not grind it out once they were in the red zone, and had to rely on several long plays to put points onto the scoreboard.

Sam Pouliot hooked up with Justin Pederson for a 37-yard touchdown pass on the Braves' first possession in the first quarter. Then on their third possession, Jared Vuksan powered his way to a 28-yard touchdown run.

BRH senior Dane Messersmith (10) is pursued by Gladstone's Sam Pouliot (3)

Gladstone led, 14-0, after the first quarter.

But in the second quarter, Gladstone's offense sputtered, with several big penalities and dropped passes behind the Broncos' secondary. So, it was still 14-0 at the half.

The Broncos recovered an on-side kick after the Braves fumbled it on the third quarter kickoff. Gladstone's defense stuffed the Bronco offense, forcing a punt.

The Braves also had to punt on its first series when two high snaps sent Pouliot racing backwards to prevent turnovers. When BR-H got the ball back, Gladstone's Blake Ballard stepped in front of a Jorden Sodergren pass for an interception. On the next play, Pouliot found Pederson open for a 46-yard touchdown pass (pictured at top of the article.)

The Broncos went three-and-out on their next possession, and when Gladstone took over at the 50 yard-line, Pouliot took it to the house for a TD to make it 28-0.

Bark River-Harris finally crossed the 50 yard-line on offense late in the third quarter, after two more snaps over Pouliot's head turned the ball over. Sodergren then found Neil Wentland up-field for a 35-yard reception to the Gladstone 11 yard-line.

Jared Vuksan (52) pounds his way to a TD.

Wentland juggled the ball, but came down with it. And on the first play of the fourth quarter, Brian Latta went in from 11 yards out to put the Broncos on the board.

In the fourth quarter, the Braves switched from the usual spread offense to an I-formation look. Vuksan took advantage, bullying his way up field on four carries. He scored the touchdown, untouched, from 11 yards out to make it 34-6.

Vuksan also made four extra point kicks, although he missed that last one.

Gladstone center Joe Menard, who had a flawless game last week against Gwinn, had a rough one Friday night. He had ten very high snaps against the Broncos, including five that went over Pouliot's head.

"Joe will be fine. He's a nice kid, he's a tough kid," Mileski said. "And even when the snaps were good, you can't show up to a game at 75 or 80 percent mentally. We just were not in rhythm tonight."

The game was played under warm, humid conditions, and it was tough on the guys.

"I'm pretty exhausted," Braves senior lineman Steve Strom said. "The heat wore me out. I think I dropped about ten pounds (of weight) today because of the heat."

Broncos Brian Latta (38) and Jorden Sodergren (5) run a play Friday night.

"The first half, it (weather) was absolutely miserable," Pederson said. "It was really hot. I almost died!"

Vuksan had 78 yards on eight carries, while Pouliot had 40 yards on ten touches. Pouliot also completed 4-of-15 passes for 118 yards and two scores. Riley Ballard contributed 30 yards on ten carries.

BR-H was limited to just 73 yards of total offense, with 34 in the air and 39 on the ground. Dane Messersmith was the workhorse, getting eleven carries.

But Wiljanen says his team can take a lot of positive out of this game.

"I think we gave them more of a game than they expected," Wiljanen said. "Sometimes, you just run into physical limitations after a while, and we did. We knew that we would eventually give up a big pass because they were so much faster. And Vuksan, I mean, is a different animal. But I thought our kids played tough for a lot of the game."

When it was over, the Gladstone players knew that they hadn't done their best.

"I had a couple of drops and I'm not proud of that," Pederson said. "This was not a good game at all for us. We did not play to our full potential. If we play how we should play, I feel that we can beat any team we play."

Braves' Cody Malanowski with the tackle.

"We got the win, and I think the kids learned a lesson," Mileski said. "Bark River is a better team than most people know. Brad is doing a nice job with those boys."

Still, a win is a win, and the Braves are 2-0 after going 0-9 last season. The schedule gets tough the next two weeks, however, with road games against Negaunee and Menominee. Both the Miners and Maroons are 2-0 so far this season.

Next Friday's Gladstone-Negaunee game starts at 7:30. Our pre-game show will start at 7:15 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 numerous photos, taken by Ron Jurek. Several photos taken by injured Braves linesman Logan Krizan are also posted. You can also listen to some audio highlights from the game by clicking the audio thumbnails.

Braves quarterback Sam Pouliot (3) throws a pass during Friday night's game against Bark River-Harris.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

8/24	7:00 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	49 - 12 (W)	1-0

8/31	7:00 PM	at Bark River-Harris Broncos	34 - 6 (W)	2-0

9/7	7:30 PM	at Negaunee Miners	34 - 36 (L)	2-1

9/14	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	6 - 47 (L)	2-2

9/21	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	14 - 35 (L)	2-3

9/28	7:00 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	19 - 49 (L)	2-4

10/5	7:00 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	25 - 37 (L)	2-5

10/12	7:30 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	28 - 49 (L)	2-6

10/18	7:00 PM	Calumet Copper Kings	12 - 36 (L)	2-7