CLARE BOYS AND GIRLS WIN AT 2ND JPC JAMBOREE

CLARE - Farwell was the host school of the second Jack Pine Conference cross country jamboree, but theyre course is under construction, so they elected to hold the event once again on the rolling terrain of Mid-Michigan Community College. The Clare Lady Pioneers won and Meridian was runner-up with Harrison in as a close third. Roscommon was fourth in the girls race collectively. Farwell was fifth and Gladwin Lady Gs were sixth.
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Meridians Morgan Cassiday sends a floater for Blake Garner during the quad meet. The Mustangs rolled Farwell, Gladwin, and Roscommon to retain sole position of first place in the Jack Pine Confrence.

Alpha-dogs
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Unlike years prior when the league would finish out with the conference tournament, this season every single match-up is crucial in establishing the pecking order in the Jack Pine Conference; and Thursdays four-way mosh pit in the Nest essentially solidified the Mustangs defense of their title. The Mustangs ran the gauntlet, taking some bumps against the hosting Lady Gs and visiting Roscommon Bucks, but their overall length, athleticism, and collective experience of roaming the top of the net under the Coach Goff regime proved to be way too much for their challengers. The Mustangs rolled up north on M-30 and swooped into the Lady Gs stomping

KENZIE HALL
Meridians Kenzie Hall carrying out Coach Goffs proxy wars on the hardwood.

By Clint Kerm A f t e r C a r m o n e y s sophomore year at Evart High, the Evart millage didnt pass and they were forced to cancel all sports the following year. This devastated the Wildcats, as several families sent their children to other schools the next year, including the Carmoneys. Craig hated departing from an all-state backfield at Evart, but hell never forget how great he felt to be embraced by Coach Kelly Luplow and the Clare football team. Youngsters sometimes forget that its a privilege to play on a sports team, not a right. Boosters, fundraisers and other volunteers go over looked. One of Clares persistent unsung heroes, whos still spearheading Clare boosters is Craigs dad, Dennis Carmoney. Pe rhap s one of t he reasons hes so devoted is because of the tragedy of Evart cancelling a year of athletics. Craig talked of dreading practice when big, thick and bruising Jeff Punches came around the corner
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Beavertons Val Steele is one of the premier harriers.

Houghton Lake was seventh and Beaverton Beaverettes finished in eigth. For the boys race, Clare edged their neighbors from the west. The Pioneers only tallied 29 points and Farwell had 49. The Hornets of Harrison have been bringing the sting as they earned third place. Beaverton has a much improved team this year and they took fourth place. Gladwin picked up fifth place, Meridian was sixth, Roscommon was seventh and Houghton Lake finished in eighth. Clares Victoria Harper eclipsed the 20 minute mark as she tallied a 19:50 to obtain the crown. Lindsay Winter was not far behind as she collected the silver for Clare with a 20:52. Harrisons Brooke Colville attained the bronze with her time of 20:52. Clares Robyn Stanley garnered fourth place with her finishing time of 21:17. Melissa Benchley collected the fifth place position with her time of 21:39. Farwells Contessa Hammond was on her heels and finished in the sixth spot with a 21:40. Sadie Phillips of Clare snared the finals 1stTeam All-JPC spot as her time of 21:44 gave her the seventh place slot. Meridians Breanna Koon had the most colorful socks and she earned the eigth place spot with a time of 21:54. Clares Madison McPhee tallied a finishing time of 22:13 to obtain the ninth place spot. Paige Gould of Clare ran a 22:25 to earn the 10th place spot. Emma Orvosh of Meridian took home the 11th spot with a time of 22:43. Clares Brooke Beatty ran a 22:54 to cement

herself into the 12th place spot. Clares Amanda Yates was right on her heels as she garnered the 13th spot with her 22:55. Roscos Erica Frye was breathing down her neck as she compiled a time of 23:00, to round out the 2nd-Team All-JPC list of 8-14. Gladwins Shania Paisley attained the 15th place with a finishing time of 23:07. Harrisons Raylene Ramirez was just a hair behind as she tallied a 23:08 for 16th. Kayla McKenna of Harrison recorded a 23:42 to collect the 17th place. Kayla Bremer of Meridian ran to a 23:46 finish, earning the 18th spot. Rae Bundoff of Harrison blitzed across the finish line to tally a 24:01, good for 19th. Clares Olivia Walworth gathered the 20th spot with her time of 24:20. Taylor Brooks of Meridian galloped for the Mustangs to a pr as she tallied a 24:26 to obtain the 21st place. Fellow Lady Stang, Hannah Stockford was the 23rd place finisher with her tallied time of 24:31. Houghton Lakes soccer standout, Brianna McGregor compiled a time of 24:36, good for 23rd place. Roscommons Kara Savage ran a 24:40 to collect the 24th spot. Clares Rocio Spicer-Torres finished in 25th place after tallying a time of 24:47. Samantha Warner, also of Clare rushed in with a finishing time of 24:51 to earn 26th place. Julie Swinehart of Farwell ran a in for the 27th spot. Janelle Gavin of Rosco finished in 28th place. Gladwins Madison Howard collected the 29th spot. Clares Megan Sheredy finished in 30th place. Caroline Denlinger of Rosco was 31st, Stephanie Prince of Harrison, no relation to Prince Fielder, finished 32nd and Cynthia Ekdom was 33rd for Rosco. Hunter Nivison of Clare blazed the trails to record a 16:39, demolishing the field. Farwells Brandon Frank tallied a 17:11. Clares Lucas Combs ran a 17:15 to cement himself into the third spot. Kyler Phillips of Clare ran a 17:22 to earn the fourth place position. Farwells Luke Schultz wasnt far behind him to obtain the fifth place spot with his finishing time of 17:28. Clares Kevin Spicer-Torres ran in for the sixth place spot after he tallied a time of 17:31. Harrisons Brenden Taylor was the final 1st-Team AllJPC finisher as he earned seventh with his time of 17:33. Roscos Matt Brotherton tallied a 17:40 for eigth place. Beavertons Erik Maxwell compiled a ninth place finish via a time of 17:59. Joe Bowen of Farwell ran an 18:07 to collect the 10th spot. Harrisons Dalton Macdormott was 11th with his time of 18:12. The 12th place finisher, Beavertons Zeke Dassay ran an 18:16. Gladwins Nick Voise was the 13th place finisher with his time of

Top, Harrisons Brenden Taylor had a terrific week as he obtained 3rd place at the Cedar Bend Invite and he garnered 7th place at the JPC Jamboree. Far Right, Gladwin Lady G star basketball player, Madison Howard has really worked hard at dropping her times for the Flying G Lady harriers. Right, hundreds of middle school and high school runners from the JPC, the Tri-Valley and other leagues galloped the trails of the Gladwin Sportsmens Club at last weekends Cedar Bend Invitational.

18:20. Farwells Trevor Staley rounded out the 2nd-Team All-JPC list finishing in 14th featuring a time of 18:35. Clares Riley Crawford was 15th, Beavertons Zach Babcock earned the 16th spot. Clares Chase Field finished in 17th place. Kurt Meister from Farwell collected 18th. Sean Pickard of Gladwin eanred 19th and Houghton Lakes Jason Graham hustled across for 20th place. Farwells Glenn McDaniel ran across to attain the 21st place finish. Harrisons Phillip Hale was the 22nd place finisher. Nairobi Thomas of Harrison collected the 23rd spot. Roger Willford representing Gladwin well again as he earned the 24th place. Josh Gingery of Meridian finished in 25th place. Dallas Gibson of Gladwin was just behind Gingery as he finished in 26th place. Meridians Nick Warner blazed in for the 27th spot. Casey Owens of Meridian ended up in 28th place. Farwells Cameron Disbrow hustled in for the 29th place and Meridians Joe Shuler obtained the 30th spot. Gladwin County Sports Recreation Park
CEDAR BEND INVITE

held the Cedar Bend Invite. Tri-Valley, Jack Pine and Big North Conference schools brought harriers to compete. Beavertons Isaac Steele took 2nd in the boys 1600 run in the K-6 division with his finishing time of 6:41. Ogemaws Peyton Hansen was the winner of the girls 1600 meter run with her time of 7:38. Gladwins Katie Breault was the runnerup with her time of 8:01. Fellow Lady G, Kaylie Bartels ran an 8:06 to finish third in the 1600 run. Beavertons Parker Hayes was the runner-up in the K-8 3200 meter run. Gladwins Bailey and Mackenzie Weston tallied a 4th and 5th place finish in the girls K-8 3200 race. Harrisons Brooke Colville was the fastest JPC high school female competitor as she tallied a 22:09 to obtain 3rd place. Harrisons Brenden Taylor garnered 3rd place in the boys race, featuring a time of 18:51. Beavertons Erik Maxwell blitzed in just behind Taylor to earn the fourth place as he tallied a finishing time of 18:57.

DRAG RACING

CLARE EQUESTRIAN WINS REGIONALS

It was a great weekend of racing at Kil-Kare Dragway in Xenia, Ohio with CODY MARTIN, Tyler Galbraith and Logan Cook leading the list of winners as Division 3 Champions. MARTIN from B eaverton, Mich. not only claimed the North Central Division Championship in the 13-17 year old class on Sunday, he also captured the VP Racing Fuels Race of Champions on Saturday. Martins 2012

Half Scale Jr. dragster was also selected as the Best Engineered Car at the event. A double breakout decided the 13-17 year old final as Philip Jefferson of Brooksville, Ky. had a slight advantage on the starting line, however broke out with a 7.892 on his 7.92 dial-in to give Martin the win with his 7.971 on his 7.98 dial-in. MARTIN FROM BEAVERTON PICTURED ABOVE.

The Lady Pioneers finished the weekend with a score of 511 points. Reed city was second with 351 followed by Beaverton 279. First place individuals include: Alex Stark, Haley Stephens, McKenzie and Tara Pummell. Other Clare members include Sydney Hubbard, Alyssa Gillis, Jayda Sykora and Tessa Huovinen.

