09/01/2006

Glads get burned by Birnbaum in loss to Nouvel

FROM STAFF REPORTS

SAGINAW — Nick Birnbaum was as good as advertised, but Traverse City St. Francis won't soon forget his Saginaw Nouvel teammate Brad Sonntag, either.

Sonntag and Birnbaum each scored two touchdowns as the Panthers defeated the Gladiators 29-13 on Thursday night.

Birnbaum, who rushed for 310 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-12 romp over the Glads last fall, scored Nouvel's first two touchdowns on runs of 47 and 32 yards. Sonntag passed to Tim Ryan for a two-point conversion on the first TD and Ryan Palmer kicked the extra point after the second.

Trailing 8-0 after Birnbaum's first TD, St. Francis took the ensuing kickoff in Nouvel territory and marched 49 yards in 11 plays, scoring on Ben Wheelock's 1-yard run off right tackle. Spencer Ambrosius' two-point pass attempt to Dan Fisher was tipped away, leaving the score 8-6.

Birnbaum's second TD made it 15-6.

St. Francis caught a break when it recovered a fumble at the Panthers' 19-yard line with less than a minute to play in the first half. Ambrosius hit Fisher for an 8-yard TD as time ran out, and Clark Gingras kicked the extra point to make it 15-13 at halftime.

Sonntag put the game away with a 78-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw and a 40-yard TD scamper with 10:44 remaining.