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Swami relives memories of the past

Walking around fabled Curtis Field in Petoskey one last time brought back many memories for Swami last week. Over 88 years of history came to a close last Friday with the last game played against Alpena. Some things didn’t change over the years: a press box that crammed the visiting broadcasting team and visiting coaches side-by-side with only a curtain dividing the two.

The All-Knowing-One also made his way into the locker room for one last look. He would compare it to a cave; a cement floor that has settled over the years, concrete walls that formed the support structure of the stadium and no windows.

The field with its surroundings seemed to make the dimensions smaller then regulation, even though the distance between the goal posts said 100 yards. An optical illusion made it look shorter than that.

Swami was glad to have one final chance to soak in the memories. With this being the final game of the regular season, the All-Knowing-One knows this year’s seniors, have made memories of their own over a four year period as well that will be talked about in the years to come.

GAYLORD (5-3) at ALPENA (3-5) – Deja vu. Last season Gaylord needed one more win to clinch its first playoff appearance since 2007. The Wildcats did not allow that to happen. For the Blue Devils to not let history repeat itself, they must beat the Wildcats on their field and finally rise to the occasion. How will they do it? Gaylord has to be more focused and must be more intent on winning this year.

The Wildcats will not have the momentum they wanted coming into Senior Night. Petoskey completely manhandled the Wildcats at every aspect of the game. Their were very few bright spots in a 51-0 shellacking.

Gaylord started out strong 4-0, but the downfall has been the second half of the season, just like last year. The Blue Devils let a 14-7 halftime lead slip away for a 35-14 loss last week against Traverse City West. To make matters worse, Gaylord played without their leading rusher Shane Foster In his absence, junior Nathan Boswood stepped in and did not miss a beat. Without Foster, the Wildcats will face a speedster in Boswood for the third straight week. Swami has a sneaking feeling that Foster will make more then a cameo appearance, as the Blue Devils will want to make amends for last year.

Swami would like nothing better then to see the Wildcats finish strong and beat Gaylord at its own game. To do so, the Wildcats cannot play soft and make every read on defense. The All-Knowing-One thinks they can. The offense must work with the defense to keep Gaylord off the field with long, time consuming drives.

Swami Sez: Alpena 24, Gaylord 18.

PICKFORD (5-3) at ONAWAY (5-3) – Eight man football takes center stage in Onaway tonight. Either Pickford or Onaway will move into a qualifier position while the other will still finish with a winning record. The Cardinals are coming off a 62-14 thrashing of Bellaire, Pickford bombed Charlton Heston 76-6. Taking head-to-head competition into account, Pickford had the better of four teams on both schedules, but Onaway beat Bellaire-a team that beat Pickford-pretty convincingly.

So where does that leave Swami? In the middle of No Mans Land.

The Cardinals did get a shot in the arm with the return of quarterback Cortez Washington and it energized the offense as they ran out to a 36-0 lead over Central Lake. For the most part it was the long runs of Bradley Brewbaker that culminated in five total touchdowns in Onaway’s win.

Brewbaker is part of the team that came together following a tough loss to Posen that put them in a win out situation to make the postseason. Presently, Onaway is 16th in playoff points with 34, but Pickford is right behind them with 32.875.

Swami feels the speech that coach Jim Cleaver made to his team stayed with players last week. Add in home field advantage and the All-Knowing-One feels it will be enough to get the Cardinals in.

Swami Sez: Onaway 28, Pickford 24.

OSCODA (5-3) at AU GRES (2-6) – It is either win or go home with a winning record for Oscoda. The Owls came a step closer to making the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, thanks to an outstanding homecoming crowd and quarter Jacob Malak who scored five touchdowns in a win over Rogers City last week.

The Owls defense bent, but did not break, thanks to the offense. Antonio Raona had a season best 15 tackles and a sack. Hunter Huckabey had two critical interceptions that preserved the win.

Au Gres stepped out of North Star League play and promptly handled the Livingston County Knights 38-12. The Wolverines turned in a stellar defensive effort to overcome a prolific passing attack of Livingston. Sawyer Forton led the Wolverine defense with 10 tackles, Ashmin Stammer and Ramsey Forton were close behind.

Swami says the Owls have to find a way to come out on top when the big games are on the line. Against the Wolverines, the All-Knowing-One has to say it should be a no brainer. Au Gres has been known to have some extra incentive when going up against a team that has a better record, meaning that this game has a chance for an upset.

The Owls have too much riding on tonight so they will curtail those upset plans of the Wolverines.

Swami Sez: Oscoda 35, AuGres 12.

MIO (3-5 ) at ALCONA (5-3) – Alcona let Lake City jump out to a lead then came storming back, but they fell a touchdown short of sending the game into overtime. So instead of taking on Mio with no pressure, tonight is a must-win game. It was a sub par night for Alcona’s Brock Franklin and that might have been the biggest setback for the Tigers. Franklin just gained over 100 yards and scored once and three other Alcona players pitched in with one rushing touchdown each.

Swami has seen the Thunderbolts be an up and down team this season. They lost three straight in the middle of the season and were shut out by Tawas last week. It may be a rebuilding year, but Swami thought the Thunderbolts would be in every game. It just wasn’t so this year.

Another point the All-Knowing-One wants to make is he thought the Tigers would have been in with a playoff spot long before the last game. The offense will show up its strength tonight. The Tigers will use the combination of the pass and rush to bring the thunderbolt out of the sky.

Swami Sez: Alcona 42, Mio 18.

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