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Courtneys English is good. Courtney relinquishes a vast amount of her time to improve the lives of others. Shes selfless.
and remind their athletes of how lucky and privileged they truly are. Remind them that wearing the green and white comes with responsibilty to go above and beyond. Currently, Courtney English is showing no signs of senioritis. Shes an honor roll student, shes wildly engaged in numerous community events, shes an elite three-sport athlete and she is enrolled in Clares Links Program This initiative is an effort to link or assign ambitious, very confident and mature, Clare High School students to help elementary aged students who have some sort of disability. English fit the mold and had the unselfish desire to help get an autistic student more involved. The vision of Joanne Smiley and others formulated a pathway to allow autistic students and others with needs to be paired up with a high school student who was able and willing to sacrifice their time to come over and assist. Joanne assigned the CHS students with elementary students of need via the Links program, replied Clare Primary S cho ol e ducator, Mrs. Mero. Courtney has really been a boost, she gives tremendous effort each day that she visits the classroom. She shows enthusiasm Left to right, Becca Howard, Jessie Theisen, English, Kenand Courtney gives dra Robison and Caron White bonding on their mission a more dedicated trip, while refurbishing and painting homes in the U. P. O f te n , I fe el out st and i ng athletes are misconstrewed as being egotistical, arrogant, selfindulged and not very intelligent. This might be accurate to the stereo-typical sports jock of days gone by, but I think its far from the norm of the modern era. The majority of parents who encourage their offspring to be humble, considerate, studious and thankful young adolescents. Mr. and Mrs. Jeff and Donna English have done an excellent job of nurturing their children Kris and Courtney into wellrounded student athletes. Most coaches do a stellar job of planting seeds of community involvement and self less giving. Actively engaging and steering their athletes toward volunteerisim. Clares Coach To m Hu r d l e , C o a c h M at t Rodenbo, Coach Jeff Albert and others have taken the time to make sure their players understand the bigger picture

This is a photo of with the Farwell United Methodist Church paint crew, at the conclusion of their project, receiving gifts from the grateful Grand Marais residents.

effort than what is required. The particular autistic student who shes assigned to come aide, truly looks forward to her coming. Courtney relates well to the kids and has really helped them. English hasnt been the only person helping, the six year old kindergarten student has en lig htene d C our t ne y and reminded her of some simple yet crucial truths. The experience has pierced deep into Courtney and displayed how much eyed contact, listening ears, a smile and helping hands can do for someone. My kindergarten student is the main reason Im always happy anymore. That kid is always smiling, always asking me to help him. With him and all the other students in that classroom, I can go an entire hour smiling non-stop. I actually find myself walking out of there with a sore mouth from smiling, commented Clares Courtney English. Its taught me that there are people out there that need help, he isnt the most disabled boy in the world, but he still needs a friend there everyday. Courtney had an invigorating time last winter. English and her parents went down and worked at a soup kitchen in Mount Pleasant. English spent four hours serving food to the poor,

cold and starving folks who came in. This past summer, Courtney, adjoined some of her friends from Farwell. English, Caron White, B ecca Howard, her cousin, Kendra Robison and Jessie Thiesen along with some other members of the Farwell Un it e d Me t h o d i s t C hu rc h traversed to the Upper Peninsula to a heavily s enior citizen populated area in Grand Marais near the shores of Lake Superior on a mission trip. Their mission was to help some weathered from the wicked winters that are endured in this part of the country, diminished h o m e s , g e t re v i t a l i z e d by painting and revamping. These girls rigorously painted with enthusiastic fervor and really put their hearts into bringing some of these homes back to life with bright colored coats of paint. Courtneys most satisfying feeling was seeing how grateful a 93 year old Grand Marais resident was to see the kids and have them paint her home. She was the most grateful person that Ive ever met, noted English. I love spending time with the folks who I dearly love the most, my close friends and my family. They mean so much to me. I also try to give back to my town, my school and my state.

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BOBCATS CONTINUE TO FEAST ON THE JACK PINE

Coach Scott Bockelman and his gnarled and grizzled pack of Bobcats continued to wage war on the JPC, this time scratching and clawing their way to a 6-3 victory over the Gladwin Flying Gs. Despite being under manned in the goal. We played our 3rd and 4th string keepers tonight due to an illness by Aaron Frey and the lingering concussion of Nathan Shavalia. First time I have had to due that in 7 years of coaching, said the Bobcats Bockelman. But other devil-dogs stepped up, guys like Jimmy Garrett and Ricky Press. Our forward Jimmy Garrett started in the net and did a fine job. Gladwin two first half goals came from corner kicks that our defense failed to box out, continued Bockelman. Offensively, Ricky Press came from the defensive Mid field position and caught a mishandled ball in front of the net for the first goal. Matt Muirhead finished the half off a nice header from a cross by Jared Roll. With the score being 2-2 at the half, with Gladwins Jacob Garafalo poking in both scores for the G-men, the Bobcats reengineered their attack and started to demolish the Gs with their physicality and aggressiveness to the ball. In the second half, the Bobcats Ricky Press completely shut dodwn Gladwins Hayden Scott, eliminating any oppurtunity for him to penetrate into the zone of no return and when it came to 50/50 balls, Press simply out worked and muscled up to the moneyball to make several quick advances for the Bobcats and retain control of the game. We s w i t c h e d k e e p e r s t o freshman Joel Kubiak and moved Jimmy to center mid. This gave us a big boost offensively as Jimmy had fresh legs and drives the team forward with his aggresiveness and

The Bobcats Jared Roll and Gladwins Jacob Zelt battling for position along the fringe.

ball control. This paid off as Jimmy put a 30 yard kick into the corner of the net to put us ahead 3-2, said Bockelman. Minutes later Brendon Hans redirected a pass from Jared Roll for the game winner 4-2. Matt Muirhead cannot be denied again, after being tripled teamed repeatedly, with a nice long kick himself into the corner to bring score to 5-2. That was 3 second half goals in 2:30. The Bobcats went absolutely bonkers out of the gate. We let Gladwin get a late bouncer goal in front of keeper Kubiak get in to enable Gladwin come back a little to 5-3, Bockelman continued referring to Gladwins Tyler Boylens goal mid-way through the second half. But Matt Muirhead completed his hat trick on a left footed goal with 11 minutes left to seal the victory 6-3. I think the difference tonight especially in the second half was three players. B o cke l m an re ite r ate d t h e contributions of Garrett and Press as the Gs shadowed and applied pressure on Muirhead all night. Jimmy Garrett providing energy at Center Mid, Ricky Press shutting down their talented forward Hayden Scott and coming up in

our attacks to control the center of the field and lastly freshman Jared Roll with 3 assists, continued Bockelman. His accurate crosses up front fed the ball up to Matt and Jimmy plus he won his one on ones against a bigger opponent at midfield and blew by Gladwin to own the right side. He is going to be something special in the years to come. 15 shots on goal tonight, 10 keeper saves between Jimmy G and Joel Kubiak. Matt Muirhead now has 26 official goals, two short of the record set in 1999.
Jared Roll played like a mad-man for the Bobcats to keep firm control of the sidelines and halt the Gs.

Ricky Press was the X-Factor for the Bobcats as they dropped the hammer on the Gs 6-3 Tuesday night. Ricky sliced in a goal to help spur the offensive surge, but more importantly his aggressiveness and pinpoint precision passes allwed Prudenville regime to control the tempo and flow of the entire game.

JARED ROLL
Garafalo had a pair of goals for the G-men to help them keep pace with the boys from Nester Township.

JACOB GARAFALO
BUCKS FINDING THEIR MOJO
Alex Dodge helped the Bucks by poking in his first goal against Cheboygan.

G-MEN NIPPED BY PANTHERS

Jacob Garafalo continued his wildly intense play against the Panthers by punching in a goal in the 2nd half.

PIONEERS LOSE TO BIG RAPIDS

Freshman Camden Dice is one of the more polished and skilled up and coming guys in the league.

ALEX DODGE
Coach McClures inaugural year as the shot caller for the Roscommon soccer program c o nt i nu e s t o s h ow f l a s h e s improvement, like with their win over Cheboygan. Roscommon defeated Cheboygan 4-2, relying on the strong leg and precision leg of Josh Seames. Seames poured in a hat trick with 3 goals, with one assist from Matt Brotherton. Adding to the offensive barrage was Alex Dodge who had his first goal as a varsity player. He has been a defender his entire high school career. He was happy. We played well about 50% of the game, but still had mental break downs that lead to the 2 Cheboygan goals, said Coach McClure. They played us very tough and it was a vey good game to watch. Still, we do seem to be improving and with the recent help from Justin Severence, a former Roscommon and collegiate player, I think we will keep improving. McClure. The Bucks also recorded a loss this week, locking up horns with one of the top programs in the

area in the Tawas Braves. We took it on the chin last night against Tawas, losing 0-7. They were trying hard to mercy us and we at least kept that from happening, commented McClure while pointing out the gritty performances by Michael Fulkner, Thore Pruesse, and Josh Bowen and Dylan Jaskowski. Michael, Thore, Josh and Dylan had a few shots on goal and we had some real nice crosses, with no one there to receive. Still, we are playing better and with more control. They had some real early soft goals and it spiraled from there.
Josh went bonkers this week and put the flex on the Chiefs with a hat-trackk to help spark the Bucks.

CLARE FALLS TO MCBAIN ON THE TUNDRA

Despite the Pioneers struggles , Sneering continues to wage war on the field.

HUNTER SNEERING
The Clare Pioneers lost 1-5 to the visiting McBain NMC Comets Tuesday at home October, 2. A look at the sidelines of the Pioneers saw a group of players full of confidence. They know they are doing better and making the right adjustments, even if the results have not gone their way this season, said Clares Coach Doug Helmling. Clares struggles possessing and passing effectively continue to be its biggest hurdle. Two or three passes find their mark, but the next pass is off target and the opponent is off on a counter. When the passing is on-target, however, they look masterful, continued Coach Helmling. In the second half a brilliant display of small ball by Ryan Whiteman, Hunter Seering, and Camden Dice finished with a perfectly placed header by Dice to the side netting for the goal. Clares offense was paced by Camden Dice who poked in one goal off a nice pace from Hunter Seering who was credited for the assist. Eric Litkehad 19 saves on 24 shots (79%)

JACOB GARAFALO
On Thursday Gladwin traveled to Standish-Sterling and lost 3-2. The Gs played flat the first half and fell behind 3-0. In the second Gladwin responded by dominating play but they were able to only score two goals. Jacob Garafalo scored his 16th goal of the season and Keagan Hover added one goal to make the game close. The double threat of Hover and Garafalo has proven to their scoring threat. This was a tough week for us. We continue to score but as a team we need to tighten our defense. Defense takes all eleven men to succeed, said Gladwins Gladwin is now 4-13-1 for the season with two games remaining before district play begins October 15th.

CAMDEN DICE
Sophomore goalkeeper Eric Litke was phenomenal in Clares 6-1 loss to the Big Rapids Cardinals Thursday. It has been far too often that Litke has been the recipient of too much activity this season. Against Big Rapids, Litke faced a penalty shot and twenty other shots on goal, not to mention the numerous throughballs and seven corner kicks, said Clares Coach Helmling. On the offensive side of the action, freshman Camden Dice once again generated the sole spark. Camden dispossessed a Cardinal player and squeezed off a left-footed shot that squirted through the keepers hands and into the goal. Expect this young Clare team to continue to grow by leaps and bounds as they gain experience.

JOSH SEAMES
You can expect the Bucks to continue to snap, crackle and pop as the season progresses as there is yet another uber-clash their arch-rivals from the west, the Houghton Lake Bobcats. Matt Muirhead, Ricky Press and Jimmy Garrett have been absolutely pipping hot, making t h e g a m e t h at mu c h m o r e intriguing. Look for Faulkner in the game to be bringing the thundering St. Helen madness.

