Upset denied: Trojans rally to defeat Baraga
CRYSTAL FALLS - Unbeaten Crystal Falls had to go the full limit Friday night against the underdog Baraga Vikings.
The defending Division 8 state champs were forced to rally from a 22-14 deficit in the final quarter to score a 30-22 victory in the Great Western Conference contest.
"I can pretty much say without hesitation it was as proud as I've ever been of a team, to come down here with this many guys and play the way we played as a team," Baraga coach Jeff Markham said. "Even though we lost, it's as proud of a team as I've ever been."
After falling behind by a 14-0 count in the first half on a pair of touchdown runs by Trojans' standout Josh Siler, the Vikings scored the next 22 points of the game.
BHS senior quarterback Tyler McGaha passed 10 yards to Steve Johnson for a touchdown early in the third quarter to make it 14-6. The two-point pass attempt failed.
Baraga picked up a safety not long afterward when a snap on a punt attempt sailed into the end zone to make it 14-8.
The Vikings then resorted to the trickery that has served them well all season when end Beau Johnson caught a pass at midfield and lateraled back to McGaha, who covered the remaining distance. McGaha kicked the extra point to put his team his team ahead 15-14.
"It wasn't like it was drawn up, but it worked pretty good," Markham said.
It was the fourth time this season the Vikings have scored on a trick play.
McGaha passed 28 yards to Shane Maki with 1:08 left in the third frame and added the PAT kick for a 22-14 margin.
The Trojans got a safety of their own early in the fourth quarter when McGaha was caught in the end zone. That made it 22-16.
CFFP received good position on the ensuing free kick and quickly moved in for a touchdown - that coming on a 23-yard run by reserve fullback Jim Wheeler. The two-point run was stopped and it was 22-all with seven minutes to play.
Baraga moved down to the Trojans 9-yard line with about five minutes to go, but lost the ball on a first-and-goal fumble.
Crystal Falls then marched 91 yards to paydirt, scoring on a 3-yard run by Wheeler with just 37 ticks left on the clock. QB Robert Reid added the two-point run.
The Vikings managed to move to the CF-39 in the waning moments before an interception ended the game.
Baraga, now 4-3, will host Washburn, Wis. next Friday night and will need a win to qualify for the playoffs. Taking the Trojans to the brink should certainly help their confidence, however.
"It's got to be a confidence boost, because we played like we felt we could play all year, finally," Markham said.
Crystal Falls, which had outscored opponents by a 43-6 margin this season, moved to 7-0 for the season.
Baraga 0 0 22 0 - 22
Forest Park 8 6 0 16 - 30
First quarter
FP - Josh Siler 10 run (Siler run), 7:43.
Second quarter
FP - Siler 9 run (run failed), 3:02.
Third quarter
B - Beau Johnson 20 pass from Tyler McGaha (pass failed), 8:32.
B - Safety (snap over punter's head out of end zone), 6:00.
B - Beau Johnson 61 pass from McGaha (McGaha kick), 2:04
B - Steve Johnson 44 pass from McGaha (McGaha kick), 1:08.
Fourth quarter
FP - Safety (back ta, 9:24.
FP - Jim Wheeler 24 run (run failed), 5:26.
FP - Jim Wheeler 2 run (Reid run), :37.
Statistics
Total offense - Forest Park 402 (56-321 rushing, 81 passing), Baraga 276 (21-56 rushing, 221 passing).
Passing - FP, Reid 5-13-1, 81; McGaha 12-23-1, 221.
Rushing - FP, Siler 41-200, Jim Wheeler 6-55, Bob Reid 5-43.
Ewen-Trout Creek 30, Bessemer 24
EWEN - Ewen-Trout Creek held off a late charge by Bessemer to get a 30-24 win Friday night. Shane Johnson scored two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions to lead the Panthers to victory.
The first half was all E-TC, as Johnson led off the scoring in the first half with a 54-yard scamper. Johnson scored again late in the second, with a Colin Ahlskog TD pass to Anthony LaPlant sandwiched between his two scores to give E-TC a 24-0 halftime lead.
Bessemer began to come back in the third quarter, however, as Levi Perez got the Speedboys on the board with a 22-yard TD run to make the deficit 16. LaPlant and Ahlskog answered with another touchdown connection as time expired in the third quarter, however, to bump the lead back up to 22.
The Speedboys got two touchdowns in the fourth, but it was too little, too late as one of them came as time ran out. Tony Giachino caught both touchdown passes for Bessemer, with Ben Kapugia throwing the first one and Dillon Hine throwing the second on a flea-flicker of sorts.
Ahlskog passed for 167 yards on six completions for E-TC, while Johnson ran for 96 yards and LaPlant had three catches for 91 yards. Kapugia was 3-for-9 for 27 yards and two interceptions in relief of starting quarterback Jake Chiapuzio, who was injured in the second quarter and did not return.
Bessemer 0 0 816 - 24
E-TC 8 16 6 0 - 30
First quarter
E-TC - Shane Johnson 54 run (Johnson run), 11:11
Second quarter
E-TC - Anthony LaPlant pass from Colin Ahlskog (Johnson run), 8:04
E-TC - Johnson 1 run (Johnson run), 2:44
Third quarter
BES - Levi Perez 22 run (Pat Kapugia pass from Ben Kapugia), 7:34
E-TC - LaPlant pass from Ahlskog (run failed), 0:00
Fourth quarter
BES - Tony Giachino 9 pass from B. Kapugia (Zack Kuchinski pass from B. Kapugia), 5:27
BES - Giachino 39 pass from Dillon Hine (Hine run), 0:00
Statistics
Total offense - Bessemer 291 (202 rush, 89 pass), E-TC 264 (107 rush, 157 pass). First downs - Bessemer 13, E-TC 8. Passing - Bessemer, Ben Kapugia, 3-9-2-27; E-TC, Colin Ahlskog, 6-16-0-167. Rushing - Bessemer, Ben Kapugia 16-73, Pat Kapugia 12-82; E-TC, Shane Johnson 24-96. Receiving - Bessemer, Tony Giachino 4-48, Zack Kuchinski 2-22; E-TC, Anthony LaPlant 3-91, Shane Johnson 2-51, Jeff Lindberg 1-25.
