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Plenty of offense

Au Gres hangs on to win shootout with Oscoda

News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Au Gres wide receiver Trevor Jamroz (5) attempts to shake off Oscoda defensive back Jayvon Sutherland (9) after catching a pass during the second quarter of a North Star League football game on Thursday at Oscoda High School.

OSCODA– Thursday night featured a shootout between two high-powered offenses as Au Gres traveled to Oscoda and knocked off the Owls by a final score of 44-41.

Au Gres quarterback Caden Zeien once again proved why he is one of the top talents in the area as he racked up 343 all purpose yards to go along with six touchdowns as he led the Wolverines to their second victory of the season.

Zeien got the scoring started late in the first quarter when he hit receiver Zander Forton for a two yard touchdown to put Au Gres up 8-0.

After being held scoreless in the opening quarter, the Owls wasted little time putting points on the board less than 30 seconds into the quarter when Oscoda signal caller Nathan Nagel threw a touchdown pass of his own when he connected with Travis Lamrock from 18 yards out to cut the lead to one.

The Owls took their first lead with 7:42 left in the half when Nagel hit Jayvon Sutherland in stride for a 79 yard touchdown to put Oscoda ahead 13-8.

It didn’t take long for the Wolverines to regain the lead as Zeien drove his team down the field and threw his second touchdown of the night which was a 38 yard score to Ryan Schwiderson as Au Gres once again converted the two and took a 16-13 lead.

Oscoda answered back and took the lead into the break as Nagel hooked up with Grant Huebel for a 22 yard touchdown with 31 seconds left in the half to give the Owls a 19-16 halftime lead.

After a back and forth first half, the early stages of the second half belonged to Au Gres as Zeien threw three third quarter touchdowns, two of which went to his top target, Trevor Jamroz.

After a huge quarter from Zeien and Jamroz, the Wolverines looked to be in complete control as they took a 36-18 lead into the final quarter.

Oscoda refused to give up and rallied back to score two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter to cut the Au Gres lead to 36-33 with 8:52 left to play.

The Wolverines tried to burn some clock but the Owl defense made two critical stops, but Au Gres came up with a big defensive stop of their own on Oscoda’s next possession as they sacked Huebel who came in for the injured Nagel at quarterback and forced an incomplete pass on fourth and long to get the ball back in Owl territory with 4:45 left to play.

Zeien and the Wolverines took advantage of the field position and finally put the game on ice as they quickly marched down the field and put the ball in the hands of their best player as Zeien powered his way up the middle for a seven yard touchdown with a 1:53 left to give Au Gres a 44-33 lead.

Zeien ended the night going 19-of-40 for 257 yards passing and tossing five touchdowns. He also added 86 yards on the ground to go along with the rushing touchdown. Zeien was responsible for all of the Wolverines touchdowns on the night and was accountable for all but seven yards of the teams total offensive yards as Oscoda had no answer for the dual-threat playmaker.

The Owls also committed 12 penalties throughout the course of the game that cost them a total of 112 yards.

Jamroz caught five balls for 85 yards and scored twice. Jared Saunders had the other receiving touchdown for Au Gres.

Nagel led the Owls going 5-9 through the air and threw three touchdowns. After suffering an arm injury, Nagel was used in different ways and was still affective as he ended with a rushing touchdown and also had the late 37 yard touchdown that brought Oscoda to within three points of tying. Clyde Whitney had 135 yards rushing and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Oscoda falls to 1-1 on the year and 0-1 in NSL play. The Owls will be on the road against Whittemore-Prescott in Week 3.

Au Gres improves to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Wolverines will look to remain unbeaten when they host Hillman in a Week 3 matchup.

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