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Far left, Gladwins Rachel Dupre prepares herself from the collotoral damage of Dani Balzer locking up horns with Meridians Sadie Hall above the net. The Gs played the leagues champs tough, but ultimately the girls from the glistening shores of Sanford Lake won out. Pictured left, Farwells Kate Saupe making a play at the back edge looking to feed one of her high-flyers in Caron White, Jenna Hamming or Lauren Ringwalt for the kill splash. Pictured below, Meridians Kenzie Hall lobbing up another meatball for her front line to feast on. Photos by Loren Dassay.

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ground, went tit-for-tat and fended over the likes of JJ Willford, Dani Balzer, Rachel Dupre, and Allison Taylor in a 3 set free-for-all. The Lady Stangs rambled convincingly in the first set, taking down the Gladwinites 25-14. The girls from Sage Township and the surrounding Cedar River tributaries answered back in the second set, flurrying out and even the series with a 25-15 toppling of their Sanford Lake cohorts. Gladwin had an inspired performance, which is typical for a team coached by Marty Shearer and his uncompromising high standards. In the last set between the Flying Gs and the Mustangs, it was a backand-forth slam party. Carrie Persky sent a couple of rainbow passes to Dupre mean-mugging across the net. Then Alison Taylor sent a tear drop to Dani Balzer who converged on the moneyball from the corner and scuffed the hardwood to tie it up 17-17. But then the Mustangs started to exert their will. Morgan Cassiday gnashed in an Ace with her smooth over-hand swing, then Blake Garner powered up, surveyed the

landscape, and exploded on the Gs back line with a punishing blow to put the Mustangs up 23-18. The Gs responded and closed the gap to with in one with JJ Willford rocking the dance part with her lefty boom-rocker and Heather Govitz anticipated a the Mustangs interior ball rotation, sprung up at just the precise time and blocked Meridians offensive assault to make it a 24-22 game. The Stangs committed an error on the next volley, and the Gs had the momentum and were creeping on the come up, down 24-23. But the Mustangs calmly worked the ball around the horn and floated up a big juicy meatball to Sadie Hall in the corner and Hall wasted no time sealing the deal with a big overhand sledgehammer pile-driver to give the Mustangs the final set and continue their undefeated streak in JPC play. Heather Govitz led the Gs in service aces with four. Rachel Dupre had 3 blocks. Dani Balzer, Rachel Dupre and JJ Willford all added 8 kills a piece. Ali Taylor added 20 assists. The Mustangs moved on after their victory over the Gs by engaging with their counterparts to the west, the Eagles of Farwell. The Eagles

showed some grit with Emily Rawson and Caron White slicing in a few kill-splashes on the front lines, but the Sanford ballers blasted back in quick order 25-12 and 25-16. In the first set, Garner and Alyssa VanNortwick worked in tandem to pick their corners and poke steamers into little unattended swathes of hardwood in the Eagles back court to give the girls in powder blue the 11-4 advantage. Then Bri Yaroch joined the dance party, adding an additional option to sprinkled darts into the meatchops of the opposition. Despite the Mustangs offensive onslaught, Coach Sullivans girls continued to dig and sprawl out, make saves, and flick in points to stay competitive. Jenna Hamming had a couple of nice spinners when the Eagles arrangement were able to make crisp passes and set her up at the point of contact. Lauren Ringwalt cut in an Ace in the first set to keep things interesting. But with Meridians Kenzie Hall setting the table and Sadie Hall, Garner, Yaroch, and VanNortwick unleashing the dogs and Amanda Decker playing uncompromising defense in the back row, the Mustangs simply held contain and rolled out to set themselves up with

a high anticipated re-match with the Roscommon Bucks a team that was slated at the beginning of the year to be a legitimate contender for the conference crown. Coach Compton had her young team fired up from the first whistle and Morgan Romancky feasted on a buffet of set-shots from Logan Hutek and Morgan Fluegel to set the tempo of the first set and after Katie Tozer and Reagan Moffit wedged in a pair of yoke-crunches, the Bucks had established a 6-2 lead. The Mustangs made a mini-surge in the tail end of the set to regain some of their mojo with Garner and Yaroch blitzing across the net, sending the defense in one direction but then cutting across the action to wiggle the money-rock into the back edge. The continued play of Hutek, Fluegel and Romancky carried through the Bucks had claimed the first set. Meridians Coach Goff was wasnt concerned and sprawled back in his seat and allowed his girls to regroup, rehash the foibles in their approach to the game and make the adjustments themselves to spring back in the 2nd set. Goff s cool, calm, and collected spiritual nature seemed to propagate through his

brigade of ballers and the Mustangs mechanically dismantled the Bucks in the next two sets. In the second set, the Mustangs cashed in Roscommons miscues and with Garner, Hall, and Yaroch pinching down on the front lines, the Bucks were in full scramble mode. Couple that with a Melissa Reeves Ace and a nasty Kenzie Hall dig-save, the Mustangs were in absolute cruise control with a 13-3 lead. The Bucks made a mini-rally to save face with Romancky powering in a smash-kill and then a thunderblock. Fluegel faked the funk on a drive, but then turned around in floated a smooth rolling dropball into center court to collapse the Mustangs interior and close the gap to make it 18-13. Then VanNortwick started to take matters into her own hands, lashing out and pounding in the white leather in successive booming shots into the heart of the Bucks rotation to send the Mustangs out on top in the second set 25-15. The last set was the same old song and dance. Meridian exploited their size advantaged, continued to rely on the consistent serving from
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Pictured left, Farwells Jenna Hamming and Kayla Kelly making moves in the back court during a wildly intense volley against the Flying Gs.

Morgan Fluegel played tough and rugged for the Bucks during the quad meet. Her ability to play defense, make crisp passes, and rotate into position is going to make the Roscommon girls a strong team to beat come district play. As it is with any young team, it takes time to gell and mesh.

Scott Krell

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Boom
Morgan Cassiday played big-time for the Mustangs with her precision serves and her infectious calm swagger while pumping in one-timers from the serving stripe. She was Sid Vicious nasty against the Lady Gs, Eagles, and the Bucks.

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Sadie Hall continued her slam-wrecking mentality by unloading torrents of speed and power on the Jack Pine Conference this past Tuesday at Gladwin. In a game that would all but lock up back-to-back JPC title belts, Sadie went bonkers and powered in 26 kills keeping the Bobcats scrambled and looking for answers. Halls ability to leap, hang, quickly identify the weak spots on the floor makes her the top attacking enforcer in the league.

Pictured above, the trioka of Morgan Fluegel (#6), Logan Hutek (#12) and Morgan Romancky (#11) have been tough for the Bucks.

Rachel Dupre was that additional element the Gs needed to over come their counterparts. Dupres defensive presence at the front of the net forced 3 blocks, but also altered the flow of Roscommons offensive unit.
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Amanda Decker, Morgan Cassiday, Kenzie Hall and Melissa Reeves and overwhelmed the Bucks in the 2514 victory. Individual stat leaders for the Mustangs were Melissa Reeves serving 13 of 13 with 4 aces against Rosco. Leading passer was Amanda Decker who had 25 of 26 and 11 digs against Farwell. Leading attackers were Sadie Hall with 26 kills. Blake Garner had 21. Alyssa VanNortwick had 19 and Bri Yaroch had 13. Assist leaders were Morgan Cassiday with 31 and Kenzie Hall with 29. The team was solid at times but we need more consistent play,
Hamming played ultraaggressive at the net for the Eagles, almost giving them the W over the Gs with 8 kills.

especially from our hitters. All four of our hitters had time when they went ice cold and couldnt buy a kill. The closest we came to quality volleyball was in our last two sets with Roscommon in the final match, said Coach Goff. The girls are always pumped to play Rosco (a perennial power in the conference) but we came out absolutely flat in the 1st set. When the girls get down they really get down. When they play their best they can really bring it. I like our chances in the remainder of league play and even in the post-season if we can just start playing more consistent quality ball. It was a particularly rough night for the Bucks, as they were also out dueled in the net wars by the Flying Gs in the previous game. Gladwin snatched up the first set 25-23, the Bucks rebound in the second set with a 25-16 romp, but came undone in the last set 25-21 as Willford and Balzer flexed their senior leadership to over-power their St. Helen nemesis 25-21. JJ Willford led in service aces with three for Gladwin while Rachel Dupre and JJ Willford both added 2 blocks each. Rachel Dupre and JJ Willford each added 7 kills. Ali Taylor added 17 assists. The girls played intense and focused all night. Our defense worked extra hard and fought through any kinks that came up. They did an amazing job of staying up and fighting through the pain when they were tired, said Gladwins Coach Marty Shearer Beating Roscommon is a huge deal for us. They have been on top of the conference for years and typically winning a game against them is an achievement, but tonight we took
Far Right: Only a sophomore, Roscommons Kalen Church has had to shoulder a large work load in the back row. Her ability to hustle, sprawl, and keep volleying has allowed the Bucks to stay competitive despite being the youngest team in the league. Right, Gladwins Alison Taylor has emerged as one of the top setters in the JPC>

the whole match! Im so proud of the girls and how hard they worked tonight, added his wife Coach Katrina Shearer. Pacing the Bobcats on the night were Katie Tozer with 25 kills on the and 9 blocks; Reagan Moffit with 19 kills and 7 blocks while Kalen Church had 28 digs. Logan Hutek had 31 assists and was 19-20 serving and Morgan Romancky had 20 assists, 28 digs, 10 blocks. G o o d t hings happ ene d on the court throughout the night. Unfortunately, we didnt do great things at the right time. Against Farwell, we came out in game 1 playing pretty solid, but had a hard time handling their serves in game 2 and found ourselves behind, said Roscommons Coach Compton. Gladwin was more of the same: we decided to start playing after being down by 10 points or so, that is tough to come back on. I was happy with how the team responded and handled Gladwin pretty easily in game 2 and most of game 3. We got to point 19 and quit playing. It was disappointing to let so many balls drop and not finish the game. I give credit to Coach Shearer and his girls, they always are a tough game, every year. They finished and we didnt. Its that simple. I was impressed in game 1 against Meridian when we came out very aggressively. But, then we let up and gave the control to Meridian. They love to hit and we gave them balls that were pretty easy to set up. They hit well, and we didnt force them to do anything that difficult. And that was the tone the remainder of the evening. Just something that we have to learn from. We have a very heavy volleyball month in October. The heart of our schedule is coming up.

JENNA HAMMING
The Eagles Ringwalt kept the Gs on their toes from the serving stripe, sniping in 4 aces to cause a ruckus.

