Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and for post-game comments from Kyle Waterman and Evan DellAngelo
NEGAUNEE---For Kyle Waterman, it was a night to be thankful.
The Negaunee Miners senior quarterback, who suffered a devastating knee injury early in the 2025 football season, had to stand on crutches as his Miners played the rest of that football season, which went into the playoffs. Waterman also had to stand, or sit, throughout the entire 2025 basketball season.
But Friday night at Miners Stadium, Waterman, the son of longtime U.P. basketball coach Dan Waterman (and twin to top volleyball and track athlete Keira), was back on the field.
Healthy, at once.
Waterman led his Miners to an emotional football win last week against the rival Marquette Semtinels. But this week was different. It was at Miners Stadium, where he has walked, run, and played since he was a small kid, even when no one else was there on the field.
It was a great homecoming for the Miners quarterback as he led his team to a 42-6 win over the Gladstone Braves. Waterman threw two touchdown passes, scored another TD on the ground, and added three two-point conversions (two in the air, one on the ground). He even made a cameo appearance to be the Miners punter in the third quarter in the only time the team punted all night.
“It was great,” Waterman said. “I've been missing it for eleven months now. Just good to be out here with my boys. I thought we did a good job of running the ball. We kind of struggled with that last week. We took a big step there, too. And our passing game was on.”
His best friend, Evan DellAngelo, caught a 48-yard touchdown pass in stride just before halftime that put Negaunee up, 30-0. DellAngelo says that wasn't even the play that was supposed to happen.
“If you look back at it, (Gladstone's) Number 17, he was looking at the quarterback,” DellAngelo said. “The route was supposed to be 'slug-O', but I didn't really do that, because there was no point to. I wasn't going to fake anyone out. So, I just ran a 'go' (route) and he just put it right in my hands, and yeah, we scored.”
They scored a lot more than that, as junior Ty Niemi scored on a pair of touchdown runs (12 and 17 yards), and Waterman scored the first touchdown of the game on a 12-yard run of his own. Waterman also hooked up with senior Cole Prusi on a 38-yard touchdown pass, catch, and run.
The Braves battled hard all night, and they hit hard, too.
Gladstone broke the shutout in the third quarter after falling behind, 36-0, on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Landon Pepin to Ryder Amis, a pair of juniors. Amis broke free from two defenders who were trying to intercept that pass and sprinted into the end zone to give the Braves something to smile about.
Senior Ben Wilson had a pair of nice punts for Gladstone, including one that pinned the Miners at their own nine yard line. And Wyatt Forvilly managed 54 rushing yards on a dozen carries against a stingy Negaunee defense. Wilson also sacked Waterman on a broken play in the first half, and Pepin completed passes to Nick Proehl, Aiden Burie, and Amis.
None of that was enough, however.
Gladstone (1-1) has its home opener next Friday night against the Kingsford Flivvers (2-0).
The Braves will have five homes the rest of the way as they chase a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2023, with the only road games a short trip to Bark River-Harris and a long one to Houghton. Negaunee (2-0), meanwhile, has a tough road game next Friday night in Calumet (2-0).
