Jack Pine Tribune

Harrison mauled by Lake City

What looked to be a good match-up at the start of the game turned out to be a rout, as Lake City came to town and stunned the Hornets with an aerial attack and strong, balanced running game. Lake City started the game with two long passes that seemed to catch Harrison off guard, followed up by two runs that put the Hornets down 7-0 with 11:15 left to go in the first quarter.

Not willing to give up, Jake Walraven plowed forward with a 20 yard punt return, and Cody Rodgers looked to have a good view of the defense as he ran the ball with confidence. Despite having to punt away their initial drive, the Hornets kept swarming to the ball early, causing a fumble that they recovered. Jacob Stuhr looked confident as he commanded the offense early in the game, taking the ball himself for a short gain and handing off to Cody Rodgers who smashed and cut his way into Lake City’s backfield to get to first and goal on their second drive. A short pass from Stuhr to Randy Johnson tied the game up 7-7. It looked as if Harrison would take over the game on the following kickoff, as Brooks Leonard forced a fumble that was recovered by Harrison.

Unfortunately, a Lake City interception seemed to take the air out of Harrison’s sails, which they took for a touchdown to make the game 13-7. Dylan LaPorte blocked the extra point to keep the game interesting, but the game spiraled out of control from there. After a three and out by Harrison to end the first quarter, Lake City used their air superiority to shred Harrison’s corners, bombing a 35 yard pass to put Lake City at the 16 yard line, knocking on the door once again. Another short pass that Harrison couldn’t stop put lake City up 19-7 after a failed two point conversion. Another costly turnover by Harrison with a fumbled snap gave Lake City a chance to highlight their passing game again. The teams would go back and forth during the second half , with Jake Walraven breaking out on a few solid runs, and Jacob Stuhr struggling to stay upright in the passing game. However, the Lake City Trojans were unstoppable on the ground, as well as in the air, as Harrison would find itself down 26-7 at the end of the half.

The second half would not fare any better for the Hornets, despite a strong start off of the kickoff, when the two quarterbacks Jacob Stuhr and Justin Yager caused the punt returner to fumble the ball from a nice hit laid on him. Jacob Stuhr was unable to lead his team to the end zone however, and after two illegal procedure penalties, Harrison found themselves fourth and very long, and forced to punt it away once again. Despite Stuhr earning another chance on the Trojan’s drive, when he made a nice interception, the Hornets were unable to convert the turnover into points once again, and was forced to punt. It was then that Lake City let the quarterback use his arm once again, and he did so quite effectively against Harrison, nailing a receiver down the sideline for what would end up a 55 yard pass that would find Lake City at the 5 yard line. Another short pass put the game out of reach for Harrison at 33-7 after the extra point.

Harrison’s will to compete seemed to fade away, with only short bursts of energy from Walraven and Rodgers proving that the team still had some fight in them. Lake City would pile on the score with three more touchdowns in the half, with Harrison unable to respond, and would give the game away with costly turnovers, and showing an inability to convert the Trojan’s turnovers into touchdowns. The game would end up with a 60-7 rout, leaving a beaten Harrison squad looking to each other and their coaching staff for answers of what needs to happen to ensure that a score like this does not occur again.

27-0. Chalk it up in the record books baby! 

The Beaverton Beavers halted their losing streak and broke open the 2012 season with a win with new head coach, Aaron Seiser Thursday night against the St. Louis Sharks. 

Beavertno’s gnarly and rugged shot caller Scotty Longstreth set up shop and led his crew through the air, burning the Sharks secondary for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns to send Ross Lake into absolute jubilation. They’ll be ferrying Beavertonians off the shores of the City Park for the next week thinking about the deadly combination of Longstreth and the big, bruising wide-out, Austin Schneider. 

Longstreth struck first blood by splitting through the St. Louis defense, up tight in the red-zone, and will himself through the gullies for a 2 yard plunge to pay dirt, and sophomore Ian Hasenfratz kicked the pigskin through the uprights to make it a 7-0 game around the 10 minute mark. 

Then Longstreth found Schneider mean-mugging down the sidelines and planted a 22 yard seed for the TD and with Hasenfratz splitting the poles, the Beavers were held a 14-0 command of the scoreboard. 

Just before the half, Longstreth mounted another drive with and with 56 seconds left, Longstreth dialed up Hasenfratz number dump another six on the board. With Hasenfratz pocketing his third PAT on the night, the Beavers were enjoying a surreal 21-0 lead at the half. 

From there on, it was just about maintaining the lead and allowing the defense to do their thing. 

“Defensively, I told the guys we just needed to be physical and we got that tonight. Eric DeVeries and Hunter Walter did a nice job on the line and Austin Schneider showed a lot on the edges,” said Coach Seiser. “It was nice to start off the season with a win, but we also understand we have a long way to go.” 

Seiser was happy with the passing game and how the offensive was able to balance out with a mix of Longstreth and Lucas Mayberry running the ball. 

