MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Braves Fall To Calumet

CALUMET---When you have the ball inside the opponent's red zone, the chances are pretty good that you're going to put points on the board.

But on three different occassions Friday night, the Gladstone Braves got zero points with the ball deep in Calumet territory.

On the other side of the ball, the normally-tough Gladstone defense made only one defensive stop all night long. And even with all of that, the Braves were in the game until the closing minutes but came up short, 20-16, at Aggasiz Field.

The result gave Calumet the sixth win it needed to make the state playoffs, and for the Braves, it likely means a road game to start the post-season.

Gladstone entered the week projected to be a No. 2 seed behind top-seed Kingsford, and ahead of No. 3 Hancock and No. 4 Menominee.

All three of those teams won Friday night, so unless there are some strange figures in the MHSAA computers this weekend, the Braves will likely find out Sunday night that they're headed to Kingsford.

But first things first.

As Braves Coach Jeff Hansen put it after the game, Calumet's front seven simply dominated the line of scrimmage. So while quarterback Darin Johnson had time to throw, and receiver Spencer Husbye had a fabulous game catching the ball, the Braves could not make the big plays when they needed them.

Calumet did. The Copper Kings scored two of their three touchdowns on fourth down plays. They capped a nine play, 67-yard drive on their first possession as quarterback Brent Loukus scored on a sevn-yard run on 4th-and-3.

Gladstone responded with a 67-yard drive of their own, but lost running back Jeff Stenson to an ankle injury.

He went on the sidelines next to top running back Owen Hanson, who missed his second straight game with an ankle injury of his own.

But Brody Sanville stepped into the role nicely, scoring on a 16-yard run.

Johnson's two-point dive to the pilon on what started as a PAT kick made it 8-6.

Calumet came right back, though, with an 82-yard, 12 -play drive that included only one third down play.

Travis Ojala scored from three yards out, and the two-point conversion pass made it a 14-8 Copper King advantage.

It looked like the Braves would answer right back as Sanville had seven runs up the middle and Husbye caught two first down passes. But on 4th-and-goal from the 1 yard line, Johnson tried to run wide and was run out of bounds for a loss by Ojala.

Then on the next play, Ojala got loose for what looked like a 91-yard touchdown run, but Husbye was able to chase him down and get the tackle on the 15 yard line. Then on the next play, the Copper Kings fumbled, so Gladstone had 1:51 to work with.

Johnson found Husbye on three straight pass plays for 31 yards, and then Johnson got loose for the only time in the game when he scampered 20 yards to the Calumet 30.

On the final play of the half, Johnson threw a deep ball to Rudy Peterson, who made the catch at the five yard-line. He was surrounded by defenders, though.

The second half started with Gladstone in possession, but they went four-and-out near midfield. Calumet was facing 4th-and-11 from the Gladstone 36 when Loukus threw a perfect strike to Matt Ojala for a touchdown, making it 20-8.

Gladstone, however, came back with a 74-yard drive that included two more first down catches by Husbye, including one for 17 yards where he juked a defender along the sidelines. But the second catch was remarkable as he jumped high up and hauled in a 4th-and-14 heave from Johnson at the Calumet seven yard line.

Sanville scored on the next play, and then Johnson threw the two-point pass to Husbye, and Gladstone was within 20-16 with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

The Braves defense then made its only stand of the game (other than the fumble) when Travis Ojala was stopped on a 4th-and-4 at the 46 yard-line.

The Gladstone offense moved up field, and again, Calumet had no asnwer for Husbye, as he and Johnson hooked up for a 40-yard pass polay on 3rd-and-14 to the Copper King 20 yard line. Johnson then used his legs to get nine yards, and on 4th-and-1, a quarterback sneak gave the Braves a first and goal at the 9 yard-line.

After Sanville broke off a four-yard run to the 5 yard line, things went bad quick. Sanville was swarmed on for a one-yard loss, then a false start penalty pushed the Braves back. Then Johnson was sacked for a three-yard loss. Then, another false start penalty.

It was 4th-and-goal at the 24 yard-line. Johnson heaved it into the end zone, and tight end Jared Demeuse was there. So was Peterson. But the ball was knocked away.

There was still roughly three minutes on the clock, but the Copper Kings got two first downs and ran out the clock.

Husbye ended up with eight catches for 124 yards. Sanville had 78 yards on 17 carries and scored both of Gladstone's touchdowns.

JUNIOR VARSITY GAME---Drake Forrest had two touchdown passes, including a long one to Luke Van Brocklin in the second half, to lead the Gladstone JV's (6-2) to a 28-26 win over Calumet. The Braves had to hang on as the JV Copper Kings scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Zac Hansen intercepted a pass and had a long punt return. Van Brocklin's interception in the final minute sealed the win.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from both the varsity and junior varsity games. You can also click the AUDIO buttons to hear player spotlight interviews with Dylin Godfrey and Devin Sargent, and post-game with Coach Jeff Hansen.