OURSPORTS
SECTION D
Heritage Newspapers
GENERAL
ADMISSION
MIKE
LARSON
Skyline
must
keep
moving
T Shootout!
he Skyline football team
is part of a pretty dubi-
ous club this season.
After starting the
season 0-4, the Eagles are
one of several teams across the
state that has yet to win a var-
sity football game.
I’ve been doing this job
for awhile now, and I’ve been
working in jobs like it for even
longer.
Winless teams are not uncom-
mon.
You see them all the time.
In fact, I have some first-hand
experience with one winless
football team in particular.
That team being the Red
Raiders of my alma mater,
Marlette High School.
Things are kind of hazy,
but I’ll try to recall everything
right.
I think the losing started
when I was in middle school. I
think it was eighth grade, but I
can’t be sure.
What I am sure about,
though, was that the losing
didn’t stop until the final game
of my junior year.
I believe the streak was like
44 or 45 games. I would look it
up, but people don’t keep those
kinds of records.
My high school team lost
every game for four consecutive
seasons. And the only reason
the team got a win to end the
streak when it did was because
our athletic director somehow
PLEASE SEE LARSON/2-D
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River Rats get bucked by Bedford
By Terry Jacoby
A2 Journal
On Ann Arbor Huron’s open-
ing drive of the third quarter
Thursday night, quarterback
Alex Hassan fired a bullet to
receiver Charles Boyd on a slant
play. The senior wideout made a
nice grab and tumbled into the
endzone to give the River Rats a
29-15 lead with 8:14 to play in the
third quarter.
After a first half filled with
penalties – it seemed as if false
starts were part of their offense
– and a couple of big plays by
visiting Monroe, it appeared the
River Rats were settling in for
an easy victory.
But less than 4 minutes later,
Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL
Two Pioneer blockers level a pair of Skyline players last Thursday while Pioneer receiver Jeron Clayton streaks by. Pioneer
defeated Skyline in the game, 62-40.
Pioneer, Skyline
put up big
points PiHi win
By Mike Larson
A2 Journal
Skyline fans were very
disappointed as they left Ann
Arbor Pioneer Thursday night
after the Eagles’ first varsity
game at Holloway Field.
The only football fans who
might have been more disap-
pointed were the ones who
came to the contest in hopes of
seeing a low scoring game.
Pioneer defeated Skyline
62-40 in a shootout where both
teams seemed to be able to
score at will.
“Any time you score 62
points, I think you are going to
feel pretty good,” Pioneer head
coach Jeremy Gold said about
his offense. “The offensive
staff and the offense came out
and worked hard all week long
during the week of practice.”
However, the Pioneer
defense didn’t have the same
results.
“We had quite a few break-
downs,” Gold said. “Anybody
who saw this game saw that
this was not Pioneer defense.”
However, the Pioneers still
came away with the win.
Pioneer opened the scoring
early when Drake Johnson
scampered into the endzone
for a 27-yard score in the first
possession of the game.
And although the game was
tied for about 17 seconds in the
first quarter, the Skyline team
never held a lead.
FOOTBALL
the Trojans tied the game at
29-29 and never looked back
in a 50-29 win over Huron in a
Southeastern Conference game
on a chilly evening in Ann
Arbor.
The loss drops the River Rats
to 1-3 on the season. They play
next Friday at Skyline.
Monroe improves to 2-2.
The first scoring drive for
Huron featured the River Rats’
ability to overcome mistakes
– something that eventually
would catch up with them. On
a third-and-19 play from the 41-
yard line, Hassan found Brent
King over the middle for a huge
PIONEER 62, SKYLINE 40
Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL
Pioneer running back Drake Johnson takes the ball
Thursday. Johnson finished with two touchdowns.
The Eagles did score on
their first possession of the
game when quarterback Andy
Copp hooked up with Theron
Wilson for a 24-yard score.
However, with the score
tied at 7-7, Pioneer snatched
gain and a first down at the
Monroe 23.
On the next play, Huron was
called for holding and it was
suddenly first-and-23 at the
36-yard line. But Hassan lofted
a pass to Matt Hastings, who
went up and grabbed it in the
endzone to give Huron a 7-0
lead with 3:52 to play in the first
quarter.
