Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear comments from Eli Berthaume, Nate Young, and Coach Craig Ness.
Also click the AUDIO butons to hear player spotlight interviews with Nick Stoken and Aidan Duncan, and to hear the radio broadcast of the game.
CALUMET---The Gladstone Braves scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Calumet Copper Kings, 28-21, Friday night in the Copper Country.
Eli Berthaume scored all four touchdowns for the Braves.
Gladstone actually got off to a good start as the Braves took the opening kickoff and drove 58 yards in eleven plays, most of it by Berthaume. He scored on a one-yard run on fourth down to give the Braves the lead, and Luke Inghram made the extra point to make it 7-0.
But the rest of the first half was filled with mistakes for the Braves, including two occassions where they went for a first down on 4th-and-1 in their own territory but had bad snaps that turned the ball over to the Copper Kings.
Calumet, with a 4-4 record and fighting for a playoff spot, battled hard, and threw everything it had at the Braves in that first half. A Ted Loukus pass to Cam Anderson from 20 yards out gave Calumet its first score, and then in the second quarter, and then the Copper Kings executed a long pass on 4th-and-6 for 34 yards to the Braves five yard-line.
Anderson plunged in from one yard out two plays later to give Calumet the lead.
Casey Alworden gave the Braves some life with a 41-yard kickoff return to the midfield area, and a 19-yard Nate Young pass to Johnny Soderman had the Braves moving. A 20-yard run by Berthaume set the Braves up at the ten yard line, but Gladstone came away empty-handed when the next three plays produced only one yard and Ingrhram missed a 26-yard field goal.
The Copper Kings then went on an 80-yard drive, capped off by some trickery: a fleaflicker 34-yard touchdown pass from Loukus to Ben Anderson. All of a suden, the Braves were in a 21-7 hole heading into the locker room, and Calumet got the ball to start the third quarter.
That's when the comeback began, and it started on defense. Austin Solis, who had to be carted off the field at Westwood three weeks prior with what appeared to be a season-ending knee injury, made an emotional return on defense to start the second half.
And that inspiration helped the Braves to completely turn the game around, as Calumet could not get a single first down in the entire second half.
That bought the Braves time to mount a rally on offense, and they did so with three straigjht touchdown drives, keyed by hard-nosed runs by Berthaume and steady leadership from Young at the quarterback position.
It took most of the third quarter for the Braves to finally produce on offense. Late in the quarter, the defense forced their second straight three-and-out, and a short punt gave Gladstone the ball at the Calumet 39-yard line.
Berthaume ran for 24 yards on the first play, and in fact, he got the ball on six straight plays before getting into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run. Ingrham's extra point kick closed the gap to 21-14 at the end of the quarter.
Another three-and-out on defense, keyed by an incomplete pass forced by Solis as he rushed the quarterback, gave Gladstone the ball near midfield after a punt that fellow saenior Vinny Howes nearly blocked.
Berthaume went to work again on offense, and Calumet couldn't stop him. The Braves drove 52 yards in seven plays, with Young finding Johnny Soderman for a 18-yard pass into the red zone before Berthaume finished things off with his sixth carry of the drive that resulted in a two-yard touchdown run. Inghram's PAT kick was blocked, though, so it stayed 21-20.
So, the defense would have to come up big again, and it did, with another three-and-out, with Berthaume making the tackle on Anderson on a 3rd-and-10 play that forced a very short punt (again, almost blocked by Howes). Gladstone took over at the 50 yard-line.
Young hooked up wuth fellow senior Kaden Gibbs for a 30-yard pass that had a facemask penalty attached, putting the Braves quickly in the red zone. A 14-yard-pass from Young to Elliot Vitito put the ball inside the one yard-line, and Berthaume scored his fourth touchdown of the game behind a dominant offensive line. That gave the Braves a 26-21 lead.
Gladstone opted for the two-point conversion, and got it, as Young passed to Gibbs to make it a 28-21 game with 3:58 lefr on the clock.
And the Gladstone defense sealed the deal when Howes crushed Loukus as he threw the ball, and it popped into Vitito's hands for an interception. Gladstone got two first downs and ran out the clock with the "victory formation" inside the Calumet five yard-line.