LAUREN RINGWALT

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THE TEAMS TOOK TURNS SHINING AT HLS QUAD

HOUGHTON LAKE - Four Jack Pine Conference teams converged onto HLHSs gymnasium last Wednesday for the leagues initial quad volleyball bonanza. Each team unleashed waves of momentum and each squad had lapses of doldrums and sluggishness. Harrison was able to defeat Houghton Lake in one set, but couldnt win the match. Strangley enough, but showing the significance of parity of the JPC, match-ups and will power, Clare beat HL, Beaverton beat Clare and HL defeated Beaverton. It really makes it tough to determine who the best team is and leaves me wishing their was still a JPC end of the season tournament to fairly determine who the best team is at the end of the season when all the marbles are at stake. Houghton Lake vs Harrison two games to one via scores of: 256, 21-25, 25-16. The Cats sprung out to propelled by Mary Rieger rocket serves, sets and hustle. Madi Winkler, Hope Cameron and Hailee Akin boomed some powerful killshots and Harrison seemed out of synce. The Bobcats dominated set one and won 25-6. Harrison looked like a completely different team in set two, they were they aggressors and committed less errors. HHSs standout, Erica Heckman and HLs Vanessa Wallace traded scores to make it a 10-8 game. Hilary Brewer and Savanna Duggan smacked kills to give the Hornets a 12-8 lead and the Hornets prevailed, not succumbing to HLs comeback attempt, winning 25-21. Prudenville got back down to business and they displayed how dominant of a team that they can be. The Bobcats showed tremendous balance as almost everyone contributed to their 2516 victory over HHS. Well, our first quad meet has come and gone. What an exciting night. Harrison is still without a check in the win match colum. The girls come out with that winning attitude that I knew they had but, Beaverton just wanted it a little more the first games of the night. Beaverton won, 26-24, theyll a big, solid team. I thought, here we go. They went out for the next 2 games sluggish, the last game for Beaverton and the first one for Houghton Lake, said Harrisons Coach Larry Flemming. Then the team I love to watch play came back, the team I knew that Harrison is. The girls were talking ,hitting, serving,digging and just plain having fun. I thought finally there here. They tried to keep the win on our side but Houghton Lk came out on top. But, I and everybody in that gym finally saw the team I have been saying Harrison is. That is better then any win in the books as far as Im concerned. Hilary Brewer was a menace along the net for the Hornets as was Erica Heckman and Savannah Duggan. This was key in Harrison competing much more competitively. Though probably the most difficult plays were the lightning reflex reacting digs made by senior captain, Olivia Sharp. Her ability to position herself and place her hands precisely to bump the ball up for an easy pass or set was paramount. The same should be said for Houghton Lakes Sarah Garrett. Garrett is one of the most skilled players in the JPC. She rarely makes mistakes and her digs are usually perfectly placed. Shes also a weapon who can take a full swing from the back row, not just to get the ball over the net, but she smashes a full hit swing for a lethal power-stroke kill. HL destroyed Beaverton: 25-15 and 25-18. Laura Fassett rose up for a block score, Kayla Balzer drilled a kill and Jas Urban-Parker scored to knot the game at 9-9. Then HL ran away as Cameron and Winkler slam wrecked kill-shots. Cassie Kuenzer was rocking service points, Beavertons Katie Hedrick stopped the bleeding briefly for BHS, but it wasnt enough as the Cats rolled to the 25-15 win. Janae Wolfe was highly actvie along the nets in the second set, as was Balzer, but they were no match for the well-rounded HL squadron. The Cats won as Wallace and Winkler were superb, 25-18. Houghton Lakes Maddee Winkler smashed 18 kills, 7 aces and 9 digs. Mary Rieger made13 kills, 52 assists and 7 aces. Sarah Garrett had 31 digs and 5 aces. Cassie Kuenzer lunged for 25 digs. Alee Winkler crunched 17 kills. Hope Cameron smoked 9 kills. Alee Winkler: 17 kills Clare was by far our most disappointing match of the night. They serve received very well and we we too passive on offense, always going for the tip rather than the kill and they are too athletic and quick

Houghton Lakes Hope Cameron was battling Harrisons Erica Heckman all night with ruthless intensity. Megan Taylor and Haley Sulla were relentlessly scurrying for hustle plays for their respective teams and Rieger is dynamite.

Rieger lofted 52 assists to lead the Cats.

Duggan ripped six kills and she lifted up 16 digs. More important is her relentless positive attitude and hustle.

Madison Winkler unleashed a couple of kill-shots that forced the mothers in the stands to cover the eyes of the younger siblings, it was that nasty and gruesome. Maddee rocked 18 kills, nine aces and seven digs. Her constant leadership, moxie and grit on the front-lines induces radiant confidence to form amongst all of her Lady Cats.

SAVANNAH DUGGAN
Lincoln doesnt get many minutes. She never poisons the team with negative vibes. Her defense has been terrific.

MACKENZIE LINCOLN
Mary has been playing with a subliminal, almost divine ability. She tallied 37 assist and countless hustle efforts.

MARY DEVINE

Nearest, Taylor Bondie, Mackenzie Lincoln and Olivia Sharp made plays for HHS.

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on picking up those tips to have that be your only plan. We were up 23-18 in game one and lost it and then came out horribly in the second game. We just felt off, replied HLs Coach Angie Dalak. Beaverton was a great game for us at the net. We had 24 block deflections at the net. Hailee Akin and Vanessa Wallace accounted for 17 of these--they were great up there together.Cassie Kuenzer had some huge digs in the back row, this was the most alive and on that Ive ever seen her defensively. The Clare Varsity Volleyball Team played a quad match at Houghton Lake on Monday the 1st of October. The Pioneers first conference match was against host Houghton Lake. In set one the Bobcats came out strong with good offense and defense and held a big lead at 24 to 17 over the Pioneers. Then Clares Erica Packard served up 9 straight points along with Clares offense and defense playing very well to come from behind to win set one 26 to 24. In set two Clare continued to play well both on offense and defense and defeated the Bobcats 25 to 17 to win match one. In match two of the night the Pioneers were to play Beaverton. In set one Clare started out strong to an early lead. But Beaverton came back on stong serving to defeat Clare in set one 25 to 18. In set two of the match again Clare started out with an early lead over Beaverton. Beaverton again

used strong serving to take the lead and defeat Clare 25 to 19. In Clares final match of the night they were matched up against Harrison. In set one Clare and Harrison both played close as neither team had more than a four point lead. The Pioneers came up with a spurt of offense and won set one 25 to 17 over the Hornets. In set two again both teams played very close against each other. Clare again came up with a late scoring rally and won the set and match 25 to 21. This makes the Pioneers confernce record at 5 wins and 2 loses. The Pioneers played well today serving up 18 aces, a serving percentage of 94.3 %, 82 kills on the day, and 128 digs overall. We had solid defense and good offense along with very good serving as a team today. Leading the Pioneers today were Erica Packard with 34 out of 34 serving with 4 aces, 20 points served, 18 kills, and 21 digs, Anna Giacomozzi with 13 for 16 serving with 3 aces, 5 points served, 33 kills, 1 block, and 29 digs, Courtney English with 19 out of 22 serving with 4 aces, 13 points served, 9 kills, 2 solo blocks, and 23 digs, Katelynn Smith with 27 out of 27 serving with 3 aces, 15 points served, 5 kills, 194 out of 200 setting with 60 assists, and 13 digs, Ashley Petree with 25 out of 25 serving with 3 aces, 13 points served, 5 kills, 1 solo block and 30 digs, Bailey Reger with 14 out of 16 serving with 1 ace, 5 points served, 2 kills, and 19 digs,

Sarah Garrett was nearly flawless with her defense and her service. Sarah displayed cat-like reflexes as she sprawled and lunged to record 31 staggering digs to eliminaate the oppositions points and momentum building. Not only does she make digs, she pops it up so its easy for Mary Rieger to handle. She had 5 aces from the service line to spark.
Beavertons Kayla Balzer exemplified why shes thought of as one of the elite JPC players.

Corinne Wezensky with 8 kills and 2 digs, Laura Walton with 1 kill and 4 digs, and Kendell Koch with 1 kill. Clare is a very good team with a lot of talent. The sets were a lot closer than the scores indicate. Clare has a lot of weapons. We played well enough on defense to make it tough for them to score. We served well enough to keep them out of system and out of their
ROSCO SHELLACKED HARRISON IN THREE SETS
Moffit was 22-22 serving, including two aces. Reagan smashed 13 kills and she rose up for four blocks to pace the Bucks.

offense, said Beavertons Coach Steve Evans. It was truly a treat as a journalist to observe all the different skill sets between the four schools. The vast arrary of different skills on display was fascinating. Kayla Balzer uncorked some viscous kill-shots that were staggering for me to observe, I cant imagine being the defensive
MERIDIAN DEFEATS GLADWIN IN THREE
Decker lunged for 21 digs, she was 5963 passing. Amanda was 16-17 serving and she tallied 5 aces to lead.

specialist in the back row trying to somehow bump the ball up in play. Houghton Lakes Maddee Winkler and Clares Italian foreign exchange student, Anna Giacomozzi are right there with Balzer as stalwart hitters who are so imposing and definitely in the same category of the upper echelon of the JPC. Clares Courtney, BHSs Janae Wolfe, HLs Mary Rieger and and HHSs Erica Heckman are superb.
HOUGHTON LAKE WHIPS FARWELL IN THREE
Cassie Kuenzer has been a consistent force as she efficiently does her role. Kuenzer had six digs and she ripped two aces.

BEAVERTON RALLIES TO BEAT CLARE IN FIVE SETS

Packard packed her hard hat and lunch pale as she compiled 16 service points, three aces, 10 kills and 29 digs.

ERICA PACKARD
The Coach Steve Evans led Beaverton Beaverette volleyballers traversed westward to tango with Coach Tom Hurdles Clare Pioneers came out much more focused and creamed BHS in the opener, 25-7. B eaverton responded with vengence as they beat Clare 2520 in set two. Clare avenged and won a barn-burner, 25-22. In

the fourth, Beaverton eeked out a win in a tremendous duel, 2523. Beaverton won the fifth and deciding match 15-11. Kayla Balzer was the player of the night for Beaverton in Coach Hurdles estimation. C oach Steve Evans didnt report before deadline. Erica Packard, Anna Giacomozzi, Courtney English and Bailey Reger were rock solid and productive. Katelynn Smith was 132-132 setting, she tossed 38 assists and she lunged for 15 digs. Smith was 13-13 serving including five points via service. Ashley Petree was 1515, serving, including 7 points via service. She also smashed 4 kills, she had two solo blocks and Petree sprawled out for 30 digs to keep Clare in contention for a win.

REAGAN MOFFIT
Roscommon dismantled Harrison last Wednesday, 25-15, 25-8 and 25-17. Reagan Moffit was 22-22 serving, including two aces. Logan Hutek had 14 assists. Morgan Romancky tallied nine kills and seven digs. Kalen Church was 9-9 serving, with three aces and eight digs. Katie Tozer ripped 11 kills and four blocks. Collectively the Bucks were 79-82 serving. Harrison was led by the wildly diverse skill set of Erica Heckman as she compiled three kills, six digs, two aces and one block. Taylor Bondie sprawled for two digs, she smashed four kills and four aces. Katelyn Sherrick had three aces. Olivia Sharp was 6-6 serving.