The lead didn’t last long.
A good kick return – Huron
had trouble all game on special
teams – set Monroe up at the
Huron 39. Three plays later,
Mitchell Kuehniein threw a
27-yard touchdown pass to
Reginald Allen. After Huron
PLEASE SEE HURON/2-D
the lead back on the ensuing
kickoff when Jeron Clayton
returned the Skyline offering
for a touchdown.
Pioneer took advantage of
the Skyline offense on the next
possession, when linebacker
September 23, 2010
Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL
A Huron player takes down a Bedford player in a recent game.
Last week, the River Rats fell to Monroe.
Tommy Polornery intercepted
a Copp pass.
Two plays later, Johnson
found the endzone on a 19-yard
run.
Holding a 21-7 lead, and
scoring on every offensive pos-
session they had had, it looked
as if Pioneer was going to
blow out the younger Skyline
team.
However, the Eagles had
other ideas.
Skyline answered right
back, when Copp found Jordan
Woods with a 31-yard touch-
down pass.
With less than three min-
utes remaining in the first
quarter, the two teams had
already combined for 35
points, as Pioneer led 21-14.
The Eagles, who had been
struggling on defense, then
decided to get gutsy and forgo
defense all together.
On the following kickoff,
Skyline attempted an onsides
kick, and the Eagles recovered
it.
However, the team was
unable to get anything going
as Copp threw three incom-
plete passes and attempted a
failed run before the Eagles
turned the ball over on downs.
Pioneer took over at mid-
field, but the team was stopped
for the first time in the game.
When Skyline took over,
the team seemed unstoppable,
even if it was just for the pos-
session.
Copp orchestrated a 16-play
drive that ended with Jack
Clark grabbing a 6-yard touch-
down pass.
PLEASE SEE SHOOTOUT/2-D
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Irish
crumple
Cranes
By Mike Larson
A2 Journal
The Ann Arbor Gabriel
Richard football team had
no idea what to expect last
Thursday when they took on
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-
Kingswood.
The Cranes, who are a new
addition to the Fighting Irish
schedule, were kind of a mys-
tery for Richard.
However, it didn’t take the
Irish long to figure that mystery
out.
Gabriel Richard won the
game easily, shutting out the
Cranes in a 35-0 drubbing.
Even more impressive was
the fact that Richard scored all
35 points in the first half, and
then used the second half to get
the second string some valuable
experience.
“It’s so important to make
sure everyone gets a chance
to play in game situations,”
Richard coach Brian Lemons
said. “And it was huge for our
second team guys to preserve
the shutout.”
The Irish finished the
game in dramatic fashion, as
the Richard defense stopped
Cranbrook’s Stefan Czarnecki
from scoring on a fourth-and-
goal play from the 2-yard-line.
“It was a huge stop,” Lemons
said. “It was such a big play for
this team.”
When the game started, there
were questions about whether it
would even be completed.
After a delay because of light-
ing, the game had to be moved
because Cranbrook’s field isn’t
equipped with lights.
However, the game was able
to be played at Bloomfield
Lahser High School.
But the Fighting Irish wasted
no time getting into the game.
Richard’s Joey Birchler
opened up the scoring on the
very first play of the game,
retuning the opening kickoff 93
yards for a touchdown.
Cranbrook didn’t seem as
ready to play.
The Cranes fumbled on their
first possession and Richard
recovered, giving the Irish great
field possession for their first
offensive try.
And Richard didn’t waste
the opportunity as Dennis
Olszewski punched in a 12-yard
touchdown run to put his team
up 14-0 with just about nine
minutes left in the first quarter.
Olszewski finished his day
with 31 yards, tied with team-
mate Ashton Hundley for the
team lead in yards. Hundley
also scored a touchdown.
Donnie Eaton also had a great
game for the Irish.
The senior quarterback
scored the team’s other two
touchdowns, both 1-yard dives
on the goal line.
Ryan Jenkins was perfect on
extra points, kicking all five.
Tomorrow the Irish will
face off against Livonia
Clarenceville on the road. The
game is set to kick off at 7 p.m.