BY CHRIS OGRYSKIEDITORThe reward for Ubly’s win over Petersburg-Summerfield is a showdown with another team looking for their first state championship in the modern football playoffs, Hudson.
The Tigers advanced to this Saturday’s state semifinals at Ortonville-Brandon High School with a 42-41 double overtime win over 10 time state champion Mendon last Friday.
Hudson, who like Ubly runs the Wing-T, started off that game with a 16 play, 10 minute drive that may not have resulted in a score, but gave them early momentum in the contest. After forcing Mendon to punt just 2:03 into their first drive of the game, the Tigers took advantage of their second opportunity, when Chris Robbins scored on a two yard run that capped a 12 play, 75 yard drive.
“It was built up as they have this great defense and we have a great offense and what is going to give,” Hudson coach Chris Luma said. “Obviously in those situations you want to make your point first.”
Robbins rushed for 96 yards and two scores, while teammate Drew Milligan led the team with 106 yards and two TDs. As a unit, the Tigers rushed for 323 against the Hornets.
While things went Hudson’s way early on, they had a 7-0 lead at that point and a 13:36 advantage in time of possession, things turned rather quickly as Mendon scored on a pair of pass plays from C.J. Nightingale to Tim Slaughter and Jordan Higgins, which helped give the Hornets a 14-7 edge heading into the half.
Nightingale intercepted a pass from Hudson QB Nathan Smith late in the second quarter, which set up the Hornet’s final score of the second quarter.
Mendon was able to maintain that momentum in the second half, as they extended a seven point halftime edge to a 28-14 advantage with 7:53 to go. Despite the deficit, the Tigers never considered going away from what got them there, the run game.
“(I told them) that they had to keep believing and they were going to score,” Luma said as he tried to explain the pep talk he gave his players before they mounted the late comeback.
He added, “We talked about the heart of a champion and the heart of a champion never quits, it never gives up and never doubts what they are doing.”
The pep talk worked, as Hudson began to drive down the field. However as time continued to tick off the clock, members of the coaching staff became concerned. “My coach up top (in the booth) kept yelling, ‘You have to hurry up a little bit; you’re down two scores. You have to score quicker than that,’” Luma explained.
“I just didn’t want to make any mistakes, so we didn’t over-rush it.”
That patience paid off as Milligan scored on a four yard run with 3:36 left in the game. Following an extra point, Hudson found itself trailing by seven.
Things continued to go the Tigers way, as they seemed to recover the onside kick. However, in the pile, Mendon was able to gain possession of the ball and the Hornets only needed a pair of first downs to secure the win.
That is where Hudson caught a break, as Mendon sophomore Cody Bingaman fumbled the ball with under three minutes to play, which gave Hudson one last chance to tie things up.
The Tigers used a 10 play, 67 yard drive to score in just 2:04 on a two yard run and added a two-point conversion to tie the game at 28 apiece with 41 seconds left in the game.
Hudson did not throw a single pass in either drive. “If they stopped us doing what we do best, I can live with that,” Luma said.
“I didn’t want to throw it up, which is something that we aren’t very good at, and give up our opportunity to score, which is why we stuck to the ground,” he added.
During the regular season, the Tigers threw just 17 passes for 79 yards. Heading into the first overtime, the Tigers had thrown just two passes, one was a halfback pass and the other throw was intercepted.
So it was ironic that trailing 41-34 in the second overtime, facing a 2nd and goal on the 26 yard line (due to a penalty that occurred on Mendon’s score), Hudson would win the game with a long, TD strike to a wide open receiver.
“We are a running team, so to win this game with a pass is sweet,” Luma explained.
Having spent so much energy in their comeback and to get that score in the second overtime, Luma felt there was no doubt what needed to be done. “After we scored, it was an automatic that we were going for two. We just felt we needed to win it now if we were going to,” he said.
Smith plunged on a QB keeper to win the team their first regional title since 2003, a year where they finished as state runner-up after losing to Traverse City St. Francis 28-14 in the finals that year. The same Gladiators team that beat Ubly 20-14 in the semifinals that year.
Tale of the tapeWith these teams both running the same offense, it would be interesting to see how each team’s top running backs compare. For Hudson, Drew Millington has rushed for 1,248 yards and 19 TDS, while Chris Robbins has 1,089 yards and 18 scores.
Ubly’s top back, Justin Cleary has rushed for 1,586 yards and 17 scores, while Bryan Nash has 1,069 yards and 18 scores.
When combined, Ubly’s top two backs have outrushed Hudson’s 2,655-2,337 or by a total of 318 yards.
Overtime did you know?Hudson and Mendon combined for 83 points in their overtime battle last Friday, bt did you know that the highest scoring overtime game in MHSAA history was a combined 139 points in a 70-69 4 OT win for Tawas over Shepherd in 2002.
The highest combined scores in double overtime contest is 129, which happened twice in 1989 and 2003; both scores were 65-64.
Sweeney comments on HudsonAfter having what Ubly coach Bill Sweeney described as one of their toughest games of the year against Petersburg-Summerfield in regionals, he knew it would only get tougher this week.
“They’re 12-0 and they are going to be tough,” Sweeney said of Hudson.
“Division 7 is just loaded this year. But anything can happen on any given night,” he explained.
“St. Francis went to overtime the other night (they beat Ishpeming 28-20), Mendon lost a game that many people thought they had wrapped up, which they didn’t,” he added.
“That tells you a lot about Hudson. They are tough, they are electrifying offensively, they run the same stuff we do, maybe a little differently. They are basically the same type of team, a ball control team and score a lot of points and it should be a heckuva ball game.”
As to whether Sweeney felt it was an advantage to prepare for a team that runs a different version of the same type of offense, he noted, “Our defense originally was designed to stop the ‘T,’ but (you know) they are going to execute their offense well.”
