Nailbiter ending in Houghton win over Gladstone
Trending
HOUGHTON -- The visiting Gladstone Braves and the Houghton Gremlins football teams entered their match with similar 1-5 records on the season. Both teams fought hard for their second win and late game antics left the outcome in question before the Gremlins stopped a drive from the Braves to take the victory 12-7.
Houghton took the opening kickoff and showed early promise with some long runs and a nine-yard pass from quarterback Brody Donnelly to Terry Nolan. The drive stalled out after eight plays and a failed conversion on fourth and 2.
Gladstone took over on downs and showed similar early promise running the ball including a 17-yard run by Nick Proehl. Just like Houghton, however, the drive stalled out after eight plays and a failed conversion on fourth down.
The Gremlins were soon facing another fourth down, but converted with a run from Michael Solena. There was a fumble on the next play, however, and a Braves player pounced on the ball on the Houghton 28-yard line.
Wyatt Forvilly ran the ball on four consecutive plays for Gladstone with positive gains of six, three, and 11 yards before a two-yard loss when the Gremlins were finally able to catch him in the backfield. On the next play, Landon Pepin connected with Proehl for a 22-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was good, and the Braves went into the lead, 7-0, as the first quarter drew to a close.
The second quarter started with Houghton and Gladstone trading three-and-out drives culminating in punts. Houghton had a punt for more than forty yards with no return from Gladstone. Between punting into the wind and the ball taking a bad bounce, Gladstone's punt only went for 17 yards, giving the Gremlins great field position on Gladstone's 43-yard line.
Solena started the drive for Houghton with a nine-yard rush, followed by Donnelly gaining 13 yards on a keeper. Two consecutive offensive holding penalties backed the Gremlins up, but they had an eight-yard and 18-yard run from Sam Roth to gain momentum again.
A two-yard pass from Donnelly to Roth gave the Gremlins a touchdown. The extra point attempt was botched and a scramble to try for a two-point conversion was unsuccessful, leaving the score 7-6 in favor of the Braves.
Gladstone put together a lengthy drive, overcoming two penalties of their own and a fourth and inches. Only a few yards from the endzone, the clock expired before the Braves could get off another play and the score going into halftime stayed 7-6.
As the second half started, Gladstone put senior Cooper Sanville in at quarterback for an eventful drive. The Braves fumbled the ball twice but recovered both of them, overcame two fourth and 5s, and had both an offensive holding and a false start penalty. After an 18-yard sack of Sanville on a third down, the Braves had to punt.
Houghton started from their own 15-yard line but got downfield quickly with a 20-yard pass from Donnelly to Roth, and an eighteen yard pass from Donnelly to Cale Ollanketo on a fourth and 5 play. A 13-yard run from Donnelly set up a one yard run by Roth on an outside pitch for a touchdown.
After a failed two-point attempt, the score went up to 12-7 as the Gremlins took their first lead of the night. Gladstone relied heavily on the running of Forvilly who successfully drove his team into Gremlins territory. A 15-yard pass from Pepin to Proehl helped keep the Gremlins defense honest. When the Braves faced a fourth and 6, Pepin connected with Forvilly, but only for a five-yard gain and the Braves turned the ball over on downs to the Gremlins.
There was still a lot of time on the clock, and Donnelly started the Gremlins drive with a 39-yard run from deep in their own territory, putting the Gremlins in a good position. Two plays later, he fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Gladstone, giving them another chance to steal the lead.
After back-to-back 10-yard runs from Forvilly and Pepin, Forvilly found a gap and broke away for 32 yards. With a first-and-goal on the Gremlins' 3-yard line, Forvilly ran untouched into the endzone which should have given the lead to the Braves. A false start eliminated the touchdown and drove the Braves five yards backwards.
On the next play, Forvilly ran eight yards right into the endzone once more. A false start once more eliminated the touchdown and drove the Braves five yards in the wrong direction. Houghton called a timeout to calm down their defense and discuss how they could stop the pressure from the Braves.
Forvilly ran the ball for the next three plays, but the Gremlins were able to stop him this time after small gains, setting up a fourth and 2. A turnover sealed the fate of the Braves as the Gremlins defense stood strong against heavy pressure.
"That was nerve wracking," Gremlins coach Eli Louma said. "I thought our kids played well. We've got a short squad right now, we had two injuries this week, so we were real low on our depth chart. Those kids played hard, they were basically on the field the entire game.
"I'm really proud of how they played, their energy, their enthusiasm. I feel like they deserved the win today."
When Gladstone nearly scored late in the game, Louma still had confidence in his team.
"You know, I thought that if [Gladstone] scored, I felt like we could go down the field and score," he said. "It was tense. It seemed like they found something where they could just run the same play over and over. We called the timeout and made an adjustment, and we were able to stop them just enough. And it was just enough."
This game was the last home game for the Gremlins as they go on the road to face Negaunee and Hancock to close their season.
"We have some things that worked really well for us, and we have to continue to get better at those," said Luoma. "We have some plays we really want to run that aren't working, and we need to improve on those. Our team can put together a win, like they did tonight, and hopefully we can win on the road."
Up next
The Houghton Gremlins, now 2-5 on the season, travel to take on the Negaunee Miners while Gladstone, 1-6, welcomes the Calumet Copper Kings, with both games on Friday, Oct. 16.