Wild Ending Helps Esky JV's Hold Off Braves, 14-7

GLADSTONE----The battle of two unbeaten football teams went down to the wire Thursday as Gladstone hosted Escanaba in a much-hyped junior varsity game.

Yes, JUNIOR varsity.

This game had more "buzz" in the community than Friday night's varsity match-up, mostly becase the JV Eskymos and JV Braves both entered Thursday's contest with 6-0 records. Both teams have run up big scores aganst their opponents.

And so, Thursday night's Battle of Delta County would surely be a high-scoring affair.

Nope. This was a defensive struggle all night as the Eskymos emerged with a 14-7 win.

But it was a win that did not happen without some controversy in the closing seconds.

Escanaba quarterback Scout Wunder scored his second touchdown of the game on a two-yard run with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter. Wunder then scored the two-point play, giving the Eskymos a 14-7 lead.

But the Braves put together a nice two-minute drive.

The Braves' athletic quarterback, Darin Johnson, led his team down the field, with pass completions to Owen Hanson, Spencer Husbye, and Jared DeMeuse. Johnson then scrambled for nine yards, gaining a first down at the Escanaba 30 yard-line.

Johnson, who had little time to throw the ball for most of the night, had plenty of time on this play. He launched a beautiful rainbow into the end zone for Husbye, who had two steps on his defender.

The ball hit Husbye in the hands, but he could not catch it.

The ball bounced into the hands of Escanaba defender Hayden Haslow, who corralled the ball and crashed into the out-of-bounds marker. What was the call? The four referees (without a back judge that you would have in a varsity game) needed to confer.

One team would be happy, the other would be mad. Was it a catch? No, you can see on video that Husbye did not complete the catch. But was Haslow in bounds, with possession, for an interception? Otherwise, it was an incomplete pass.

After an uncomfortable moment in which the officials discussed the play, it was ruled that Haslow had indeed possessed the interception in-bounds. The Eskymos ran several running plays and kneel-downs to end the emotional 14-7 victory.

Gladstone, though, has only itself to blame for the loss, and it's not only the fact that the ball bounced off of Busbye's hands on that last play. The Braves had the ball several times deep in Escanaba territory, but bad snaps and penalties hurt their chances.

On the Braves' first possession, it was a disaster, as the boys got one first down but Johnson was sacked twice by Escanaba's Gavin Schwalbach, for 12 yards of losses. The Eskymos took over after a short punt, and Wunder scored on a 30-yard TD run. The extra point was blocked, but Escanaba had a 6-0 lead six minutes into the game.

Gladstone responded, though, with a dramatic 13-play drive. Johnson hooked up with Jared DeMeuse on a 23-yard pass to convert a 3rd-and-21 into a first down. Later, in Eskymo territory, Johnson scrambled for 15 yards on a 4th-and-6 play.

And then, on 4th down and 1 at the 2 yard-line, Johnson hurdled into the end zone for a score. Adam Bruce's extra point kick gave Gladstone a 7-6 lead.

That was the score at halfime, as the teams exchanged interceptions on the final two series: one by Escanaba's Wunder, the other by Gladstone's Kyle Darmogray.

The early part of the third quarter was also a show of defense. Escanaba got the ball first, but Wunder fumbled on a third-and-five run.

Moments later, Johnson was intercepted by Wunder. That happened after a series of bad snaps by the Gladstone offense that contributed to Johnson being sacked nine times. Schwalbach had four of those quarterback sacks for the Eskymos.

Gladstone had a great chance to score late in the third quarter when Johnson returned a punt 62 yards to the Eskymo 23 yard-line. But Schwalbach sacked Johnson on a fourth down play from the 18 yard-line.

Defense continued to rule the game from there. The Eskymos had a 4th-and-1 at the Braves 40, but Hanson ripped Wunder down for a three-yard loss. Moments later, Gladstone faced 4th-and-3 at the 50, but the Braves were stuffed. Escanaba got the ball back, but at the Gladstone 15-yard-line, Wunder got hit and fumbled the ball.

Jared Crow recovered that fumble for the Braves, giving them a chance to expand that 7-6 lead. But Johnson was sacked by Colton McKeever after another bad snap.

Johnson found Darmogray for a 10-yard pass, setting up a 4th-and-3 play at the Gladstone 24.

Instead of punting with less than six minutes left in the game, Gladstone Coach Andy Doutree chose to go for the first down form his own 25.

Hanson was stuffed on a running play for no gain, and Escanaba took over at the Braves 25 yard-line.

With this being a 7-6 defensive battle, even a 25-yard drive is not a "gimme". And the Eskymos faced a 4th-and-6 at the Braves 21 yard-line. As the large crowd howled, Wunder was able to work his way up field for a 12-yard run inside the Braves' 10.

After a six-yard run by Cody Vandermissen, Wunder took it in for the go-ahead score. Wunder also made the two-point conversion, and i was 14-7 with 2:33 left.

The Braves moved down field, setting up the dramatic final pass play.

The Eskymo JV's improved to 7-0, with games against Sault Ste. Marie and Kingsford remaining. Gladstone (6-1) will host Kingsford, and then travel to Calumet.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville and Eric Thompson, and to hear radio highlights from the game.