Braves Battle; Fall To Sault On Homecoming, 37-27

GLADSTONE---Ryan Jones scored three touchdowns to lead the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils to a 37-27 win over the Gladstone Braves Friday night on Braves Homecoming.

But the Braves battled all night long, and Coach Jeff Hansen was pleased with the effort.

"This is the best football that we've played all year, by far," Hansen said. "Even when we started off with the two wins. We're playing better football now than when we won those two games. I'm extremely proud of the kids. They just kept on going, no matter what."

Sault Ste. Marie led, 21-7, at halftime, but the Braves took the opening second half possession down the field for a touchdown.

Junior Quarterback Ben Schwalbach found Jake Greenfield in the corner of the end zone, and Greenfield outjumped Sault defender Hunter Krause for the six points.

Senior kicker James Bruce made the extra point, but a "chop block" penalty was called against the Braves, and so he had to try again from 15 yards further back, and missed.

Jake Greenfield catches touchdown pass

With the score 21-13, the Blue Devils went on a massive drive that took nearly eight minutes off of the clock.

The 14-play drive included three third-down conversions for the Sault, and it ended with Jones scoring his third touchdown on a two-yard run.

Gladstone, down 27-13, did not falter. The Braves found success on the counter play to Owen Carlson, and Carlson ran for gains of 25 and 27 yards.

Sault's Hunter Krause with a key interception

That set Gladstone up at the Soo nine yard-line. But the Blue Devils responded when Schwalbach, looking for Greenfield again on the jump ball in the end zone, this time got a pick from Krause.

"Their kid made a good play," Hansen said. "It's tough when you're on the doorstep and you come away with nothing, and you turn the ball over."

Then, the Blue Devils quickly capitalized when Hunter Johnston broke off a 77-yard touchdown run. Instead of being down just 27-20, the Braves trailed, 34-13.

"That (interception) probably effected us on the following defensive series," Hansen said. "We had a breakdown on the weak side. But I really credit the Sault. They had some good players that really made some good plays for them at some critical times."

With the three-touchdown lead, the Blue Devils went on cruise control offensivelty.

They got a 22-yard field goal from John Doran for their final points.

The Braves scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns on a 50-yard pass from Schwalbach to Greenfield, and on a four-yard touchdown scramble by Schwalbach on a broken play.

In the first half, the Sault's Justin Fountain ran for 148 yards on nine carries, including a 19-yard touchdown run. But he injured his ankle in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the game. Gladstone's Hunter Garling scored a touchdown early in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7, but he too suffered an ankle injury and left the game.

Hunter Garling touchdown run

It was a critical win for Sault Ste. Marie, which rang up 461 yards of total offense, including 343 on the ground. The Blue Devils improved to 4-2 on the season, and they will be favored next Friday night when Cheboygan comes to town for Homecoming.

The Blue Devils now need two more wins to qualify for the state football playoffs.

For Gladstone, it was a fourth straight loss after a 2-0 start. The Braves are now playing for pride, and they will face their biggest rivals next week: the Escanaba Eskymos.

Escanaba is also 2-4 this season, but the Eskymos have played a far-tougher schedule than the Braves have, with non-conference losses to Detroit Country Day and Gaylord. Both the Eskymos and Braves have lost to Marquette and Menominee this season.

The weekend begins with the junior varsity game next Thursday night, with Gladstone and Escanaba both sporting 6-0 records.

The JV game starts at 6:00 at the Marble Athletic Field, and it will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600) and rrnsports.com.

The varsity game is in Escanaba, and is set for 7:00 next Friday night. It will be broadcast live on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and on rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville, and to hear radio interviews with Trevor Tomac and Hunter Garling, as well as replays from the game.