Football photo galleries

Here are some pics from this past Friday's football action. For pics from volleyball, soccer and cross country this past weekend, check out our paid publications.

Opening a can of whoop a**

Well that might be a little too honest, but North Huron really put it to Owen-Gage in a 45-0 win.
This should have set up a nice battle for first place in the NCTL, between the Warriors and Kingston, however after the Cardinals lost 21-14 to Memphis the game may have less title implications.
But it still matter to the players who want to beat Kingston for the second straight time; something that has happened since the Warriors got back-to-back wins in 1983 and 1984.
Offensively, North Huron marched down the field on six plays to score for the the first time with little resistance. The question at that point was, how long 'til their was a running clock.
Well it can't start until the second half, but North Huron held a 39-0 edge heading into the half.
Ed Wisneski and Kurt Dhyse each scored twice for the Warriors, while Kevin Rice, John Schramski and Anthony Irvine also reached paydirt.
For Owen-Gage, the Bulldogs couldn't get anything going on offense or defense. The only things that was going, were their players to the sidelines as at least two players went down with injuries, including Caseville's David Grates who was carried to the team bus over the shoulder of a teammate due to an ankle injury.
Bulldogs coach Jason Pierce is disappointed how the season is going. He had hopes of being a playoff contender after going 4-5 last year, but has seen a roster that started at 40, dwindle to around 18. He said the young players would do anything for the team, while some of the other players don't seem to care as much.
As for North Huron, a lot of people seemed to think this would be a down year after everything they lost, including All-Thumb Coach of the Year Mark Manenti. But according to coach Travis Fischer the team heard all those comments about 07 being a down year and it just motivated them to work harder in the off-season, which is 100 percent apparent at this point.
In my opinion, North Huron wins the league and goes undefeated. They looked that good tonight!

Elite 8

Here is a look at the Elite 8 following week two:
ELITE 8
1 Harbor Beach Pirates 2-0
2 USA Patriots 1-1
3 Ubly Bearcats 1-1
4 North Huron 2-0
5 Cass City 2-0
6 Bad Axe 1-1
7 EPBP 0-2
8 Owen-Gage 0-2

Now some people will wonder why 2-0 Cass City or North Huron has jumped up into the second spot. Here is my thinking... couldn't penalize USA more than a spot for a one-point loss to a tough HB team; couldn't drop Ubly after a win over Marlette, NH and CC win and maintain their spots.
It is quite the qundry to be in, but in week four this will all shake out and we'll start to see some major movement.
As for the bottom half, the Hatchets impress with a win over BV, but need to have a competitive game against Reese to maintain their spot.

Week three picks

Here is the schedule for week three:
Owen-Gage @ North Huron
Bad Axe @ Reese
USA @ BCAS
Saginaw BV @ EPBP
Ubly @ Mayville
Cass City @ Marlette
Brown City @ Harbor Beach

My only question is... how many of us are going 7-0 this week?

Week two picks standings

After two weeks of competition, here is a look at the Outpick Ogryski standings:
Twocentsworth 6-0 1.000 (1)
Coachestake 5-1 .833 (1)
Mumbles 8-4 .667 (2)
Tied at 4-2 .667 (1): Jon Sicotte, Sportsdude, KBechtel, Eddie Fury and Pigskin
Tied at 7-5 .583 (2): Dave Bossick, me
Andrew Selich 3-3 .500 (1)
Rick Glaza 4-8 .333 (2)

Glaza picked a week's worst 2-4 for the second straight week. Twocentsworth had the first perfect week.

HB/USA photo gallery

Game of the Year... Pirates beat USA

Harbor Beach won 13-12 in what could be the game of the year.
USA scored first in the first on a 10 yard TD run by QB Brandon Bitzer but had the extra point blocked. The Pirates responded with a score on a Brett Buchholz run, missing the kick wide right. So tied at 6-6 at the half.
In the second half, the Pirates draw first blood, scoring on a 13 yard TD pass from Tom Sorenson to Travis Schock, who made the extra point to make it 13-6. The Pats responded with a one yard TD from Tyson Valentine in the fourth, but kicker Erik Kuhl had his second extra point attempt of the day partially blocked.
Prior to their second TD, Harbor Beach had driven to the one yard line the previous possession, but fumbled. USA went three and out and pounted it to around the 29. The Pirates scored several plays later.
My thoughts:
* Rumors were swirling that Lance VanHoost was injuured. NOT THE CASE. HE played and had another big game, rushing for over 100 yards for sure.
* Brian Gornowich from Harbor Beach is a stud running back. He broke off back-to-back 20+ yard runs on the final Pirate drive, where they needed first downs to kill the clock. He likely ran for well over 100 yards for the second straight game, likely much closer to the 150 territory, but that is just a guess.
* The Pirates now have to be considered the top team in the area, but in the last two weeks the team on top of the Elite 8 has been the kiss of death so to speak...
* Harbor Beach's run defense look much improved and coach Troy Schelke was impressed by it. VanHoost got his yeards, but not the 200+ he got against Ubly.
* USA wanted to be battle tested after the first two weeks and they are. They will tear BCAS apart in week three. Much like Ubly's loss in week one, this shouldn't start a panic. USA will still be in the title hunt in the GTW and will make the playoffs.
* My question, will everyone annoint Harbor Beach as the team to make the long extended playoff run now, like happened to Ubly and then USA when they beat the Bearcats?