Furious Comeback Falls Short For Braves In Sault

SAULT STE. MARIE---It as a game that was more like two different games.

The Gladstone Braves were completely embarrassed by the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils in the first half Friday night, falling behind, 28-0. Their tackling was awful, the offense was offensive, and the Blue Devils did pretty much what they wanted to do.

But football games have two halves. And in the second half Friday night, the Braves staged an emotional comeback, but it fell one score short.

The Sault held on to win, 28-22, on its Homecoming.

"I'm happy with the way we responded," Braves Head Coach Cody Kangas said. "But I was not happy, obviously, falling behind 28-0. We had a lot of things go wrong, and at halftime, we (coaches) had a message to get across. They responded."

Yes, albeit too late.

The Braves closed to within 28-22 when Justin Jurek got loose and outraced the entire Blue Devil team for a 75-yard touchdown with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter. A two-point pass from Tyler Wells to Jake Greenfield made it 28-22.

But the Blue Devils recovered an on-side kick, and were able to run out the clock from there. Part of the reason was the Braves had to use two of their three time outs in the third quarter due to communication issues.

Sault quarterback in Victory Formation

But the man reason, the "daggar" if you will, was Blue Devil quarterback Nick LaCross getting a 25-yard run on 3rd-and-11 from the 49 yard-line. That sealed the deal, and the Blue Devils got one more first down, and then went to the kneel-down to end the game.

"We were in position to make the plays defensively," Kangas said. "But we just weren't getting it done."

The Braves looked to be in business early on as Matt Chenier returned the opening kickoff 40 yards into Blue Devil territory. And then a Tyler Wells-to-Lucian Burge pass gave the Braves a first down. But the drive stalled at the Sault 31 yard-line.

The rest of the half was a nightmare for the Braves as they did not get another first down until the final 30 seconds of the half. And they had three straight turnovers that led to 21 Blue Devil points.

First, a pass off of Burge's hands bounced into a Sault player's hands for an interception. Next, a long pass was picked off by a diving Jordan Houghton.

And then, Wells fumbled on his own 15 yard line.

Sault Ste. Marie's Justin Fountain was happy to make the Braves pay. He scored on touchdown runs of one, two, and 40 yards, to help the Devils take a 21-0 lead. The most embarrassing play for the Braves came in late in the second quarter, when LaCrosse was facing 3rd-and-28 at the Gladstone 32 yard-line.

LaCrosse kept it, and the Braves appeared to have him sacked a couple of times. But LaCrosse broke several tackles, including two poor tackle attempts, and went for a touchdown.

Lucian Burge first-down catch.

So, it was 28-0 at the half, and the Blue Devils were set to receive the second half kickoff. Mercy rule? Running clock? Braves get humiliated and sent home? Nope.

You could tell that the Braves were a different team, and had more energy, and were playing for pride. They succeded in an on-side kick to start the third quarter, although the offense did not move the ball. But the Braves defense forced a three-an-out, and it seemed to lift the team's spirits on a soggy, muddy football field.

Wells-to-Jurek Touchdown pass on fourth down.

Gladstone's problems continued with a high snap over Wells' head (the second one of the night), but on 4th-and-27, Wells escaped the pass rush and hit Jurek for a screen pass that took him into the end zone with 5:02 left in the third quarter.

The Blue Devils, despite leading big, got angry and committed two unsportsmanlike conduct penalites on the kickoff. The Sault had a total of five unsportsmanlike penalities in the game. The Blue Devils converted a 3rd-and-16 play with a 31-yard pass to Tristen Johnston, but the Braves forced a fumble at the Gladstone 20 yard-line.

Gladstone got a 26-yard run from Jurek and a 53-yard scamper from Wells to set up a short touchdown run by Wells. Chenier scored the two-point play on a reverse.

The Braves missed on another on-side kick attempt, and the Sault drove deep into Braves territory, but a field goal attempt was wide-left. That gave Gladstone the ball on its own 20 yard-line with just over four minutes left in the game.

Two plays later, Jurek broke free for the 75-yard touchdown run that brought the Braves to within one score.

Gladstone was outgained 246-53 in the first half. In the second half, Gladstone shut out the Sault and outgained them in yardage, 280-124.

Fountain led the Blue Devils (3-3) with 148 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. LaCrosse added 90 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. He also completed four of nine passes for 83 yards. Three of the passes were for huge first downs.

Justin Jurek 75-yard TD in fourth quarter

For Gladstone (3-3), Wells had 181 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. Jurek had 117 yards on eleven carries and a touchdown.

Gladstone hosts Escanaba in the Battle of Delta County next Friday night. Game time is 7:00. It will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and rrnsports.com. The junior varisty game on Thursday night will be on AM-600.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Lori Jurek, and to hear radio interviews.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

8/28	7:00 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	34 - 8 (W)	1-0

9/6	6:00 PM	Roscommon Bucks	41 - 12 (W)	2-0

9/12	7:00 PM	at Negaunee Miners	24 - 19 (W)	3-0

9/19	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	6 - 49 (L)	3-1

9/26	7:00 PM	Marquette Redmen	13 - 21 (L)	3-2

10/3	7:00 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	22 - 28 (L)	3-3

10/10	7:00 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	14 - 41 (L)	3-4

10/17	7:30 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	20 - 41 (L)	3-5

10/24	7:00 PM	Calumet Copper Kings	38 - 47 (L)	3-6