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We all have done something that if we had to do it over wouldn’t have. Perfect example, Labor Day, Swami and his family were taking out the dock and boat hoists for the season. Before everyone arrived, he thought he would get a jump start, so with the help of his wife, together were removing protective plastic pieces from the dock supports. They removed two of them, but there were several they could not get loose. The All-Knowing-One in his infinite wisdom decided to get in the water to help, wrong thing to do. One foot in the water, he attempted to bring his right leg over. This is where hindsight, would have been the right decision to go with. His leg decided to go from a 90-degree angle, to being flat on the dock, in other words, it gave out, bringing a quick exit from helping. He is in the recovery stage, ice, staying off it with leg propped up and pain pills; no structural damage is a plus for doing something he shouldn’t have done. One would have thought a man of his age, he would have known better, even though he said I will be fine. Not.
This lesson can be applied to the game of football. Players can go through play after play in practice, doing everything right, but come game time, the adrealine and the play moving faster than in practice. A block is not executed the same way or a stutter step instead of running through. Makes all the difference in the play. In most cases, it is the difference on an offensive or defensive play, if it had been different, everything would have been fine. But that is why we are human, we make mistakes, and sometimes it hurts. Swami is trying to think straight, and not go with the first thing that pops into his mind, this week…..
GAYLORD (1-2) at ALPENA (1-2) – Friday – 7:00 p.m. – Alpena had hoped this season would put them on the right track. The Wildcats win over Boyne City seemed to be the start they needed, but something happen in the second and third games, that raised doubts once again. Penalties and miscues have led to the Wildcats demise. The Wildcat defense was put to the test, as Escanaba continually found holes, leading to Eskymos’ points as quarterback Alex Ison ran wild in the first half, rushing for 139 yards and three touchdowns. That was pretty much the game in a nut shell, leading 21-6 at half. Ison added one more touchdown run in the second half to finish with 172 yards of rushing. The Alpena offense just couldn’t get untracked with the exception of two touchdown runs of 64 and 11-yards by halfback Andrew Szymoniak, who finished the game with 162 yards on 27 carries. Brody Misiak continued to show his value in the backfield, picking up 56-yards on just five touches. Offensively, there were to many three and out drives to put the pressure back on the Eskymos’. Once they knew what the offensive sets, they were ready to make stops. Thus, the outcome came early, with Alpena having very little success on both offense and defense. So, what is Swami’s words of encouragement for this week. Gaylord has a double sword offense, a quarterback in Calvin Cosby, that can throw the ball with consistent accuracy and the able to make people miss when rushing. Hopefully, the Wildcats paid close attention to the film on the Blue-Devils, picking up keys to hem Cosby in and to put pressure on his throwing hand. What baffles the All-Knowing-One is the comparison Alpena and Gaylord against common opponents so far this season. The Blue Devils completed a second half comeback win against Escanaba, only to unraveled against Cadillac. Whereas, Alpena missed chances against the Eskymos’ because of mistakes, on the other hand, the Wildcats moved the ball against the Vikings. If Alpena is to make a statement at this point of the season, it will both offensively and on defense. The offensive set will have to feature a mixture of pass and run sets; defenses can set their eyes if only one dimension is shown. Defensively, Alpena has to set their eyes on Cosby, as he is at least 75% of Gaylord’s offense when he has to time. If the Wildcats can contain his rushing ability, and put pressure on the pass, it could bode well for Alpena. If not, then it could be another long night. Another incentive will be the shutout 41-0 loss last season. Gaylord still has its eye on another Big North Conference championship, but a good outing by Alpena could put those thoughts in limbo. The question is which team will overcome the miscues first, that will help either team get back to the .500 mark, getting them back in the conference race. For Alpena, the hype of Valor Night, will play into their favor.
SWAMI SEZ: ALPENA 24, GAYLORD 20.
ROGERS CITY (2-1) at WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT (1-2) – Friday – 7:00 p.m. – So, everyone can have an off night or Saturday afternoon, Rogers City found that out facing Copper Island Academy. According to what the first year athletic wise had shown, the Hurons should have handled them with ease. Instead, the Hurons were handed a 46-38 loss; Rogers City coming into the contest had a rock-solid defense only allowing 18 points. The Huron offense played as well as it could to pull out the win. Quarterback Bryan McKinstry turned in a 10 of 13 night passing the ball, two of which went for touchdowns. The bulk of Rogers City offense came in the form of the rush, gaining 180 yards on just 25 carries, accounting for two more scores. Rogers City final scoring play came on a kickoff return by Daryl Hawley. The Hurons had four 2-point conversions on five attempts. Hawley accounted for 20 of the 38 points scored, while Nick Lesko helped with amassing 14 points. That included a rushing and receiving touchdown.
Whittemore-Prescott came off a huge win over Bay City Academy, and were looking to carry over the momentum against Mio. Such was not the case as the Thunderbolts rolled to the win. The Cardinals did manage to score and the game was closer than most had thought, but they just did not have the offensive weapons to keep them in contention. Whittemore-Prescott is looking to make its mark in the conference, whereas the Hurons are looking to get back on the winning track, in addition to taking conference control. Swami can see why the Cardinals have been pointing to this contest, as a win would set them up for a chance at a conference championship, before meeting up with Charleton Heston, a team that cannot be taken lightly, even with two loses to open the season.