Gladstone improved its record to 6-2 on the season, and is playoff bound for a fourth straight year. In order to guarantee one, perhaps two, home playoff games, the Braves will need to beat the rival Escanaba Eskymos on the road next Friday night.
The Eskymos broke a six-game losing streak with a 28-25 win in Alpena and are now 2-6 on the season.
The rivalry game will be broadcast on WCHT-FM/AM (93.5/600) and on www.rrnsports.com, starting at 6:45. We will also broadcast the JV game in Gladstone on Thursday night, starting at 5:45 ET.
Also click the AUDIO butons to hear player spotlight interviews with Nick Stoken and Aidan Duncan, and to hear the radio broadcast of the game.
CALUMET---The Gladstone Braves scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Calumet Copper Kings, 28-21, Friday night in the Copper Country.
Eli Berthaume scored all four touchdowns for the Braves.
But the rest of the first half was filled with mistakes for the Braves, including two occassions where they went for a first down on 4th-and-1 in their own territory but had bad snaps that turned the ball over to the Copper Kings.
Calumet, with a 4-4 record and fighting for a playoff spot, battled hard, and threw everything it had at the Braves in that first half. A Ted Loukus pass to Cam Anderson from 20 yards out gave Calumet its first score, and then in the second quarter, and then the Copper Kings executed a long pass on 4th-and-6 for 34 yards to the Braves five yard-line.
Anderson plunged in from one yard out two plays later to give Calumet the lead.
Casey Alworden gave the Braves some life with a 41-yard kickoff return to the midfield area, and a 19-yard Nate Young pass to Johnny Soderman had the Braves moving. A 20-yard run by Berthaume set the Braves up at the ten yard line, but Gladstone came away empty-handed when the next three plays produced only one yard and Ingrhram missed a 26-yard field goal.
That's when the comeback began, and it started on defense. Austin Solis, who had to be carted off the field at Westwood three weeks prior with what appeared to be a season-ending knee injury, made an emotional return on defense to start the second half.
And that inspiration helped the Braves to completely turn the game around, as Calumet could not get a single first down in the entire second half.
That bought the Braves time to mount a rally on offense, and they did so with three straigjht touchdown drives, keyed by hard-nosed runs by Berthaume and steady leadership from Young at the quarterback position.
It took most of the third quarter for the Braves to finally produce on offense. Late in the quarter, the defense forced their second straight three-and-out, and a short punt gave Gladstone the ball at the Calumet 39-yard line.
Berthaume ran for 24 yards on the first play, and in fact, he got the ball on six straight plays before getting into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run. Ingrham's extra point kick closed the gap to 21-14 at the end of the quarter.
Berthaume went to work again on offense, and Calumet couldn't stop him. The Braves drove 52 yards in seven plays, with Young finding Johnny Soderman for a 18-yard pass into the red zone before Berthaume finished things off with his sixth carry of the drive that resulted in a two-yard touchdown run. Inghram's PAT kick was blocked, though, so it stayed 21-20.
So, the defense would have to come up big again, and it did, with another three-and-out, with Berthaume making the tackle on Anderson on a 3rd-and-10 play that forced a very short punt (again, almost blocked by Howes). Gladstone took over at the 50 yard-line.
Young hooked up wuth fellow senior Kaden Gibbs for a 30-yard pass that had a facemask penalty attached, putting the Braves quickly in the red zone. A 14-yard-pass from Young to Elliot Vitito put the ball inside the one yard-line, and Berthaume scored his fourth touchdown of the game behind a dominant offensive line. That gave the Braves a 26-21 lead.
Gladstone opted for the two-point conversion, and got it, as Young passed to Gibbs to make it a 28-21 game with 3:58 lefr on the clock.
Gladstone improved its record to 6-2 on the season, and is playoff bound for a fourth straight year. In order to guarantee one, perhaps two, home playoff games, the Braves will need to beat the rival Escanaba Eskymos on the road next Friday night.
The Eskymos broke a six-game losing streak with a 28-25 win in Alpena and are now 2-6 on the season.
The rivalry game will be broadcast on WCHT-FM/AM (93.5/600) and on www.rrnsports.com, starting at 6:45. We will also broadcast the JV game in Gladstone on Thursday night, starting at 5:45 ET.