“Lucas really ran hard, going 70 yards on only 11 carries and Scotty avoided the defense going 12 for 42,” Seiser explained. “Of course Schneider gave us an opportunity at some mismatches because he is so big and fast.” 

Longstreth went 12-18 for a 171 yards, a 100 of which went to Schneider on 3 catches. 

The Beavers were able to hold the Sharks scoreless with some opportunistic plays by Brad McDonald and Tanner Goheen. McDonald sniped an airball for a crucial turnover and Goheen managed to scoop up a lose ball. 

The Beavers defense poured in a clandestine effort, holding the Sharks to 60 yards. 

“I’m very pleased with how we came out today, we were on the attack,” Seiser said. “We came off the ball well, on offense and defense. We expect to be competitive in every game, and have a successful season.”

Gladwin Soars over SHEPHERD

The Gladwin Flying G’s unloaded 350 yards of total offense in the first half against the Blue Jays in Shepherd. A couple long interception returns produced Shepherd’s scores, Gladwin’s defense dominated the Jays other than that. The G-men rolled to the 27-13 road non-league triumph. “Our quarterback needs to take better care of the ball. He made some big plays, but too many errant throws. Line did a fairly good job for the opener, Demetri Trice was great, the entire offense can sharpen up though. The defense came to play, I was proud of their effort especially Mike Fennell,” said Gladwin’s Coach Josh Shattuck.

With 1:10 left in the opening stanza, Landon Grove connected with Meachy Trice on a 75 yard touchdown. Shepherd plunged in for a four yard TD to knot the affair up at seven all. Trice hauled in an 88 yard bomb form Grove. Once again Hayden Scott booted in the p.a.t. Just before the end of the first half, Grove scampered in for an eight yard TD rumble, the score at the half was 20-7. 

The third quarter was scoreless. With 9:04 left in the final stanza, Shepherd picked off a Grove pass and went 80 yards for the touchdown to make it a 20-13 game. Gladwin answered with as Grove knifed in for the four yard touchdown run, this tallied the final, 27-13.

Grove went 9-19 passing for 259 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Grove also amassed 50 yards rushing and two more touchdowns. Gritty Brandon Wackerle busted through on five carries for 44 yards on the ground. Meachy Trice had three receptions for 171 yards and two TDs.

Butch Fennell compiled 24 tackles. Cliff Bowen recorded 12 tackles. Josh Dimond had a crucial tackle for a six yard loss. Nick Ritchie, Clay Bowen and Billy Rhodes all scooped up fumble recoveries. Wackerle and Trice each had interceptions.

SANFORD slam wrecked by Lancers

Bullock Creek mashed a solid drive, converted a couple third downs. Then their sophomore sensation, bruising Caleb Somerville made a cut and was gone up the gut for a 40 yard touchdown. Bullock Creek’s qb, Zack Reed, who was spectacular all night in every facet of the game, bootlegged right and zipped a dart for the two point conversion, 8-0.

Meridian’s qb, Zach Arthur made a couple Lancers miss and he galloped for a 65 yard run. This set up a six yard pass to Kevin Scheibert. Dan Burns boomed the pat kick and it was an 8-7 game and you felt like it was going to be another one of those back and forth shoot-outs. Nope, the Creek completely dominated both sides of the ball with a raw, ferocious, pad-popping, bone-jarring style of play. 

Bullock Creek’s fleet footed quarterback, Zack Reed exploded off the tackle for a 74 yard touchdown. They converted the two pointer and it was a 16-7 game. 

Arthur fumbled the kick return and the Lancers wrestled it away. On 4th and 6, Reed scrambled to move the chains. A couple plays later, Reed rolled out to his right and lofted a dime for a 16 yard touchdown pass, Caleb Somerville pounded in another two pointer, this gave Creek a 24-7 advantage.

Meridian’s Jack Miller threw a perfect pass to Scheibert who dropped what probably would have been a touchdown. Bullock Creek got the ball back on downs, Reed exploded again for a 66 yard touchdown rumble. Reed tacked on another touchdown burst this time from about 40 yards out to make it 36-7 at the intermission and the game was essentially over. “We’re young, we just weren’t ready for a bigger, more skille and much more physcial team at every position. They beat us up front and they have explosive backs, we need to work to improve,” commented Meridian’s Coach Keith Schulte.

Grayling Bags the Bucks

Austin Fluegel scored on a run of 15 yards in the opening quarter. He caught a 19 yard touchdown recption from John Miller in the fourth and a 26 yard reception later in the fourth. Alex Gojcaj had a couple big catches and an interception. Mitch Tyler led the RHS defense with 11 tackles.

Bobcats fall to Frankfort

The Bobcats succumbed in their opener to Frankfort, 34-20.  Dalton Bailey ran in a six yard touchdown and  Nate Hudson scored on runs of 55 and 15 yards.