Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Ryder Forvilly, Threvor Thorbahn, and Braves Coach Craig Ness. Also click to hear halftime interviews with Mason Sierpien and Vince D'Agostino.
WEST ISHPEMING---Owen Gereau scored four touchdowns and Trevor Thorbahn added two scores as the Gladstone Braves overcame a great first half by Westwood quarterback Ethan Marta to beat the Patriots, 59-22, Friday night, at Westwood High School.
Marta scored two touchdowns on the ground and threw a TD pass, and converted a pair of two-point conversions, to bring Westwood to within 23-22 with less than two minutes left in the first half.
But Gereau turned the game around in just 15 seconds by returning the ensuing kickoff to give Gladstone a 30-22 lead, and the Braves defense pitched a shutout in the second half as they wore down and physically punished the understaffed Patriots.
Simply put, Marta was dazzling in the first half. The Braves took their first possession 60 yards in 13 plays with Gereau capping it off with a four-yard run, making it a 7-0 game halfway through the first quarter, But Marta used his feet to scramble into and out of the Braves defense. His 60-yard run on 3rd-and-1 put the Patriots on the board as he sidestepped and broke three tackles and then accelerated past the defenders for the touchdown. Marta added the two-pointer as well, making it 8-7.
"He's a great athlete," Braves seniuor Trevor Thorbahn said. "He's the best quarterback I've ever played against."
The Braves took the lead on a safety when Marta was punting from the back of the end zone and had to jump up to save a very high snap. His foot landed on the back line, and Gladstone had a safety for a third straight week.
The free kick was returned deep into Westwood territory, and the Braves took advantge with Gereau scoring on a 15-yard run. Luke Inghram made another extra point kick, and Gladstone led, 16-8.
And on the ensuing kickoff, just nine seconds later, Westwood's Karter Sherer was returing the kick when he was hit. Thorbahn literally stole the ball from Sherer's arms and went 20 yards into the end zone, giving Gladstone a 23-8 lead.
"I saw him and he was being tackled," Thorbahn said. "So, there's no point in trying to smear him. He was basically already down. So, I just saw the ball there and I just grabbed it, and nobody else even saw it. So, it was interesting."
But Marta willed his team back into it. He escaped from the rush several times on 4th-and-5, set his feet, and threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Sean Grove in the end zone. Marta also escaped and completed the two-point conversion, bringing the Patriots to within 23-16,
"We had to put some pressure on him in the second," Braves junior Ryder Forvilly said. "In the first half, he was really shifty. We just had to break down and get some hits on him and he wasn't running anymore. I'm not the fastest guy, but when you bring down the fastest guy, it feels pretty nice."
After a Braves turnover, the Patriots got it again, and Marta called his own number and ran in a short touchdown up the middle, bringing the Patriots to within 23-22. But on the two-point play, Marta, scrambling again 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, was intercepted by Vinny Rebholz, keeping the Braves in the lead by one point.
Then, things changed, as Gereau found a seam and took the kickoff to the house for an 80-yard touchdown. Inghram's fourth straight extra point kick give the Braves a 30-22 lead to end a wild first half.
The teams traded turnovers to start the second half. Then four minutes into the third quarter, Thorbahn broke off a 40-yard touchdown run on a reverse to put the Braves ahead by 14. A bad snap on the extra point kick went well for the Braves as Cooper Sanville found Gereau for a two-point pass on the "fire drill", giving Gladstone a 38-22 lead.
The Braves defense continued to pressure Marta, and the injuries started to pile up for the Patriots. Gereau scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a nifty 24-yard run late in the third quarter, and Inghram tacked on the extra point kick to put Gladstone in front, 45-22.
Next possession, Sanville faked out the defenders with a phony pass attempt, kept the ball, ran along the near sideline, and juked past the last Westwood defender for a 24-yard touchdown run. Inghram's sixth extra point kick of the game gave Gladstone a 52-22 lead.
Then in "garbage time", Vinny Rebholz broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run. Punter Carter Farnes made the extra point for a 59-22 final score.
"Our pressure brought a lot of the game to us," Forvilly said. "But I thiknk our O-Line, Marcus (Racine), Morgan (Lynch), Zeke (Dykema), Ben (Wilson), they all just put it together, got off the ball, and just made runs happen."
And now the Braves (2-3) will head to Menominee next Friday to face the undefeated Maroons
"I think we're doing well," Thornbahn said. "Tough game nexyt week, for sure. But I think if everyone plays their hardest, we can play with them."
