Rough Night For Braves In Football Season Opener

GWINN---"It looks like we need a lot of work".

That was the blunt assessment from Gladstone High School Football Coach Cody Kanagas after his team lost its season-opener to the Gwinn Model Towners, 18-6, Thursday night in Gwinn.

The Braves managed just five first downs and never moved the ball inside of the Gwinn 20 yard-line. And Gladstone turned the ball over four times in the loss.

The game got off to a wild start as Mike Recton returned the opening kickoff 79 yards for a Model Towner touchdown.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Gladstone's Riley Ballard scampered 76 yards for a touchdown. It was a 6-6 tie just 20 seconds into the game.

Throughout the game, the Gladstone offense sputtered. The Braves had illegal procedure penalties on five dfferent occassions, putting them into long-yardage situations.

The Braves were stuffed every time they tried to run the football.

Jalen Stenson gets "tackle for loss".

So, Kangas, who scrapped the "spread" offense that the Braves used the past few years, turned to the air. That didn't work either, as quarterback Jared Hunter completed just six of 33 passes for 71 yards. And he threw three interceptions.

"If you can't move the ball on the ground, so I thought we'd try the air," Kangas said. "That didn't pan out."

The biggest interception came with 35 seconds left in the second quarter. The Braves behind, 12-6, and were on their own 23 yard-line. They could have run the clock out (Gwinn was out of time outs), and Gladstone would get the ball first in the third quarter.

But Kangas said that his team would be aggressive, and so he tried to move the ball downfield. Hunter's pass was picked off by Justin Nyquist, and it was returned 27 yards for a "Pick-Six" touchdown. All of a sudden, it was an 18-6 game.

One bright spot was the play of the Braves defense. After giving up some big chunks of yardage early in the game, the Gladstone defense held the Model Towner offense at bay for much of the night, making nine tackles-for-loss in the contest.

Jared Hunter gets QB sack.

"Once they figured it out, they played solid," Kangas said of his defense. "Our defense did a great job, other than a few mistakes here and there. We've just got to put points on the board."

Gladstone had just 28 yards rushing on 13 carries, and 12 of those yards were erased on a pair of quarterback sacks. Gwinn was led by Luke Sinnaeve (24 carries, 70 rushing yards), and Owen DeVooght (21 carries, 80 rushing yards).

Gladstone played without two key players. Justin Jurek suited up, but still couldn't go thanks to a hamstring injury that happened in the baseball playoffs a month ago.

And big lineman Cody Malanowski is out for the first two games of the season.

Gwinn also beat Gladstone in the junior varsity game, 32-25.

Despite the disappointment, Kangas says that bright days are still ahead.

"We're going to get better each and every week," Kangas said. "We'll watch some film tomorrow and try to see what we can improve on. We'll get there."

Tyler Wells Interview.

Gladstone returns to action with another road game. The boys will travel downstate to face the Roscommon Bucks on Saturday, Sept. 7. The junior varsity game is at 3:00, and kickoff for the varsity contest is set for 6:00.

The varsity game will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5) and WCHT-AM (600), as well as over the Internet at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see the photos and listen to interviews from Tyler Wells, Steve Strom, and Cody Kangas.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

8/29	7:00 PM	at Gwinn Model Towners	6 - 18 (L)	0-1

9/7	6:00 PM	at Roscommon Bucks	12 - 36 (L)	0-2

9/13	7:00 PM	Negaunee Miners	0 - 38 (L)	0-3

9/20	7:30 PM	Menominee Maroons	6 - 56 (L)	0-4

9/27	7:30 PM	at Marquette Redmen	32 - 63 (L)	0-5

10/4	7:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	22 - 45 (L)	0-6

10/11	7:00 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	16 - 41 (L)	0-7

10/18	7:30 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	20 - 55 (L)	0-8

10/25	7:00 PM	at Calumet Copper Kings	32 - 36 (L)	0-9