Photo by Jamie McClintic Alpena High School JV football players talk on the sideline in Wednesday's game.

The Blue Devil versus Wildcat rivalry continues until next year. On Wednesday evening the Alpena freshman boys football team faced off in a breath-holding showdown that ultimately ended in a 20-20 tie game against Gaylord.

Kicking off the game was Josh LaCross and the two teams alternated downs throughout the first half of quarter one. The Blue Devils fumbled and was recovered by defensive back Conor Kaminske which got the momentum moving for the Wildcats. On offense, Kaminske and half back Tre Dean took turns running the ball down the field. Along came a successful pass play from quarterback Jett Prevost landing the ball in the hands of wider receiver MacGregor McClintic. Eventually, Kaminske leaped over the endzone with 2:28 left in quarter one, landing the score at 6-0, Wildcats, as the 2-point conversion was no good.

Quarter two consisted of some exciting back and forth play that included a fumble on Gaylord recovered by Gaylord, a knock down by Wildcat line backer Dean and defensive back Emerson Compeau as well as a force out of bounds by defensive back McClintic. This wasn’t enough as the Blue Devils fought their way across the endzone with a touchdown and extra point, making the score 6-7.

Compeau contributed to the quarter with a knock down and a fumble recovery on the Blue Devils. Alpena could not do much with the ball during their downs and the tides turned back to the Blue Devils who used the opportunity to score again with 4:48 left in the half. The two-point conversion was no good and the buzzer sounded with a halftime score of 6-13 with Gaylord in the lead. Halftime consisted of the team captains strategizing their comeback, and come back they did. Running back Kaminske and halfback Dean moved the ball but it wasn’t enough. Defensive linemen Reid Hansen and Brody Diemond had enough and pulled out power tackles to stop the Blue Devils in the quarter, but no change in score as the battle began the final 12 minutes. Gaylord made a statement by scoring another touchdown and extra point with 5:45 left in the game, leaving the Wildcats down by 14. This upset quarterback Prevost, so he decided to run the 60 yards to the endzone himself with 4:10 left on the clock. Wildcat wide receiver Taryn Mullaney caught the extra point, and the Wildcats were now down by 6. With less than one minute left in the game, Gaylord kicked off to Alpena and McClintic decided to dodge the defense with a long run, followed up with another run from Prevost landed the Wildcats on the 27-yard line giving the Wildcats a new set of downs. Panic set in, there was an incomplete pass, blocked pass, and penalty on the Wildcats. With a timeout, the team regained composure and Prevost landed the ball back into McClintic’s hands for a first down with 14 yards to go. Dean ran the ball, getting the Wildcats near their endzone with three seconds left in the game. Another great delivery from Prevost to McClintic tied the game. Unfortunately, a penalty call on the Wildcats revoked the extra point, backing the team to the 13-yard line instead of the 3-yard line. The distance allowed the Blue Devils to pressure the Wildcats, and the extra point for the win was no good.

The final score resulted in a tie game, 20-20 and the teams will have to settle this next year. Head Coach Jay Kurowski reported after the game, “The boys showed a lot of heart tonight. It would have been easy to give up down two scores in the third quarter, but they clawed their way back and tied the game with seconds remaining. A couple of penalties meant the difference between a tie and the win, which is something we have to improve on. We made a few mistakes defending the pass but were able to effectively stop the run. But at the end of the day, our players could hold their heads high and know they played a great game.”

Next Thursday the boys will travel to Sault Ste. Marie for a 7 p.m. game.