AMANDA DECKER
Meridian beat Gladwin in three sets, but they were all good games, 25-15, 25-17 and 25-21. This was one of the best matches weve played this year. The girls were really pumped up with it being homecoming week and knowing that Gladwin had been playing tough lately. That defensive performance by senior co-captain, Amanda Decker was one of the best Ive seen in 20 plus years of coaching. The girls really wanted it and it showed. We served and hit consistently, it was a fun night and a proud night for me seeing the girls play so well, said Meridians Coach Stephen Goff. Melissa Reeves had five aces. Kenzie Hall tallied 17 assists.

CASSIE KUENZER
The Bobcats swept Farwell 25-17, 25-11 and 25-15 Houghton Lakes Coach Angie Dalak said that Maddee Winkler was the stat sheet stuffer as she compiled six kills, four blocks, two block deflects, two digs and one ace. Mary Rieger tallied two aces, three kills, three blocks for kills and 22 assists. Hope Cameron crushed eight kills. Hailee Akin has elevated her play recently to give her Cats a boost, she compiled two kills and six block deflects. Sarah Garrett had 11 digs and four aces. Alee Winkler continues to contribute with power and pizzaz as she sliced in eight kills. Cassie Kuenzer had six digs.

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Clares Lee Cole, Seth Harton, and Mitch Greenacre controlled the trenches and blew open holes left wide open by the Bucks. Pictured here, Roscommons gritty Drake Lewandowski trying to take on a load of Pioneers.

In a game heavy with playoff implications, the Clare Pioneers rolled up north into the hardwoods of Roscommon and dealt the Bucks a serious blow to their post season aspirations in the 34-6 victory, pushing the Bucks to a 4-3 record overall. The game started out as a defensive struggle, with neither team able to gain much momentum. The Bucks fielded the opening possession, and Hunter Mires fired a couple of passes, but with Clares Taylor Meixner biting down on the fringes and penetrating deep into the pocket, Mires had little time to read through his progressions and find his targets and the Bucks were forced to punt.

PIONEERS BAG THE BUCKS

The Pioneers took control of the offensive duties and Coach Luplow doubled-down on front line advantage he maintains with the likes of Mitch Greeacre, Patrick Hughes and Seth Harton bellying up in the trench and simply pounded the Bucks in the gullies. With the Clare regime able to exert their will at point of contact, James Simon was able to penetrate through the first layer of the Roscommon defense and blow up field to give the Pioneers some early momentum. Simon peeled off a 20 yard scamper and then the Pioneers shifty quarterback Zack Tyler started pounding the holes and bullying up the middle for short little chunks of yards. With Clare mounting attack after attack with Spencer Harrell, Simon, and Tyler the Pioneers found themselves knocking on the door. The Bucks held contain and bottled up Harrell, as Drake Lewandowski stormed up and plugged a hole, but on the next play Clares Tyler exploited the gap in the middle and pounded in the initial score to give the Pioneers the 6-0 lead with 7:46 left in the 1st quarter. The Bucks looked as if they were set to counter-punch and make it a ball game. Alex Gojcaj returned the kick-off, juked past the first wave of marauding Pioneers, zigged and zagged past the second unit and flashed for a 60 yard return to set up the Roscommon gridders in prime real-estate. The Bucks were able to push the ball up next to the goal line with Caleb Jernigan and Brett Jobin hitting the holes, churning their legs, and pushing forward the piles. With less than 5 yards to go on 3rd down, Hunter Mires rolled out and slung a pass, but Clares Colton Punches cut across the grain and scooped up the pass to stop the Bucks from scoring. The St. Helen woodsmen quickly regrouped, reinvested their efforts on halting the run and forced the Pioneers to punt. The Bucks went to John Miller out of the shot-gun formation and started to gain some yardage following the up field blocking of Alex Gojcaj. The Bucks shifted gears and put Mires back up under center and Mires slung a dart to Miller who was mean-mugging up the sideline for a big burst. Then Mires sailed a pass perfectly to Gojcaj who was steaming across the middle and churned up field for the first down. Approaching the land of milk and honey, the Bucks looked primed to knot the game up and re-establish the momentum of the game. The Bucks ran a couple of plays up the middle, but with Joe McGuire and Lee Cole crashing down, that door was marked No Exit. Then on 4th down, Clares Taylor Meixner shredded a defender and clamped down in the Bucks backfield for the turnover on downs and gave the Pioneers the ball back but more importantly, held Roscommon from lighting up the scoreboard. The Pioneers reclaimed the pigskin and kept shoveling coal into the pain-train. James Simon spun and churned for a 10 yard bang, then went barreling in for another 4 yards, then another 2 yards and the Bucks started to make some
Mitch Tyler played rugged defense, leading the Bucks with 12 tackles despite the loss.

MITCH TYLER
Tyler made all the right moves at all the right times, slicing through the meat of the Bucks defense for 3 TDs and tossing in 2 more through the air.

ZACK TYLER
adjustments and finally had put the Pioneers in a do-or-die situation. Then on 4th down, Clare pounded the rock between the guards and hammered in the first down to set up shop on the 8 yard line with 1:21 left in the half. Clare ran a couple of series to Harrell to soften the Bucks blitzkrieg, then Zack Tyler saddled up on the thick and gnarled Seth Harton and rode the big horse to the promised land to put the Pioneers up top 12-0. Clare ran a fade to Hunter Ruby in the corner of the end-zone and Tyler hoisted a soft floating teardrop to allow Ruby to sprawl out in the corner, tuck the ball in while dragging his feet across the back end to complete the two point conversion and make it a 14-0 game. The Bucks were bleeding, but nothing that required medical attention. But when Ruby lashed out on the kick-off and slammed in a one-timer line-drive and the Clare boys recovered, the small wound turned into a gapping hole and Pioneers went right for the jugular with 22.2 seconds left on the clock. Right out of the box Tyler flung a dart to Colton Punches for a
CONTINUED ON P.12

Pictured left, Clares Colton Punches flashing down the sidelines on a 35 yard strike from Zack Tyler late in the first half. Punches slashed up field and out paced Roscommons Brett Jobin for the score.

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Zoom
Clares Spencer Harrell has stepped his game up with the mounting injuries to the runningbacks. Harrell has that raw ability to combine speed and power to keep the defenses off balanced and is punishing defensive player.

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25 yard strike, but the sky rained down yellow flags and the Bucks had avoided a complete defensive meltdown. Clare was forced to eat the yardage and start back over. It didnt matter. Coach Luplow went right back to Punches, this time it was a 35 yard romp along the edge to put the Pioneers up 20-0 and with Logan Emery pumping in the extra point, the Pioneers were up a healthy 21-0 at the half. In the course of just over a minute, the Bucks were looking at heading into the end-zone down only 6 points of separation. But then next thing the St. Helen faithful knew, they were glazed over and despondent standing in line for warm beverages down by three scores. The Pioneers added more to the scoreboard as the Bucks opted to try the on-side kick out of the break. Clares man-hammer Mitch Greenacre, cleanly fielded the ball and showed flashes of a white Christian Okoye as he bull-dozed and rumbled up field, lambasted a few would be tacklers before eventually being strung out along the sidelines by a full herd of Roscommon Bucks. It was a wildly bizarre event, yet totally entertaining and ruthless in many ways. With Greenacre taking the GreenMachine into the red-zone, the Pioneers were primed to yoke-out again and flash the lights on the

Above, Clares long armed Taylor Meixner muscling his way through another double-team for the slam-crash in the Bucks backfield. Meixners ability to draw doubleteams and blast the pocket has earned the recognition of being one of the top defensive forces in the league. Pictured right, Clares Mitch Greenacre rolling up field after an on-side kick. Greenacre mashed up field, pumping his wheels and planting Bucks into the ground. When questioned after the game how it felt to return the kick, Greenacre responded with blood rolling down the side of his head, looking completely glazed over in madness: We are getting ready for the playoffs.

Clares Patrick Hughes was an absolute stump.

989-386-4116

PATRICK HUGHES - CLARE

board. Harrell and Tyler continued to hammer through the holes, but then the Bucks showed some resolve and put Clare into a 4th and 4 conundrum. Then the Buckss Jamie Hammond exploded through the gap and jammed Harrell in the backfield for the turnover on downs. With the spark of swagger from just denying the Pioneers the gravy, Mires found Miller again for a 42 yard pass. Jobin and Jernigan tag-teamed the running duties and pushed the Bucks to brink of making it a game. But again, Clares Logan Emery made a couple of milkcurdling blows from his linebacker slot to keep the Bucks of the board. A series of plays later, Tyler converted to Ruby on a 43 yard bomb and Emery split the up rights to put the Pioneers up 27-0. Zack Tyler scored one more time for the Pioneers early in the 4th quarter on a 20 yard sprint and Emery again polished off the extra point attempt to make it a 34-0 game.

Rosco scored late on a series of running plays by Jobin and Jernigan, but it was mostly symbolic as the Pioneers were shuffling in and out their second unit and allowing as many guys as possible to savor and relish the moment of victory. Clares Zack Tyler paced the Pioneers with 52 yards on the ground on 15 carries and 3 TDs and was 4 of 6 through the air for 104 yards and 2 scores. Punches caught 3 passes for 61 yards and a score, while Hunter Ruby had the other 43 yard catch and touchdown. James Simon amased 53 yards on the ground, most of which game in the start of the game on 7 carries and Chris Dysinger picked up 33 yards in the second half for the Pioneers. Joe McGuire led the Pioneerss defense with 14 tackles, while Logan Emery added 13 and an interception. Colton Punches also

had an interception. Emery came up big for us tonight on defense as well as making the point after attempts, so that was big. We converted on 4th situations and Ruby made some nice catches, so those were all positives on the night. I thought our defense was really outstanding, said Clares Kelly Luplow. The Bucks were led by Brett Jobin on 20 attempts for 96 yards and 1 touchdown while Caleb Jernigan rolled for 58 yards on 6 attempts. Mires was 4-11 passing for 77 yards and 2 interceptions. Mitch Tyler led the Bucks in tackles with 12 with Matt Holtcamp adding 8. Clare is a good program and they simply out played us tonight. We had our opportunities, but we couldnt convert. We are improving, and as a coaching staff, we will continue to improve and prepare for next week, said Roscommons Coach Holloway.

Clares Logan Emery stepped up and played the role of the supreme warlord, planting guys into the ground like an undertaker with brute force, yet showing supreme skills by booting in the extra points. He also had an interception to go with his 13 tackles. He was a show-stopping thrilla.

