Blue Water Area football: Week 6 roundup
This week in Blue Water Area football, Marine City won its 20th straight league game, Port Huron Northern and North Branch remained undefeated, and Almont upset Croswell-Lexington to spoil the Pioneers’ perfect record.
Here’s a look at the latest scores, stats, and standings:
The Almont Raiders were down 20-8 in the second quarter, but they held the Pioneers scoreless in the second half to flip the script to a definitive victory.
Almont’s Trenton Kruse might be a senior, but he’s a rookie to his role as quarterback after having solely played defense earlier in his career. He led the Raiders with a 9-for-17 performance that totaled 144 yards and two touchdown passes – one to senior Matthew Measel (five receptions, 80 yards) and another to junior Cole Walton (28 yards).
Senior Tyler Filinger led the Raiders on the ground with 120 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore Chase Battani added 91 yards and another touchdown.
Defensively, Battani, junior Lucas Mantini, and senior Cody Koval each had a fumble recovery, and junior Ayden Ferqueron, senior Antonio Nedelkovski, and Flinger combined for seven sacks on the night.
Cros-Lex junior quarterback Gavin Espinoza threw 19-for-41 to total 228 yards and three touchdowns on the night. He also rushed for 68 yards and another touchdown.
Senior Trevor Soule (five receptions, 105 yards), junior Nick Monzo (three receptions, 24 yards), and sophomore Cody Meteview (two receptions, 21 yards), each scored a Pioneer touchdown.
Junior Joey Scaramuzzino led the Cros-Lex defense with 12 tackles, junior Braylon Day added eight, and senior Benny Mendoza had seven.
With only two conference games left in the season, Almont is ranked fourth at 3-2 (4-2 overall) and will play Richmond (3-3, 2-3 BWAC) this Friday. The Pioneers are now 5-1 and sit at No. 2 in the BWAC at 4-1. They’ll play Imlay City (0-6) this week.
Port Huron Northern 44, Fraser 16
The Huskies returned to their home field this week after a narrow win over Port Huron in week 5 to defeat Fraser in overwhelming fashion. By the end of the first quarter, Northern led 23-0 with no signs of slowing down.
Sophomore Reace Buckhana was the star of the Huskies offense with four rushing touchdowns, totaling 90 yards on 17 carries. Senior Hayden Prone added 81 yards on the ground on 14 carries.
Sophomore quarterback Ty Fletcher went 8-for-18 on the night with 69 yards, and junior Maximus Williams had three receptions for 26 yards.
The Huskies’ defense even scored early in the game when senior Alex Armstrong recovered a fumble and ran it back to the end zone. He also had two punt blocks, 12 tackles (1.5 for loss), and another fumble recovery on the night.
A trio of juniors had a productive night on defense: Jack Bennet forced the two fumbles while chipping in with six tackles and one sack; Jacob O’Hare had six tackles (1.5 for loss) and one interception; and Austin Haeck had nine tackles (one for loss).
The Huskies clinched at least a share of the MAC-Blue with one league game left to play. At 4-0 in the MAC-Blue (6-0 overall), they’ll play Warren Mott (3-3, 2-2 MAC-Blue) on the road this week.
Yale 42, Imlay City 13
The Bulldogs bounced back from an overtime loss against Cros-Lex last week to lead 42-0 by halftime against the Spartans.
Senior James Bahr led offensively with four touchdowns on 17 carries and 107 yards. Junior quarterback Connor Jakubiak went 7-for-11, totaling 100 yards with five completions to senior Jeremy Griffith, who totaled 62 yards on the night. Sophomore kicker Damien Giles also went 6-for-6 in extra points.
The Yale defense scored two more touchdowns on a pair of interceptions: one from senior Jack Hoppe who also had six tackles and one sack, and another from junior Seth Stade. Senior Kaden Proctor had a game-leading nine tackles (two for loss).
Senior Brady Vanderploeg led the Spartan offense with three completions and 67 rushing yards. He ran for one touchdown and threw for another on an 80-yard pass to senior Julian Rojas. Junior Brady Redd had two tackles and 12 assists to lead the defense.
The Bulldogs (3-3, 2-3 BWAC) have one league game left, ending their season against Almont on Oct. 14. This week they’ll take a bye with a forfeit win over Algonac. Imlay City will travel to Cros-Lex.
North Branch 62, Richmond 10
The Broncos bolstered their scoring average to 56 points per game with a victory over Richmond Friday night. They totaled 635 yards of offense while holding the Blue Devils to 104 yards.
Seniors Lucas Schapman and Ryan Henne each recorded three touchdowns, and Griffin Mabery and Aiden Swoish each added one. Senior quarterback Will Damaksa went 7-for-8 with three touchdown passes and 191 yards on the night.
Defensively, Schapman also had eight tackles and junior Gabe Miles added seven.
Sophomore quarterback Anthony Bonnetti scored the lone touchdown for Richmond on a 4-yard carry. He also threw 7-for-16 to total 69 yards. Senior kicker Drew Matyunas added four more points to the Blue Devil total with an extra point and a 33-yard field goal.
North Branch (6-0) will play Armada (5-1) on the road this Friday in an exciting BWAC matchup, and Richmond (3-3, 2-3 BWAC) will play Almont (4-2, 3-2 BWAC).
Marine City 37, Lamphere 14
The Mariners’ quest for their fourth-straight MAC-Silver title is still intact as they clinched at least a share of it on Friday. They’ve now won 20 consecutive league games with one more to go before they can claim the four-peat.
Senior quarterback Jeff Heaslip commanded the offense with a 6-for-14 performance that resulted in 92 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 92 yards on five carries.
Junior Parker Atkinson was on the receiving end both times with two touchdowns and 59 yards on three catches.
On the ground, senior Anthony Ruffino (70 yards), sophomore Cooper Letson, and junior Cameron Milewski each added another score.
Senior Brock Osterland led the defense with 12 tackles, while sophomore Paul Muscat chipped in with six, and junior Jeremy Westrick added one sack.
Marine City (5-1) will play Clintondale (1-5) in its final home game of the season. If the Mariners win, they’ll earn the MAC-Silver title outright.
OTHER AREA SCORES
Armada 41, Wyoming 14
Bad Axe 59, Vassar 7
Brown City 60, Deerfield 38
Cardinal Mooney 15, Clarkston Everest 8
Farwell 46, Capac 40
Harbor Beach 28, Sandusky 6
Kingston 56, Deckerville 20
Marysville 23, Clintondale 6
Peck 44, North Huron 6
Port Huron 35, L’Anse Creuse North 14
South lake 28, St. Clair 8
Ubly 66, Memphis 0
STANDINGS AND RANKINGS
To view the latest BWAC standings, click here.
To view the latest MAC standings, click here.
Latest Blue Water Sports Media Association Poll:
Voted on by Brady Beedon and Dennis Stuckey of Get Stuck On Sports, Brenden Welper of The Times Herald, and Calli Newberry of The Sports Report.
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