Hancock beats Gwinn 33-18 for first victory of season
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HANCOCK -- A steady rain over McAfee Field on Friday could not dampen the fighting spirit of the Hancock Bulldogs.
Hancock notched its first win of their 2022 season with a 33-18 victory against the Gwinn Modeltowners.
For Hancock head coach Ramon Sague and staff, it was by far the Bulldogs' (1-3) best performance of the year.
"It was a complete-game win for us. We played well on both sides of the ball," he stated. "Guys really stepped up and filled their roles. This included a much better offensive push led by our quarterback Vanden Jacques."
In fact, it was Jacques who got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard at the 3:16 mark in the opening quarter. He tossed a perfect pass into the hands of receiver Bryce Hanner, and their extra-point attempt was good. It was 7-0.
It would stay that way until around halfway through the second. It was then that the Modeltowners (0-4) Conner Dupras had a 5-yard quick run for six points. Hancock stopped their two-point conversion. It was 7-6, but with less than two minutes to go the Bulldogs would score twice more both on runs from Jacques to put the Bulldogs up 19-6 at halftime.
"We have taken care of the football very well over the past couple of games," Sague said. "That occurred tonight as well."
"Vanden did great of running the offense. He used his legs well. That is why he is in there. He is a dual threat to throw or run."
The Bulldogs opened the third with a 62-yard drive. It ended with a 48-yard screen pass to Halonen. The successful two-point conversion made it a 27-6. However, just minutes later, Simon Rajala made it a 33-6 game with a punch across the goal line much to the pleasure of his coach.
"Simon ran the ball well, but he did a really good job at fullback," he said. "He did great job at creating paths for our running backs."
The fourth quarter was Gwinn's best. It was led by Conner Dupras who punched in two touchdown runs. But it was too little too late for the Modeltowners as they fell 33-18.
Gwinn's head coach Derek Nyquist said that the play of Dupras was certainly a highlight.
"Conner played strong," said Nyquist. He played well on both sides of the ball."
He added, "While we finished strong in the four, we were soft in the first part of the game, and we lost our momentum.
Hancock will stay at home this coming Friday for the 69th annual Copper Bowl against the Houghton Gremlins.
LL-H 44, Stephenson 14
Lake Linden-Hubbell throttled Stephenson 44-14 on Friday.
LL-H's Sam Roberts rushed 230 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. James Milkey rushed for 89 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns.
Lakes quarterback Danny Marcotte threw four passes, completing a pair for 51 yards, including a 28-yards touchdown pass to Mason Holzberger in the second quarter.
The Lakes gained 410 yards of offense, and their defense limited the Eagles to 218 yards. LL-H finished the day with 359 rushing yards, averaging 8.2 yards per carry.
Stephenson had 104 rushing yards, averaging 4 yards per attempt.