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HARRISON OUTLASTS THE CATS, RINGS BELL

HARRISON - Neither one of these teams committed a turnover Friday night. You never would have imagined that these two gridder squads were at the lower end of the JPC standings after witnessing the bone-jarrring gang tackles, the spin blasting runs and the zealous enthusiasm in which Harrison and Houghton Lake played with in the wild wild west shootout donnybrook. Harrison prevailed on Homecoming night, in wildly thrilling fashion, 53-45 over the Bobcats of Houghton Lake. On 4th and 8, Harrisons qb, Jake Stuhr, pump faked, then slung a flare pass to Cody Rodgers out of the backfield. Rodgers caught, made a Bobcat miss and muscled his way for a 12 yard gain to move the chains. Walraven pounded for five yards, then Stuhr bootlegged right and scurried for 13 yards. This set Walraven up for a one yard touchdown plunge. Cody Rodgers boomed the extra point kick to give HHS a 7-0 lead. Houghton Lakes Tyler Sluck ran for six yards to move the chains. Harrison was off-sides, Sluck rushed for nine more and HL had a drive cooking. Dalton Bailey checked in at qb for HL and rolled right, fired a spiral to Harrison Fulco for a 10 yard completion. Nate Hudson ran for 11 yards to the HHS 10. Then a penalty, a fumble and an incompletion forced a fourth down. Dull threw to the corner of the endzone and Harrison was whistled for pass interference. HL had a first and goal, a couple plays later Bailey churned his way in on a qb draw for a TD, Dustin Kinzer booted the extra point and it was knotted up at 7-7.
Randy made an incredible 38 yard catch on 4th and 18. Then he broke open and went down to catch a 12 yard TD pass just before the half.

RANDY JOHNSON

Stuhr, Rodgers and Ryan Johnson broke off first down runs. Brooks Leonard slashed for five yards to the one yardline. Then Rodgers sliced across the goal-line. Walraven blasted in the two point conversion to give Harrison a 15-7 lead. After Nate Lipovsky pounced on HL in the backfield for a short loss on 3rd and 1, Coach Fuller called a fake punt. Sluck sold it, the up man, Bailey took the snap and like a wrecking ball he picked up eight yards to gain the first down. Then Jared Dull through a 16 yard pass to Matt Campbell who made a spectacular one-handed catch. Then Dull fired an out for a seven yard TD reception to Tyler Kopischka. Sluck was stuffed on the two-point, 15-13 was the score. Stuhr ran for 11 yards, then he threw a pass to Randy Johnson. Bailey sacked Stuhr, setting up a 4th and 18. At about mid-field HHS decided to go for it. Stuhr rolled left, threw across his body to Randy Johnson again, who closed

on the ball fantastically, caught, kept his feet in bounds for a 38 yard gain. This set up a 12 yard TD pass to Johnson from Stuhr. Then Stuhr burst to the edge and put in the two pointer to give Harrison a 2313 lead at the intermission. Dull came out threw a pass to Hudson and to Campbell. Then Dull pitched to Hudson for nine yards. Bailey did the rest for another QB sneak TD, no extra point, score was 23-19. Ryan Johnson ran ruggedly to set up Walraven for a 24 yard TD gallop. Rodgers ran in the two point, 31-19 Hornets. Dull responded by throwing a seven yard TD to Campbell, then threw to Hudson for two, 31-27 to end the third stanza. Stuhr, Walraven and Johnson rolled down the field to set up Rodgers for a five yard TD, Stuhr rushed in the two, 39-27 HHS. Harrison then stymied HL on 4th and 1. Ryan Johnson went 40 yards to pay dirt on the next play,

Lipovsky was thumping Cats, he had 9 statement tackles.

800-610-3780
H-town led, 46-27. Dull then rifled bullets to Campbell for 16 and Sluck for 20 yards, then another nine yard pass to Campbell inside the 10. Bailey busted in another qb sneak TD, to make it a 46-33 game. Stuhr ran for 22 yards, then Rodgers ripped off a 22 yard TD run, 53-33. Tucker Klatt threw a TD pass to Campbell, made it 53-39. Bobcats recovered the onside kick. Hudson rushed for 25 yards, then he broke off a 22 yard TD run, 5345, extra point attempt was no good. Harrison salted the game away and ever yone was happy on homecoming night in Harrison. Ryan Hubbard played like a beast on the Harrison defensive line. Harrison Fulco, Dustin Kinzer, Jon Vaughn and David Duncan

NATE LIPOVSKY - HARRISON

Cody Rodgers amassed 65 rugged yards rushing on 12 carries. He caught a first down pass to set up the initial TD. Rodgers played tough run support in the secondary and he blanketed Bobcat receivers. Rodgers also made two extra point kicks.

Left, Harrisons gritty and explosive running back, Ryan Johnson played like a warlord all night. He talleid 107 yards rushing on just nine carries. He was destructive on defense and he broke the Bobcats back with a 40 yard touchdown gallop late. Johnson is shown her bursting through a small crease, blasting over a would be tackler, spinning loose and bulldozing for a couple more to carve Houghton Lake up for 11 more yards of real-estate.

all played like warlords for the Bobcats. Jake Walraven amassed 87 yards rushing on 16 carries and he scored two touchdowns. Ryan Johnson ran like a warlord as he tallied 107 yards rushing on nine carries. Cody Rodgers compiled 65 yards rushing and three Tds. Nate Lipovsky led the Hornets defense with nine bruising tackles. Just a shootout, we had just enough stops defensively. We knew Houghton Lake had some play-makers, theyd played well. Im really proud how much weve improved the past three weeks especially. Nate Hudson rushed for 219 yards via 20 carries and he had two Tds. HLs QB, Jared Dull played like a man. Dull was 11-20 for 106 yards
CONTINUED ON P.14

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JACK PINE TRIBUNE

Monday, October 8, 2012

passing. Dull also tackled with ferocity from his safety spot on defense. Dalton Bailey came in short yardage situations and he earned three touchdowns. Bailey was a dog beast on defense as well. Tyler Sluck ran for 35 yards on 10 carries and he caught four passes for 46 yards via the aerial assault. HLs Matt Campbell is emerging into one of the best wide receivers and defensive backs in the JPC. He features great hands and he plays very physical with tremendous instincts. Tyler Kopischka was wrecking Hornets as he led HL with 11 tackles. Our offense is starting to click, we just need the defense to tighten up. I was very impressed with Harrison collectively and especially Jake Walraven on both sides of the ball, said HLs Coach John Fuller.

Wow, what a game. Just a wild shootout, lots of big plays. Both teams fought hard. We knew they had some play-makers. Theyre improving and theyre better than their record. At Beaverton, against Clare and now tonight weve played much better, a little better each night.

Nate Hudson was a man possessed Friday. He blitzed through the first layer and was cutting in the 2nd level before Harrison knew what was happening. Hudson talleid 219 yards rushing on 20 carries and he had a couple touchdowns.

LORI WARE Executive Director

989-539-8870

- Coach Fuller

JUNIOR VARSITY

Clares Coach Dan Haggart unloaded his band of grid-iron warlords and mauled the Bucks in a convincing 49-0 victory. Haggart mixed up the running attack by deploying four different backs to rock-n-sock the front lines and pound five touchdowns on the ground. Once again, we got out to a fast start and put Roscommon on their heels. Our defense and special teams really did an outstanding job of giving us good field position all night., said Coach Haggart. Offensively, we controlled the line of scrimmage and opened up holes for our backs to run through. It was another great team effort. Will Boberg paced the Pioneers in yardage, compiling 84 yards on only 6 carries and punching in a touchdown. Zack Betzer also gnashed up field for 58 yards and a score on a 7 attempts. Fleet of foot, the Pioneers fundamentally sound quarterback Ryan Seiter flashed for a pair of touchdowns while rolling in 28 yards on the g round.Ty ler D ysinger a ls o scored for the Pioneers. Joe Huston was particularly electric for the Clare regime, returning a pair of punt returns for touchdowns (60 and 45 yards). We put a lot of work into our special teams and that paid off tonight with 2 punt returns for touchdowns. They are what really broke the game open for us, said Haggart on Hustons outburst. Seiterslung a pair of passes for 50 yards, connecting once to Cole for 30 yards and another Zinser for 20. 2 for 5 50 yds The Pioneers defense was stingy yet again, despite not having their big, nasty interior lineman Tyler Gillespie putting the smash on. Chuck Zinser led the defense with 7 tackles and a sack. Brenden Hensley was his usual dominant self, tallying 7 take downs and

JR. PIONEERS BAG BUCKS

Stuhr ran for 76 timely yards and he threw for 56 yards, 1 td, 1, 2 point conv.

989-539-8870

JACOB STUHR - HARRISON

Harrisons Cody Rodgers and Jacob Stuhr were helping run support and locking down Cat receivers all night, both are two-way studs.

applying pressure in the back champs at the JV level. field. Ben Bates had 5 tackles. GLADWIN FRESHMAN T h e t a l e nt l a d e n G l a d w i n JV football team beat Farwell Thursday 40-6, exploiting their over whelming depth at their skilled positions. Our kids played s olid through out the game, said Gladwins Eric Morgan. The Gs offensive assault was anchored by the speedy and intuitive Charlie Allen. On the ground Charlie A l l e n ha d 8 c ar r i e s for 1 1 3 yards to help keep the Eagles d e f e n s e i n d i s a r r a y. Wi t h so many options to run, the g ame op e ne d up for sup e rsophomore to pick his lanes and keep the Far well natives guessing. Richie Mathis had 7 carries for 113 yards and 2 TDs to go along with Kyle Bigelow who had 6 carries for 47 yards. O f f e n s i v e C o a c h Ti m Fo o r allowed ever ybody on the dance floor to bust a move. Jake Shell had 7 carries for 23 yards and 2 TDs and Jacob Clayton had 3 carries for 15 yards. Richie Mat his was 2 of 8 passing for 68 yards and a TD, Kyle Bigelow was 2 of 2 passing for 48 yardsa TD and a2pt. conversion to Jake Shell. Oshay Lewis had 3 catches for 114 yards and 2 TDs. Richie Mathis made good on 2 extra points. Gladwins defensive leaders w e re Tr i s t a n M it c h e l l w it h 13 tackles, Jake Shell had 10 tackles, Richie Mathis had 9 tackles, Brad Gallagher, Dylan Brooks and Blake Roggow all h a d 7 t a c k l e s e a c h . O s h ay Lewis, Shawn Greer and Kasey Cameron all had 5 tackles. Also playing well on defens e were Jare d B e e cher and Nate Craig with 4 tackles each. The JVs are now 5-11 on the season and 4-0-1 in the conference. Gladwin JVs ho st Har r i s on w h i ch w i l l essentially determine the JPC
JUNIOR G-MEN CRAMYOKE ON EAGLES

