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KINGSLEY, Mich.---The Gladstone High School football team fell behind early and never could recover Friday night, losing to the Kingsley Stags, 51-27, in the MHSAA Division Six regional championship game.
 

It was the Braves' second straight loss in the regional final, and it marked the end of the line for a group of Gladstone seniors who had one of the best records in school history.

“It's a sad day seeing these seniors go,” Gladstone Coach Craig Ness said. “I love them kids. They went down fighting.”

The Stags took the opening kickoff to the Braves 35 yard line, and when Gladstone couldn't move the ball, a blocked punt gave the home team the ball at the Braves 25. Kingsley cashed in both of those “short field” situations, to take a 14-0 lead.

It didn't get any better from there as the Braves were manhandled at the line of scrimmage. By the time they managed their first first down of the game, Gladstone was already behind, 22-0.

“We couldn't get our feet wet early, and by the time we did, we started hanging our heads too much,” Ness said. “They're a good team. Much better than we were today. I've got to give them credit. They did a couple of things different than we expected. Their offensive and defensive lines really controlled the game. We tried our best, but it just wasn't there today.”

The biggest headache for the Braves was senior running back Eli Graves, who scored on three touchdown runs in the first half, two of them on 21-yard runs. Graves also had that long run on the opening kickoff that set the tone for the Stags, something the Braves could not recover from.

It wasn't only the Eli Graves show. Skylar Workman was also tough on the ground for the Stags, scoring on a pair of three-yard touchdown runs.

Gladstone's trailed, 22-0, in the second quarter, before they got the first first down of the game, on a ten-yard pass from Nate Young to Kaden Gibbs. Later, Young scrambled for an eleven-yard run for the team's second first down, to the 28-yard-line.

The drive stalled, however, after three incomplete passes, and another that went for negative yardage.

Trailing 30-0, Gladstone finally put together a drive to get on the board before halftime. The Braves drove 65 yards in 12 plays, with a 34-yard pass from Young to Elliot Vitito setting the team up in scoring position. The final play of the half saw Young throw to Gibbs in the back of the end zone to make it a 30-6 game at the half.

Gladstone got the ball to start the second half, but went three-and-out, and the Stags followed that with a 70-yard drive that ended on a Workman three-yard touchdown. And then things got worse for the Braves when Young fumbled a snap and it was scooped up and returned to the Gladstone nine yard-line.

The Stags had a little fun as they sent big senior lineman Caleb Bott into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown run. Unbelievably, the Braves found themselves on the wrong end of the mercy rule running clock, trailing in the game, 44-6, at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Braves finally got their offense going, scoring on three touchdown drives. On the first one, Young hooked up with Vitito on a sweet 44-yard pass over the middle that Vitito caught off of his fingertips. That set up a one-yard touchdown run by Eli Berthaume, who had been completely shut down in the first half. The two-point pass to Vitito made it a 44-14 game.

Then Braves junior Bret Seger pulled off a rarity: getting an on-side kick. That gave Gladstone the ball at midfield, and Young hooked up with Gibbs on a 34-yard pass into the red zone. Senior Johnny Soderman rumbled for ten yards, and then Berthaume found his way into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown run that made it 44-20.

Any thoughts of a comeback died when the Stags went down the field, converting a pair of fourth downs, and scoring on a 23-yard touchdown run by senior Bode Bielas.

Gladstone scored a late touchdown when Young scrambled for a 31-yard gain, and then he scrambled again for another 13 yards.

With 39 seconds left, Young passed to Casey Alworden for a 14-yard touchdown, and Luke Inghram's kick became Gladstone's last point of the season, in a 51-27 playoff loss.

Young completed 16 of 38 passes for 228 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Gibbs caight five passes for 64 yards and one touchdown, while Vitito caught four passes for 101 yards. Alworden, the only junior in the receiving corps, had four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. The Gladstone running game was completely shut down, with Berthaume finally getting a couple of short touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.

Home field advantage was certainly in Kingsley's favor, as a large bell-ringing crowd cheered every single play and the pubic address announcer openly cheered every play as well on this chilly, rainy night. Gladstone was also well-represented, with three buses of people, including the Braves pep band, in attendance, along with people who made the five-hour drive.

Gladstone finished its season with a 9-3 record, falling to 3-3 in road games.

Kingsley (10-2) will face Reed City in the state semifinals.