Violetta, Ring Lead Negaunee Past Gladstone, 44-21
NEGAUNEE---Neal Violetta scored three touchdowns and Shane Ring added two scores and the Negaunee Miners beat the Gladstone Braves, 44-21, Friday night at Miners Stadium. The Miners scored two touchdowns in the first three minutes of the game before the Braves battled back with two touchdowns of their own. The game started off rough for the Braves when the opening kickoff bounced away from Casey Wolf and the Miners fell on the ball. Two plays later, Violetta ran in a 14-yard touchdown. After the Braves went three-and-out, Violetta broke a 70-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. But Gladstone didn't fold. Owen Hanson made something happen on special teams when he returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown. Later, quarterback Darin Johnson scrambled for a 20-yard touchdown, leaping and diving the final three yards into the end zone. The extra point was blocked, so Negaunee kept a 14-13 lead. The Miners went right down the field, and Violetta scored his third touchdown of the game, from seven yards out. Quarterback Brock Aho scored the two-point play to put his team up by two scores, 22-13. The Braves had their next drive stall at midfield, but Kyle Darmogray got the ball back for the Gladstone offense when he intercepted an Aho pass. On the first play after the pick, Johnson ran the option play, and made a blind pitch backwards. Nobody was there and Negaunee recovered the ball. The Miners took their time to cover the 17 yards in six plays, with Ring scoring from one yard out. The two-point pass to Darius Provost made it a 30-13 Negaunee lead at halftime. Negaunee took the second half kickoff on a drive that was mostly run by Violetta, who had 186 yards on 27 carries. Ring capped the 61-yard, nine-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run, and Violette ran in the two-point conversion. That made it a 38-13 game, pretty much putting the game out of reach. Gladstone came back with a touchdown drive of its own, with Casey Wolf getting it started with a 41-yard run. Johnson found Darmogray just inside the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown pass, and then Johnson ran in the two-point conversion. But Gladstone couldn't score again. Negaunee (3-0) travels to Iron Mountain next week. Gladstone (1-2) travels to Menominee next Friday. The game will be broadcast on WGKL-FM (105.5) and WCHT-AM (600) at 6:45ET. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville; listen to interviews with Mason Frederick, Trevor Aird and Coach Hansen, and the radio replay of Johnson's touchdown. |