Ubly-USA audio

Here is some audio from the Ubly-USA game.
To hear what Ubly coach Bill Sweeney said about the win:
http://www.box.net/shared/cjlisl8abf
USA coach Jason Beagle's comments can be heard at:
http://www.box.net/shared/gkt9nrtyiy

Ubly opens season with 38-12 win

It was a return to old school, hard-nosed football tonight, as Ubly channeled the teams of old and pounded the ball, controlled the clock and put forth a dominating effort in the 26 point win.

The Bearcats had nearly 400 yards of offense including 372 on the ground.

Justin Cleary led the attack with 120 yards on 21 carries and a score, while Keith Kramer also broke the 100 yard mark with 103 yards on 19 totes and scored once.

QB Adam Glaza rushed for 46 and once score, while going 2-for-6 passing for 27 yards and two touchdowns passes to Eric Booms.

Even more impressive than Ubly's offense was their defense. They held USA to 164 total yards, 76 which came on a 76 yard score in their first possession on a run from Tyler Masse (101 yards total). So they held the Patriots to 88 yards after their opening series.

Lakers let one slip away

Tha Lakers came out strong looking like the playoff team they were at the end of last season beginning the game with an impressive march down the field and followed that up with another impressive drive only to turn the ball over as they got close to the red zone. By half they had a 20 - 6 lead and seemed to have a good handle on the game.

Unfortunately for the Lakers they watched their lead evaporate as Carrollton drove down the field twice to tie the game.

Lakers answered with an 80 yard TD romp courtesy of Luke Voelker to put the Lakers up once again.

After penalties cost the Lakers an opportunity to advance the ball and keep possession, Carrollton made their final drive that would put them up for good and hand the Lakers their first loss of the year.

North Huron wins season opener

North Huron opened the season in impressive fashion last night with a 45-20 win over Marine City Cardinal Mooney. The Warriors really opened up the play book, utilizing the run, great special teams play (Tyler Preston was 6-for-6 on extra points and 1-of-2 on field goal attempts with a 30 yard make), as well as a wide open pass game.
North Huron broke out some five wide receiver sets, intended to isolate receiver Kevin Rice so that the defense could only cover him one-on-one. It worked and when Rice wasn't opened they hit Sean Clancy, that's right 6'6" basketball star Clancy, with a couple of long passes.
In order to get a better idea of the offense, watch the end of Varsity Blues...all that was missing was a hook and ladder pass to Billy Bob.

Some stats on week one's football games

Here are some tidbits of historical data on a few of this week’s games…
North Huron vs. Marine City Cardinal Mooney
· These teams have clashed five times since 2003 with MCCM holding a 3-2 advantage in the series.
· North Huron’s avg. margin of victory in the series is 13 points, MCCM’s is 25 points.
· North Huron’s two game win streak in the series was ended last year with a 20-14 loss.
· MCCM has outscored North Huron 159-108 during their five games so far.
· The most lopsided game in the series took place in 2005, when MCCM won by 44 points, 56-12. Of note, that year the Warriors started the season 0-3 but won four of their last five to finish at 4-4.

Elkton-Pigeon Bay Port vs. Carrollton
· The Cavaliers knocked of EPBP 33-14 in last year’s opener.
· Both the Lakers (6-4 in 2008) and Carrollton (9-2 in 2008) made the post-season last year.
· Opening nights have been extremely difficult for the Lakers as of late, as they have lost six in a row and are just 2-8 in their last 10 game openers. EPBP last won a season opener in 2002, when they beat Harbor Beach 27-22.
· Hopefully history won’t repeat itself…following their last league title win in 2002, a season in which the Lakers went 12-1 overall, EPBP started the 2003 season with three straight losses and finished at 4-5.

Bad Axe vs. Harbor Beach
· Coming off a 12-1 season in 2007, Harbor Beach took a significant step back in 2008, finishing with a 3-6 record. Last year Bad Axe finished 1-8 after going 3-6 in 2007. The Hatchets have had seven straight losing seasons (including 0-9 finishes in 2003 & 2005) and are 9-54 in that stretch.
· Harbor Beach has won their last three season openers against Bad Axe, outscoring them 94-6 in that three game span.
· Bad Axe last won a season opener in 2001, when they beat Cros-Lex 41-14 and finished 7-3 overall on the season.
· Harbor Beach has won six straight season openers and is 8-2 in their last 10 openers. They are 15-1 against Bad Axe in their last 16 against the Hatchets.
· The Pirates currently have a six game winning streak in the series and last lost to Bad Axe 22-12 in 1995.
· Since 1958, Bad Axe and Harbor Beach have played in 33 times with HB holding a 19-14 edge.

