Manistic Jace Reck locks his arm around Gwinn’s Zaheer Topping in the third quarter as the Emeralds approach the end zone during a high school football game Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, at McCormick Field in Gwinn. = Goudreau (left). (Kayden Sierra/Mining Journal)
GWIN — Despite the excitement of homecoming activities Saturday afternoon at McCormick Field, the Gwinn High School football team was unable to maintain its offensive momentum, falling 36-6 to Manistique.
But while this was a slight improvement over Gwynn’s 35-0 loss to Manistique on Sept. 6, which dropped to 2-5 overall, the Emeralds, who are looking to make the MHSAA playoffs, are 4-3 in the standings. raised.
“We preached execution on both sides of the ball.” Gwinn head coach Derek Nyquist said. “We had that on defense in the first quarter, but I don’t think we had much on offense.”
The first quarter was a defensive battle, with both teams forcing turnovers and keeping each other off the scoreboard.
Gwynn started with the ball, but struggled to gain momentum after a penalty forced him into a third-down-and-long situation. The Emeralds got their first big break when a muffled ball from a punt led to a Mason Dimmer recovery that gave them great field position deep in Model-Townner territory. However, Gwynn’s defense played a big role, forcing a turnover on downs and keeping the game scoreless.
Manistique found the end zone early in the second quarter when running back Aiden Osterhout broke free for a touchdown and missed the extra point, giving the Emeralds a 6-0 lead.
Quarterback Carter Stanski connected with wide receiver Dane Wikstrom to take the ball deep into Emerald territory, and Gwynn responded with an promising drive. But Manistic’s defense stifled Gwynn, forcing him to kill the drive with a recovered fumble.
Osterhout continued to be a thorn in Gwynn’s side, adding a touchdown midway through the second quarter to push the score to 12-0. Manistique quarterback Mac Pugh scored his own rushing touchdown just before halftime, followed by a two-point conversion to extend the lead to 20-0 going into halftime.
“We just have to… find that killer instinct to want to hit them, especially early on when we’re down 6-0.” Nyquist said. “We can tie it or we can take the lead. So we have to take advantage of those situations.”
Gwynn struggled to mount a consistent offensive threat in the second half as Manistique’s defense continued to impose its will.
At the beginning of the third, Pugh led a methodical drive that ended with a touchdown run by Jace Lec-Goudreau, and Pugh’s two-point conversion pushed the Emeralds’ lead to 28-0.
The Model Towners offense made another big gain late in the third when Stanski found Wistrom, putting Gwynn in scoring position at the Emerald 9-yard line as time expired in the quarter. He showed signs of hope.
Gwynn finally broke through one minute into the final period when Stanski lofted a pass from Zaheer Topping into the end zone for a 21-yard TD catch. The two-point conversion failed, but Model Towns’ offense broke through to make it 28-6.
However, MHS quickly responded. On the next possession, Pugh sprinted down the sideline for a 41-yard TD run, extending the lead to 36-6. Gwynn mounted one last attack, but turnovers and penalties continued to hamper their progress, and Manistique ran out the clock.
Nyquist remains optimistic about the team’s effort and the final two games. It was a rematch with L’Anse, which Model Towns defeated 33-6 at home on Sept. 13, and a rematch with West Iron County, which they won 24-16 at home. Double overtime game played at Iron River on September 28th.
“Please try your best to stay positive.” Gwynn’s coach said. “We all still have a job to do, including the coaches, to put in the same effort in Week 8 of the season as we did in Week 1, preseason and Week 2. “We all still have a job to do, including the coaches, to stay focused and hopefully finish the season with the same effort. We just have to win a few games.”We had a few weeks of winning. ”
The game at Reims is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m., and the final game against WIC will be played at McCormick Field the following Friday at 7 p.m.
Manistique is also scheduled for a rematch this Friday when it hosts Upper Peninsula No. 5 Iron Mountain at 7 p.m., followed by a long trip downstate to play Saginaw Nouvelle next Friday at 7 p.m. to do.
The Mountaineers won their first matchup against Manistique on September 13th at IM, 62-25.
