Braves Flattened In Soo; Losing Skid Reaches Four

SAULT STE. MARIE---You knew that it would be a long night when you showed up at the Sault Ste. Marie football field and saw Jared Vuksan standing there in crutches.

Braves' Jared Vuksan (33) was on crutches.

The Gladstone Braves' most experinced and physical running back...and most punishing linebacker...and placekicker...broke his leg during practice on Tuesday.

And as he stood there and watched his teammates face the Soo Blue Devils Friday, well, you could see that Vuksan was badly missed on the field.

Sault Ste. Marie dominated on both sides of the ball and routed the Braves, 49-19, in a game that wasn't even that close.

"The first half was without a doubt the worst half of football I've ever been a part of," Gladstone Coach Josh Mileski said. "I don't really have an explanation for it. It falls on me, obviously.

"But we came out, I mean, our mental foucus, wasn't there. It was without a doubt the softest football I've ever been a part of."

In that first half, everything the Blue Devils tried worked. They routinely chewed up huge chunks of yards as the Gladstone defense was literally shoved off of the of scrimmage. The Blue Devils rolled up 332 yards of offense in the first half, and they easily scored touchdowns on all five of their first half possessions to build a 34-6 lead.

Justin Pederson catch. (Ron Jurek photo)

"We really played poorly on defense tonight," Mileski said. "I talked to the kids after the game, and it gets to a certain point where it's not a physical thing, it's not a schematic thing. It's just between the ears. Either you're gonna play the game hard, or you're not."

The Soo took the opening kickoff and bullied its way down the field, 65 yards in eight plays, with quarterback Mike James finding Homecaming King Ray'Shon Anderson for a wide-open 14-yard touchdown pass.

Later, running back Tyler Root scored a touchdown from 18 yards out, then James scored on a 12-yard QB keeper. Untouched.

Down 21-0, the Braves showed some signs of life as Justin Jurek scored from seven yards out. But three minutes later, Root scored the second of his three touchdowns to make it a 27-6 game. The icing on the cake came with a pretty hook-and-ladder play as James threw to Anderson, who shoveled it to Root for a 41-yard touchdown play.

Gladstone's Steve Strom (51) battles Soo's Devon Dear (83). (Ron Jurek photo)

In the third quarter, Root's ten-yard touchdown run made it 40-6, and a halfback option pass from Anderson to Devon Dear made it 42-6.

That set the clock rolling on the mercy rule, and the result was pretty much cemented at that point.

Gladstone did manage to score twice in the fourth quarter to temporaily stop the mercy rule, on a five-yard run by Sam Pouliot and a 30-yard run by Riley Ballard.

But all those scores did was help to improve the stats for a Braves team that was thoroughly beaten.

"Not a good football game, whatsoever," Mileski said. "We have a lot of things to discuss and a lot of things to work on this week (at practice)."

The Blue Devils (3-3) had 451 yards of total offense, including 364 on the ground. Root had 137 of those yards on the ground on 21 carries. Raynell Anderson had 92 yards on five touches, and Justin Delisle had 102 yards on six carries.

Gladstone (2-4) has lost four straight games after a 2-0 start. The Braves had 326 yards of offense, with much of it coming late in the game. Pouliot completed 9-of-16 passes for 138 yards. Riley Ballard had 68 yards rushing on 11 caries, while Jurek had 66 yards on eight carries. Jon Alexander had 31 yards on six carries in his running debut.

Justin Jurek (11) kicks out of Pete Weyers (2) hold Friday night in the Soo.

There were no turnovers in the game by either team.

So, did the loss of Vuksan factor into this loss for the Braves?

"Jared is a good football player, but that's an excuse," an irritated Mileski said. "That doesn't cause ten other kids to play as soft as they did, and play on their heels. Does it make a difference (not having Vuksan), yes. But there's 11 guys on the field, not one."

"It hurts to lose a major player like him, but it still doesn't give you the excuse and go out and not give the effort. "

Gladstone hosts Escanaba next Friday night at 7:00 at the Marble Athletic Field. The game will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and rrnsports.com.

"If we play against them the way we played tonight, it won't be much of a game," Mileski said. "We've seen a lot of potential. Now, we need to see more than 'potential'."

The Junior Varsity Game on Thursday night, and the Freshman Game on Saturday afternoon, will also be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600) and rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the "ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS" box to see photos and videos from the game, and to hear Nate Bellville's halftime interview and Coach Josh Mileski's post-comments. Thanks to Ron Jurek for photos, and Austin Cossette for photos and video clips!

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