Ubly vs. USA
· This is a relatively new opening series, with these teams meeting just three times in first games. Ubly has won two of those three, with USA last winning in 2007 by a 19-14 margin. The Bearcats have outscored the Patriots 74-31 in that stretch.
· Overall Ubly has won three of their last four from USA.
· Heading into the season Ubly has made it into the post-season eight straight years. After finishing 1-8 in 2008, USA has made the playoffs just once in the last three years. The Patriots had made it 10 straight seasons from 1996-2005, before missing out in 2006 with a 5-4 record.
· USA is 10-2 in their last 12 openers, while Ubly is 9-3 in that same time span.
· Ubly currently has a 14 game regular season win streak, last losing a regular season game to Harbor Beach 39-12 on Sept. 14, 2007. The Bearcats are 23-4 in their last three regular seasons. USA won 18 straight regular season games from 2004-2005, before losing to Ubly 14-0 in the 2006 opener to end the streak. Between 2004-2005 USA compiled a 27-1 overall record.
· In recent years, USA’s longest regular season win streak was 22 games, with three regular season wins to finish the 1997 season, back-to-back 9-0 regular seasons in 1198 and 1999, followed by a win in their opener in 2000. USA’s streak was ended in a 22-20 loss to Reese in week two, which was followed by another nine straight regular season wins.

Harbor Beach and Liggett rematch ends in tie

A new season, even more attitude

Last year we started an audio program called Pigskin Preview and were one of the first (not sure if we were first around here or not) to regularly post post-game interviews with the coaches, giving you a deeper insight into the men on the sidelines.
This year we plan to do even more audio and on occasion we'll be doing some work with Eddie Fury, one of the biggest dreamers and innovators I have ever met, as he works to get live streaming audio on the internet. He's going to give it a shot this Thursday at the North Huron game...and for more details see http://thumbtailgater.blogspot.com.
As for us, we're going balls to the wall with our sports coverage this year. I think we set the tone with our sports preview section, which is a nice, full-color 12 page spread and continue with some unique items in next week's paper.
In our Sept. 2nd edition we'll be breaking the mold with full coverage of soccer matchup between Harbor Beach and Ligett, which was a rematch from last year's regional semis. Full coverage of soccer in the regular season is pretty rare, but you'll see more of it from us as we push the envelope to give you the best sports coverage possible.
We've also got some other items we're working on including, and I'm pretty certain I haven't seen this much, is football stat leaders. We're working out the kinks, but we'll soon have weekly stats for most rushing yards, most passing yards, most receiving yards, most touchdowns and possibly best games (by TDs and yards), best QB rating for a game and for the season.
It will be a huge undertaking, but we believe we can pull it off and will give the readers something they have been clamoring for...
So what do you think? Do you like some of the new ideas? Have something else you want to see, let us know and comment below.

The Thumb's Best...

As members of last year’s All-Thumb football team, these athletes separated themselves as some of the best in the area. They’ll have their work cut out for them to make it again or to move up on the team, but yet they still must be considered amongst the early favorites to make the team again.
Those players to look for include:
Offense
· Lakers QB Luke Voelker
· Ubly offensive lineman Brandon Lemke
· Ubly offensive lineman Dalton O’Connor
· Ubly running back Justin Cleary
· Ubly offensive lineman Steven Gilbert
Defense
· Harbor Beach defensive back Shane Ginther
· North Huron defensive back Erik Dhyse
· Ubly linebacker Dalton O’Connor
· Ubly linebacker Eric Booms
· Ubly defensive linemen John Walker

Fall Sports Preview arrives this Wednesday

Sports Editor Steve Jias and myself (well mostly Steve), are hard at work pulling together our Fall Sports Preview and getting prepared for the upcoming sports season. Our special section will be out this Wednesday.
It may not be a guide, but we're still proud of it.