Gladwin takes on Chippewa The Beavers defense was led by Hills on Thursday at 4:30. Come Clay Werth and Ray Brubaker with 7 tackles, while Ryan Duvall DEFEAT THE OSCODA OWLS JV out and cheer on the team. Known as one of the areas BEAVERS EEK OUT WIN OVER had an interception. THE MUSTANGS GLADWIN 8TH GRADERS premier p ost players in the CONTINUE TO IMPRESS surrounding mens basketball B e a v e r t o ns C o a c h A a r o n leagues, Coach Kent Allen has Wentworth led his young Beavers Gladwins 8th grade group have been applying his same rugged to a k no ck - d ow n , d r ag - out thus far maintained their stature and blue collar work ethic into his brawl victory over the Meridian as the alpha-dogs in the league Mustangs 8-6. with their 28-0 victory over the freshman team. This young Gladwin crew of In a defensive battle, it was Reed City Coyotes. freshman week in and week out Meridian that took advantage The usual suspects contributed have to lock up horns with the first in the stalemate. The Beavers in the mauling. Ethan Goodwin surrounding areas JV teams. coughed up the moneyball and rumbled for 30 yards to help the Rather than cowering to their the Mustangs pounded the ball in Gs maintain control of the tempo older counterparts, this freshman just before the half to take the 6-0 of the game. Javan Medema had a 6 yard team has been punching the lead at the break. Beavertons offensive surges were scoring burst. Drake Muma had opposing schools JV programs more times than not negated by a pair of touchdowns, one passing right in the bread basket. and one on the ground. Muma The Gladwin freshman football penalties. team took the long bus ride to But their defense set the tone of connected on a 35 yard pass to Oscoda and came away with an the game, as the Beavers pinched his speedy partner in crime Dylan impressive 41-0 victory over the down on the Sanford gridders McDonald on a 35 yard strike and in their own end-zone to record Muma dialed up his own number Oscoda JV team. Terrance Trice got the Gs on the safety and make it a 6-2 game on a 3 yard touchdown splash. Zach Schilling was lights out the scoreboard first with a 19 with 8:36 left in the 3rd. yard touchdown reception from Beavertons Russell Haney gave on defense, recording 15 tackles Andrew Redman. Drew Cantrell the Beavers the lead mid-way on the night, blocking a punt kicked his first of 3 extra points. through the third when he found and then picking it up to take Cantrell then went 88 yards a little wiggle room, squeezed the payload to the bank and the on a nice run around the end through a hole and knifed up score. Dan Stepaniak also added and converted the kick to give field 38 yards to light up the score 8 tackles for the Gs defense. board and give the Ross Lake Gladwin an early 14-0 lead. After a nice defensive stop, boys the 8-6 lead. Terrance Trice scored from 7 Beavertons defense continued to yards out and the extra point kick squeeze down on the Mustangs from Cantrell made it 21-0. John and rode out the game. Mantei scored before halftime on D e f e n s i v e l y w e p l a y e d a 55 yard TD run to give Gladwin extremely well again. We flew to a 27-0 lead into the half. In the the ball. Offensively we moved 2nd half, Trice scored on a 56 yard the ball well but had over 100 TD and Redman scored on a 16 yards in penalties, said Coach yard TD run. After the two point Wentworth. We are fortunate to conversion pass from Cantrell to pull this game out. Give the kids LeRoy Bouck to give Gladwin a credit they stepped up when they 41-0 lead, the running clock was needed to and got the job done. in effect for the majority of the B e a v e r t o ns S e t h G e r o w was as fundamental as usual, 4th quarter. Leading rushers for Gladwin orchestrating the passing attack were Drew Cantrell with 9 carries going 8-15 for 40 yards. His for 175 yards, John Mantei with primary target Yiannis Sabonis 8 for 74, Terrance Trice with 3 slopped up 4 catches for 18 yards. Mathis went wild again for the for 68, Redman with 7 for 31 and The double-headed dog-beast of Flying Gs, slashing around the Zack McCully with 2 carries for Russell Haney and Joey Couture field like a cat on fire, compiling paced the movement on the 7 yards. 113 yards and 2 touchdowns on Leading Tacklers were Cantrell ground. Haney mashed for 10 the ground. Mathis was also a with 13, Mantei with 10, Tyler carries compiling 106 yards and a buzzsaw on the defensive end, Jones with 8 tackles and Logan touchdown. His partner in crime, recording 9 tackles to help keep the Gs atop the JPC JV standings. Reed, Owen Ritchie and Matt Joey Couture added 11 carries for 67 yards. Brust with 7 tackles each.

Monday, October 8, 2012

JACK PINE TRIBUNE

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Harrisons signal caller, former college football player, Mike Petrongelli has probably got his Hornets to improve more than any other team from the initial game until now. He never stopped coaching.

COMETS SEARCHING FOR MOJO

The Comets are a young team trying to find their swagger after taking a loss to Vestaburg which now puts them at 4-3, battling for their playoff lives. Vestaburg toppled the Comets 26-14, taking a 20-0 lead out of the gates. The Coments offensive couldnt capitalize in key situations. The Comet amassed a load of yards as Tim Anderson tacked on 111 yards on 19 carries and Adam Streamlow passed for 172 yards including a touchdown pass to Chris Lovejoy in the third quarter. Lovejoy was a key target in the game for the Comets, accumulating nine receptions for 140 yards. R eno Fi ke had 11 t ack les. Tim Anderson had the other touchdown for the Comets.
BEAVERTONS COMEBACK SACKED BY GARNER

The Mustangs held the lead and control the game, but found themselves holding their breath late in the 4th quarter as the Beavers were looking to tie the game up at 24 a piece. But Meridians grade-A linebacker Joe Garner pancaked Beavertons Scotty Longstreth in the back field on a 4th and goal situation to preserve the 24-16 victory for the Mustangs. The Mustangs snatched the initial lead with Christian Petre scampering 5 yards to pay-dirt. Beaverton responded in kind, then Dan Burns of Meridian sloshed a 32 yard field goal to put the Mustangs up 10-8 heading into half-time. The game remained scoreless into the 4th quarter when the Mustangs put themselves up 24 to 8 off another Petree run a Josh Gillette interception return for a touchdodwn. But Beaverton kept their hopes alive when Aiden ORourke returned the kick-off 95 yards to pay dirt. Beaverton kicked the on-

side kick and blasted the ball down field to put themselves in a position to tie the game up. But Meridians defense held strong, Garner made his big man moves and pentrated into Beavertons backfield on 4th down to end the game. It was a wild game thats for sure, said Meridians Keith Schulte. We were up 24-8 and next thing we knew, were making a goal-line stand to win it. C h r i st i an Pe t re p a c e d t h e Mustangs attack with 86 yards and 13 carries and passed the ball 94 yards on 8 of 17 passing. Kevin Scheibert led the Mustangs in receiving with 3 catches for 23 yards. Mitch Kucharek led the Mustangs in tackles with 14 and tallied 2 sacs. Beavertons Scotty Longstreth went 11~22 for175 yds and one touchdown and was 2 for 2 on 2-point conversions. Brad McDonald had 3 rec for 63 yards. Aidan orourke 1 rec for 23 yds. Austin Schneider led

Beaverton with 10 tackles and a sack.

FENNELL AND HIT MOB CRUSH FARWELL

Gladwin soared over to Surrey Township to collide with the Eagles of Farwell in what had the makings of a decent ball-game. The Flying Gs flexed on FHS with relative ease and recorded the 34-7 triumph. Gladwins stalwart quarterback, Landon Grove again facilitated the ebb and flow for the G-men. Grove tallied 72 rushing yards on 14 carries. He was 6-14 passing for 114 yards. Meachy Trice had four carries for 98 yards rushing. Stephen Esiline tallied 67 yards rushing via nine carries. Lucas Schwager caught three passes for 79 yards. Butch Fennell mashed for 12 tackles. Josh Dimond, Lewi Janiga and Josh Wilcox all had seven tackles. The Eagles speed slasher, Keegan Rohdy amassed 172 yards rushing on 19 carries. Ryan Simmons led Farwell with 14 tackles.

Brandon Wackerle read Kris Lamarands eyes and intercepted the Eagles pass play to jolt the Flying Gs. Wackerles significance goes much deeper. Hes a leader on the field, in the locker-room and everyday in practice for Coach Shattuck.

JR HARRISON HORNETS RUN WILD ON THE SHORES OF HOUGHTON LAKE

By Cody ORourke The Harrison Hornets deployed a seemingly endless arsenal of runningbacks on the field, each one going churning and crashing up the meat of the Bobcats interior or speed-blitzing around the fringes to roll the Bobcats 47-8 Thursday night in Houghton Lake. The Hornets impressively started of the game marching down field at will with Justice Walraven, Josh Wilson, and Zach Nowland all going for big gashes. Then the wheels came off. Thomas Nunnally scampered and then s camp ered s ome more and eventually was tackled for a huge loss and found themselves in a seemingly hopeless 3rd and 41 situation. Strangely enough, the Hornets actually had a 3rd and 41 play specifically designed for dire circumstances, and Nunnally executed to perfection rolling out of the pocket and sending a seed to a streaking Gavin Rhodes and the Leota boys struck first blood to take the 6-0 lead at the 8:35 mark in the first quarter. T he B ob c at s we nt on t he offensive, using their big, thick and imposing runningback Cody Rodreguez to pound the ball in the interior and sprinkled in some off-tackle plays for the shifty and gritty Payton Dull. Dull and Rodreguez worked in tandem to keep the Hornets on their heals, but eventually the Harrison front line bit down, loaded up the box and halted the Prudenville offensive attack. The Hornets fired right back, this time instead of rumbling down the field in 7 and 8 yard chunks at a time, Nowland switched on the turbo-booster, blasted through a

Pictured top left, Harrisons Zach Nowland blasting off another long run. Above left, Harrisons Dominic Larman with a sack. Above, the Bobcats Kurt Knoll handing off to Payton Dull. Dull looks to splash up field riding the block of big Cody Rodreguez.

Not since the days when Cain and Able were playing smashmouth football in Mesopotamia has a man totaled 214 yards on 4 carries while scoring 3 touchdowns. Nowlands ability to carve through defenses has given every man, women, and child in Dodge City something to cheer for.

tackle, juked through collapsing gauntlet of would be tacklers and flashed 80 yards to the land of milk and honey to give Hamilton Township boys the 12-0 lead. Rhodes made good on the two point conversion to make it a 14-0 ball game. Kurt Knoll improvised for the Bobcats, throwing a couple of crisp spirals to his receivers, but with Justice Walraven and Zach Nowland boomeranging in the secondary and dropping bombs on the Bobcats receiving core, Houghton Lake was forced to punt again early in the second quarter. The Hornets wasted no time going straight for the jugular. Nunnally dropped back to pass,

the Bobcats interior pierced through pocket and sent a massive wave of defensivemen in hot pursuit. Nunnally cut back across the grain, looked deep down field for an open receiver but with nothing showing, Nunnally followed a blocker, shook right, danced left, wiggled out of a tackle and flurried 50 yards to pay-dirt and then re-dailed up his own number on the 2-point conversion to put the Harrison regime up 22-0. Again, the Bobcats took to the air, Knoll either was unable to find open receivers or was forced to muscle up and through front lines of the Harrison defense for short gains and the Bobcats were forced to punt.

