09/16/2006

Petoskey pushes past Traverse City Central, 17-14

Northmen even record at 2-2

BY JAMES COOK

jcook@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
Traverse City Central's Lee Spanski eludes Petoskey's Joe Mussip during Friday's game at Thirlby Field.

Click here for more photos from this game

TRAVERSE CITY — Petoskey suddenly has playoff aspirations.

The Northmen got starting halfback Matt Weston back after he was hurt in the first series of the season opener and Weston responded with 91 yards on 19 carries as Petoskey held on for a 17-14 win over Traverse City Central.

"This is a big win," Weston said. "It will turn everything around for us. We're hoping (to make the playoffs). We've just got to prove it on the field."

The win boosts hopes for the Northmen's first playoff berth since going 9-2 in 1998.

Petoskey's double-wing offense churned out yardage, executing well behind the blocking of linemen Jacob Schneider, Nate Greenwell, Charles Damsgaard, Carl Scholten and Ken Provost to jump out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead.

Warren Gero added 79 yards on 15 rushes to Weston's 91 as the Northmen ran for 204 yards and passed for 79.

Petoskey opened the game with a statement, going 74 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 15-yard touchdown run by Gero for a 7-0 win.

"We were just running our sweep," VanOrman said. "The kids did a good job of blocking up front."

A fumbled pitch and Greenwell recovery on Central's first play from scrimmage set up the Northmen at the 18, leading to a 27-yard Colin Murphy field goal.

With 3:48 left in the opening quarter, Gero cut in front of an Ian Prokes roll-out pass to Jared Wolf and raced down the left sideline for a 45-yard return for a touchdown.

Both saw the return of their starting running backs, with Central's Jack Begley gaining 101 yards on 15 attempts. He had missed the Trojans' loss to Alpena last week and part of the Rockford game.

"Even with him at 70 or 80 percent, we're a better team with him in there," Clark said.

With Begley back, Kyle Verschuren moved to fullback, opening up many holes that Begley ran through. Verschuren also ran for 26 yards on four carries.

Central was on the comeback trail in the second quarter.

The defense forced a three-and-out and two plays later wideout Tim Ohlert took a reverse from Prokes and was sprung by a key block from fellow receiver Lee Spanski on the other side for a 77-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 17-7 with 9:49 left in the half.

Petoskey responded with a long drive that took the Northmen right to the TC Central doorstep. In 10 plays, Petoskey went from its own 19 to the Central 16 before Spanski picked off a pass from Rob Michel that deflected off the fingertips of Chad Ellis. Spanski caught the ball at the goal line and returned it to the 12.

Spanski would start and end the drive for Central, setting it up with the pick and finishing it off 100 yards away on a 6-yard fade pass from Prokes as Central used a size mismatch. The Northmen had 5-foot-8 cornerback Steve Gehan covering the 6-foot-3 Spanski in the end zone. A 44-yard run by Begley put the Trojans inside the 10.

In the second half, both defenses dominated the opposing offenses for the most part.

"I credit our defense for shutting them down in the second half after they came back," VanOrman said.

Central also came up with some big stops, including Verschuren stuffing Gero on fourth-and-1 at the Central 15 late in the third quarter, Tom Chase recovering a fumble at the Central 3 on Petoskey's opening drive of the second half and Drew Weinbrecht breaking up a Weston option pass to Gero late in the fourth.

"The pieces are coming together," Clark said. "Really our defense only gave up seven points. They were really improved and made tackles.

"Our kids got in a hole early, which doesn't help against a possession team like Petoskey, but they didn't give up. One of these times we're going to be on the other side."

It is the first time TC Central has started 0-4 since 1999, the year before Clark was hired. It's also only the second time since 1998 that Petoskey has been at .500 after four contests.

The Trojans host Grand Rapids Christian next Saturday at 7 p.m., a team they dropped a 14-7 decision to last year.

"We really should have won last year," Begley said. "We had an off game. But this year, I've seen us get better every game."

For more photos from the game, see www.record-eagle.com/football.