Click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Gionni McDonough, Ben Knauf, Gabe Spear, and Coach Caleb Adams.
GLEN LAKE, Mich.---It was a heartbreaking moment for everyone involved in the Bark River-Harris Broncos football program.
The Broncos, with their starting quarterback injured on the sidelines, had battled back from a 14-0 deficit to tie Maple City Glen Lake at 14-14, but the homestanding Lakers scored what looked like a dagger of a touchdown with eight seconds left on the clock.
BR-H, playing in its first football regional championship game in more than two decades, appeared to be done.
Game over. Season over. Glen Lake wins, 21-14. Great season, boys.
But not so fast.
There were still some ticks left on the clock, and the Broncos still had Gionni McDonough on the field.
The ensuing kickoff was a good one, sending the Broncos back to the eleven yard line. Ben Knauf caught it, and then he lateraled it back to McDonough. And McDonough did the rest, going all the way to the house, tumbling into the end zone, stunning the home crowd, and giving the Broncos new life as time expired.
“Originally, the ball was handed to me and he lateraled it back to me and I dropped it,” McDonough said. “Then I looked up, and there was nobody in front of me. There was just one block that had to be made on the kicker, and I cut back, broke a tackle, and there was green grass in front of me. There was so much adrenaline, I don't remember much.”
“Once I saw Gionni there all by himself, I knew that he had the wheels to get there,” BR-H Coach Caleb Adams said. “He's an All-UP Dream Team running back for a reason. He is by far one of the most special players I have ever coached. The kid's got an unbelievable determination. He's one of those players where anything can happen once he touches the ball.”
But that touchdown only brought BR-H to within 21-20. What do they do? Go for the tie and overtime on an extra point kick? Or go for two, and the win?
No question. Go for the win. And McDonough went behind his big offensive line and plunged into the end zone for the walk-off 22-21 win. Against all odds.
Quarterback Dane Schmitt went down with a knee injury in the second quarter, so Gabe Spear and Ben Knauf were asked to fill in at the quarterback position
“With Dane going down before the second half, I had to step up and play QB,” Spear said. “I made some plays when I had to, but special teams made the one special play when we needed it at the end of the game. Absolute cinema. Craziest thing I've ever witnessed.”
“I was really nervous coming in to play quarterback,” Knauf admitted. “I was actually the third string, didn't really get reps since Week One. It's just great. We have a great team. We've gotten so much better since the years we played together as JV. Our line is phenomenal, our backs are phenomenal, we have guys that can make plays.”
Knauf executed a key play to start the second half: a flea flicker to McDonough that got the Broncos going in the right direction.
“It was a chess match all night long personnel-wise,” Adams said. “Making adjustments. They are a great team. They're always in this position. We knew it was going to be a battle. We preached it all day long, that 'never-give-up' mentality.”
And now they get to try their best again, on the big stage, of the state semifinals, next weekend against either Beal City or Harbor Beach. Those two teams will play each other on Saturday in their regional final in Mt. Pleasant.
“So many people underestimated us,” Spear said. “We're a small school, small town. We just showed them tonight. That's good. We have our community and that's all we need.”
“We get to show what the UP is made of,” McDonough said. “We just want to send the message that we're here. I'm just really proud of what I've done. I hope that I've made the community proud. First time in 22 years that we've been in the semifinals.”
The Broncos team had a long, late-night bus ride home, although it was a happy one. And another trip is in the team's future next week, and if it's Beal City, it would be a rematch of the 2003 state semifinal game in which the Aggies beat the Broncos, 16-6, long before any of these Broncos were even born.
“We're looking forward to a rematch there, or maybe against a great team from Harbor Beach,” Adams said.
Will it be against all odds again? Schmitt is questionable for that game because of his knee injury. But the team will be bolstered by the return of big Lucas Martin, who had to sit out Friday night's game due to a targeting penalty last week in the win over Iron Mountain. Regardless, Adams thinks the guys will be ready.
WUPF-FM Eagle 107.3 will broadcast the game live next weekend no matter where it is. The MHSAA will announce the details either Saturday night or Sunday morning.