Whittemore-Prescott’s lone touchdown came in the first quarter, as Blaine Zuchnik hauled in a 35-yard pass from Carson Vohwinkle. The Cardinal’s offense was completely shut down for the remainder of the contest. Mio started to gain strength in the second half via the run, scoring three times, in putting away the game. The Cardinal defense wore down during that period of time.
Swami tends to think, the Huron ground game will take effect, if not in the beginning of the contest, definitely in the second. It is his belief the Hurons defense will arise to the occasion against Whittemore-Prescott. The Cardinal defense is capable of stopping any offense. But they have not faced an offensive juggernaut in Rogers City.
SWAMI SEZ: ROGERS CITY 38, WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT 12.
HILLMAN (1-2) at ALCONA (1-2) – Friday – 7:00 p.m. – Both Hillman and Alcona are looking for momentum to build on for the remainder of the season. The Tigers are coming off an impressive win over Atlanta, while Alcona took it on the chin against Charleton Heston. Hillman had ridden the bumpy road for two weeks. Before taking on the Huskies, it was a game Hillman needed if they were going to make something out of the season, let alone a winning one. The Tigers used the pass vary sparingly with only six attempts with two completions netting 45 yards. It was a prolific rushing attack that did Atlanta in. Swami, in all his years of football, has never seen a team rush for 401 yards in a particular game, on 54 attempts which equates to just over seven yards per carry. Their all-purpose yards finished at 472, that included receiving and kickoff returns of 26 yards. Senior Eddie Prue continues to be the leader of the Tigers, especially in the rushing department amassing 487 yards to this point of the season. It was Prue, who scored four of the five touchdowns on the night in the win.
Alcona was attempting to build on their win the week before. The defense of Alcona put in a strong performance, against Charleton Heston creating four turnovers, but it was the Tiger offense that could not turn them into points. Grady Goddard attempted to get ground game going, as he was their only means of offense, rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown. The Tiger defense is beginning to round into shape, following the opening blowouts the first two weeks. On this night, Lochlin Gordy led with 13 tackles, in addition, Kameron Owens also finished in double digits with 10.
Alcona needs another rushing game from Owens as he had in the win over Pellston.
Hillman has been more run orientated this season, only relying on the pass when ground game is halted. Swami says with the rush, you have two rushers that have attained over 100 yards so far in the season, that being Prue and Maison Tracy. Eli Schulze is the third member of the Tigers rush core, that is counted on heavily, but needs to increase his carries, to keep opposing defenses honest, especially hard-hitting Alcona. A real key for offense is receiving as the four some of Rory LaFleche, Greydan Klein, Cameron Nowak and Tracy, have equal numbers of catches, but they have not had one that crossed the goal line. This is something that the Tigers need to work on, and would give them a valuable asset to offset the run.
SWAMI SEZ: HILLMAN 28, ALCONA 20.
MIO (3-0) at MENDON (3-0) – Friday – 7:00 p.m. – At Ferris State University – Mio had an open date this weekend, so why not schedule one against some stiff competition. Whittemore-Prescott gave the Thunderbolts a game for a half with a 6-6 tie. It was the Thunderbolts that responded in the second half, while the Cardinal offense just couldn’t get untracked. Mio put their rushing offense in the hands of Atreyu Burden, who ran for 40 yards for a touchdown that would be all the points the Thunderbolts would need. For good measure Burden added a 39 yarder in the third quarter, then finished off the night going 57 yards to give the Thunderbolts a 28-6 win. His efforts added 147 yards to his season total, on just 12 carries. Quarterback Logan Fox had an off-night completing just five of 16 attempts, but did add to the offensive total with 127 yards. Besides Burden’s rushing night, Hunter Nichols got into the act for 81-yards. Playing 8-man football, it is easy to see the same names do well on the defensive side of the ball. Fox found himself in the backfield numerous times, recording 13 tackles, a quarterback sack, and an interception. Nichols was on a defensive tear as well recording identical stats as Fox. Burden and Garrett Fox finished off the Cardinals with 7 and 6 tackles respectively.
Mendon comes into the contest, with a perfect record, to go along with scoring average of a shade over 51 points per game. Against Concord, last week’s opponent, the Hornets put six rushing and one receiving touchdown, in putting up 50 points. Owen Klinger is average a shade over 30 yards per reception. Receiving touchdowns are very low, with Jaiden Meyer with two and Xavier Zinsmaster hauled in one. The predominant running attack has racked up 955 yards so far, with Zak Lobe and Zinsmaster being the main ball carriers with close to 400 yards each in just three games. Logan Stuart is third man in the offensive scheme with 122 yards on just eight carries. The Hornet defense has only given up an average of 12 points per outing. Concord put up the most points against the Hornets with 22. The All-Knowing-One has to think with the Hornets ranked 3rd. In 8-man football, the Thunderbolts could place themselves high in the rankings with a win, in addition to picking valuable playoff points that they can use in making the post-season. It is way too early to be thinking that way; the number one thing should be to play Thunderbolt football and to pull out a win. There is a lot to think about, Mio making the long trip to Big Rapids, time on the bus and finally playing in a college backdrop.
SWAMI SEZ: MENDON 42, MIO 21.