Nunnally received the kickoff to put the Hornets in good field position, but the Bobcats Rodreguez and Logan Dunsmore dropped the sledge hammer and negated the Hornets momentum. Just before the half was about to expire, the Hornets reclaimed possession of the pig-skin and Kenny Haskell and Dominic Larman went on a couple of nice runs to set up a 22 yard strike from Nunnally to Trenton Searight to make it a 28-0 nothing game in favor of Harrison at the break. The Bobcats started out in electric fashion in the second half, as the ultra-athletic Kurt Knoll trotted back the kickoff 90 yards to put the Bobcats on the

board then Knoll slung a dart to Anthony Burtis on a quick-out to convert on the point after and make it a 28-8 ball game. But that is as far as the Bobcats could go and the Harrison battalion continued to pump points on the board in the 47-8 lop-sided victory. Harrisons was paced by Zack Nowland ran the ball only 4 times for 214 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas Nunnally had 101 yards on 7 carries. Kenny Haskell had 67 yards on four carries. 11 hornets carried the ball racking up 474 ground yards. Nunnally also passed for 76 yards and two touchdowns. A 54 yarder to Gavin Rhodes and a 22 yarder to Trenton Searight.

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rushing the ball, Carmoney said hed just try and make sure he got blocked. Punches was a senior leader in the Pioneer backfield in the fall of 1988. Craig said hed rather tackle anyone, other than Punches in the league. Graig was a terrific teammate, hed do anything for the team. Carmoney was very fast and he had fantastic hands. I remember getting off the bus at Sanford for the Meridian game, Craig had forgot his hip pads and one of the guys who didnt play very much, gladly gave his pads to Craig so he had all the proper pads. I remember Craig putting some solid hits on me in practice, he was tough, commented Carmoneys teammate, Jeff Punches. Craig couldnt pinpoint just how many interceptions he had his junior year, but he was among the top of the leaderboard for interceptions in t he JPC. C ar mone y was very satisfied with his two picks against a skilled Roscommon team as he locked up the best receiver in the area, Mark Church. Carmoney felt that Mark Church was the best overall athlete in the league at the time and they were fierce three-sport athlete rivals, who had great mutual respect for each other. Carmoney rant and raved on how tough of a linebacker Matt B e l l w a s a n d h e mentioned Jim Haupt being superb. In a paddling of Harrison, Carmoney caught a 14 yard touchdown pass from VanBuskirk to draw first blood of the second half and vanquished any thought of a Hornet rally. Later Carmoney slashed for an 11 yard run to cement the victory. Clare finished with a solid 6-3 record in the fall of 88. They defeated everybody on their slate except Shepherd, Farwell and Houghton Lake. Carmoney reiderated over and over the significance of how strongly Coach Kelly Luplow believed in mental preparation. Craig said that each day in practice, the team was taught and told to visualize their assignment on each play, then review in their mind the counter options if a defense reacted in a certain manner to put a wrench in their plans. Luplow would remind his ballers that the game happened too fast not to mentally prepare prior. Carmoney said that CHS would show up to the football field before their opponents and have a mental preparation segment. Carmoney said that Clare lost a tough opener , 238, to Shepherd. Craig had hyperextended his knee toward the end of the game, it was sore but didnt seem to be severely injured. The next mor ning he cou ldnt move his leg, early that morning, Coach Luplow was knocking on the Carmoneys front door, he was very concerned with his star receivers leg. Craig went on to discuss how Coach Luplow sincerely cares for his players well-being. Craig had to miss a couple practices the next week, then he finally felt good enough to get in one full, rigorous practice before playing the big class B school, OvidElsie.

Clares quarterback, Rob VanBuskirk, rode out the fake to elite running back, Kenny Garigilio, rolled out after play action and slung a dart to a streaking Carmoney who snared the pivotal touchdown pass to lift the Pioneers to the 13-6 victory over the Marauders. Carmoney then re-called a somber memor y of a Beaverton defensive lineman who ripped the ball away from a Pioneer, the following week and ran it back to pay dirt to grant the Beavers a win over Clare, 22-15. C r ai g ant c ip at e d an d snatched three interceptions

tight, sound coverage, the Clare sidelines went biserk on the phantom interfence call, this awarded Coleman a fresh set of downs. Finally on 4th down they plunged in for the go ahead score. It took Coleman eight plays, including a questionable pass interference call to score and take the lead, to secure the 22-20 rivalry victory. Carmoney and Colemans Aaron Toth and Dan Ware were the JPCs only three All-State recipients at the conclusion of the grid-iron season. Carmoney caught 34 passes for 597 yards and nine touchdowns that final year.

extremely coachable, he would have ran through a wall for me, just a heck of a good kid, exclaimed Clares fabled football coach, Kelly Luplow. You could tell that Craig would be successful at whatever he did. Rob could throw it across the street and Craig would chase it down and catch it. Carmoney said that everyone in the JPC during the late 1980s featured a talented basketball team, the cager standings were very tight with Beaverton and Roscommon leading the upper tier of the league. Clare was about .500 and

basketball season at Clare High. Craig was money from the floor that night as he poured in 29 points in Clares 62-58 triumph against Harrison. Craig netted 13 points in the third stanza and he was a surehanded, trusty facilitator in the clutch, as he helped efficiently close the game out in the wanning moments. In the late 80s and early 90s especially, the Coleman/ Clare rivalry was as intense as any game around. In district basketball action, Carmoney, the floor-general, not only played rugged defense the entire length of

Top, savvy point guard, floor conductor, Clares Craig Carmoney directs the Pioneers offensive alignment, while fending off Colemans pesky Dan Hall. Carmoney was a complete basketball player aiding his Pioneers as a prolific scorer, an assist man, a relentless hustler and theif on defense. Far left, Carmoney glows with Pioneer pride. Craig batted over .400 as a sophomore on Evarts varsity baseball team who was ousted by Clare, little did he know at the time that hed be performing for CHSs Coach Marc Yenkel the following spring. Left, Craig breaks open via a precise pass route, catches the ball with two hands, turns to burst upfield in a victory securing touchdown reception against the Bobcats of Houghton Lake. Craig was a FirstTeam All-State wide receiver.

in a 16-8 triumph over Houghton Lake, he finished w it h f ive pi ck s i n h i s swan song. Clare crushed Harrison 34-6 and whipped Meridian, 40-6, in the following two weeks. Versus the Mustangs, Craig caught eight receptions for 118 yards and two TDs. Then Clare collided with their neighbors to the east, the Comets of Coleman. Carmoney had a fabulous game compi ling s e ven receptions for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Late in the game, Coleman completed a long pass. They earned a first and goal. Clare stiffened and stuffed Coleman on three straight runs. On 4th down, Craig was whistled for pass interference, Carmoney thought he honestly played

T h e n e x t w e e k C l are blanked Farwell, 20-0. Then in the season finally they crunched Rosco 34-14. Carmoney enjoyed getting the best of talent laden Mark Church again and being able to compete against his cousin, Tom Rohdy. Craig said that rugged, Cody Zinser led this Pioneer gridder squad with an astounding 170 tackles. Carmoney said that Zinser had been hardened from participating in rodeos and he suffered a concussion almost every game, he was a punishing tackler. I remember vividly when his parents came to practice and told me that they were transferring in their two boys to Clare Public Schools. Craig was

each of Carmoneys varsity Pioneer cager campaigns finished with a disheartening district loses to Farwell, Jeremy Ferman and Coach Dave Luther. B r a d Hu m p h r e y a n d Chris Jones were standout Pioneer ballplayers. As were Jason Phillips and Rob VanBuskirk. Craig averaged about 18 ppg, he and Humprey garnered allleague honors. Craig was so quick on offense and defense, he was a great player or both ends of the court. Carmoney also seperated from the pack because he was such a smart basketball player, said former hardwood warrior teammate, Brad Humphrey. Craig forged the Pioneers over Harrison during the infant stages of his junior

the floor, he scored 26 points including five free throws in the final 18 seconds of the contest to lead Clare over Coleman. The Comets were down by 10 with 1:32 left in the game and ferociously stormed back, but the calm, unflappable composure of Carmoney allowed Craig to drive in the daggers with the clutch foul shots. Early in his senior basketball season, Craig was moved from point guard to the two guard. Carmoney was the type of player who reveled with the ball in his hands, orchestrating the offense and assisting his squad. Craigs stats dropped that year, but he still tallied 15.5 ppg, 3.5 apg and 2 spg. Carmoney remembered draining a triple, coming

down and spraining his ankle severely at Beaverton. The three pulled the Pioneers to within one, but they couldnt overtake the Beavers. Craig had to miss the next three games. According to Craig, Clares signature victory in his senior season was upending powerhouse, Jason Kaniszewski, Mark Church and the Rosco Bucks, 6259. Center Brad Humphrey (captain) led a balanced Pioneer attack with 16 points, Carmoney (captain) netted 15, Jerry Lynch tallied 12, Chris Jones (captain) had nine points, sophomores, Brad LaPoe scored five and Chad Sharp tossed in four points. When the snow started to melt, Carmoney was enthralled with baseball. Craig played shortstop and pitched for us. He was always willing to take the ball on the mound and he could have played anywhere. He ran the bases well, Craig had a very strong arm, he was just a nice all-around player. Hes now doing well for himself as a professional, I wish theres some way Clare could have hired Craig, hes a good man. replied Clares storied baseball coach, Marc Yenkel. Carmoney started off 5-0 pitching in his senior year before battling with shoulder troubles for a few weeks. One of those victories was a head to head pitching duel against Colemans Aaron Toth, who went on to pitch at U of M. Craig felt privileged to play with superstar baseball players such as Matt Bell, who went on to star at CMU. Hurler, Dan Wood and .500 plus hitter, who went on to shine at Northwood, Kenny Gariglio. Craig was a career .385 batter. He remembered b e aming t he St. L ouis Sharks best hitter in the back, it seemed to scare the entire team and he rung the rest up and sat them down. Craig also reminicsed throwing a sidearm fastball to Roscos Mark Church on an 0-2 count and Church cranked a homer, it was the only HR that he surrendered. I feel fortunate to have played for legendar y coaches, Kelly Luplow, Chris Fedewa and Marc Yenkel. Their emphasis of mental preparation, attention to detail and the fact that life will bring stress, but its how you deal with it, that matters, has stuck with me in my work ethic. Its how you respond after failure that def ines you, the y instilled that theres a right way and a wrong way to do things, just as my loving parents did, uttered Craig Carmoney Craig earned his bachelors degree from GVSU and a masters in administration at SVSU. He taught one year at Alpena, then he worked for Bullock Creek for 15 years. Hes now the SanfordMeridian superintendent. Carmoney is happily married to his high school sweetheart, Kelly. Together t h e y are r ai s i ng t h e i r daughter Lindsey (11th grade), son Jackson (8th) and daughter Sydney (6th).