Braves Struggle In Red Zone; Fall To Copper Kings
Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Braves Coach Craig Ness. Also click the AUDIO buttons to hear player spotlight interviews with Braves seniors Austin Pepin and Pattom Nyquist. GLADSTONE---The Gladstone High School football team missed out on multiple chances in the red zone Friday night, and lost to the Calumet Copper Kings, 19-6, at the Marble Athletic Field. "It's just frustrating," Braves Coach Craig Ness said. "You know, between the 20's, I thought we were the better team. We got down there, and we'd have a penalty, or we'd have a negative play, and it takes us out of what we were doing, which was running the ball extremely well tonight. But, I'm just a little frustrated." Things went badly for the Braves from the start, as they fumbled the opening kickoff. Three plays later, Anderson raced into the end zone for a 25-yard Calumet touchdown run. "It seems like when we make a mistake, it's always a big play," Ness said. "The thing is, I usually defer (after winning the coin toss) to the second half. I tried to change thungs up and get us on the field because I thought our offense could get rolling. You know? Just snakebit a little bit." It stayed 7-0 Calumet all the way until halftime despite Casey Alworden intercepting a pass inside Copper King territory. The Gladstone drive stalled, however, and the Braves tried to get on the board as Luke Inghram tried a 38-yard field goal with the wind at his back. The Copper Kings took over from there and went on a time-consuming drive, taking nearly ten minutes off of the clock with run after run after run. Finally, a couple of penalties hurt Calumet (they had nine for the game), and after 15 plays, they turned it over on downs. Gladstone got into the locker room down just 7-0, but Calumet went on another long drive to start the second half. This one went 63 yards and ended on a 16-yard TD run by Anderson to make it a 13-0 game. After the Braves got one first down but had to punt, the Copper Kings essentially put the game away with a 65-yard touchdown drive with quarterback Ted Loukus running for 44 yards on 4th-and-3, and then scoring the touchdown from 16 yards out. Trailing 19-0, the Braves and Copper Kings exchanged making errors. Gladstone threw an interception. Calumet fumbled. Gladstone had the ball at the Calumet 15 yard line, but went four-and-out inside the Copper King ten yard line. Calumet got a couple of first downs and then fumbled again. That set the Braves up in Copper King territory again. Finally, on 4th-and-15, Pepin found Nehemiah Blair in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 4:01 left to play. Gladstone nearly got the on-side kick, but Ingrahm's bouncing ball barely went out of bounds, and Calumet ran the final four minutes off of the clock. The Braves (1-7) close out the season next Friday with a home game against the arch-rival Escanaba Eskymos, who at 4-4, are still playing for a possible playoff spot. It will be one final chance for the Braves to salvage something from a very difficult season. "Well, it's Esly, so let's get 'er done," Ness said. "I would love to send the seniors out with a win. If we can bring the effort that we brought tonight, it should be a heck of a game." Kickoff next Friday is set for 7:00 and the game will be broadcast live on FM-93.5, AM-600, and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. |