By Chad Wingert (Contact / Staff Bio)

Originally published October 12, 2009, 10:40 a.m. EST. Updated October 12, 2009, 10:40 a.m. EST

By Chad Wingert

Sports Editor

OWENDALE — To some people, it’s not normal. But, to Owen-Gage and Akron-Fairgrove - eight-man football is all they’ve got.

Still, the two rival schools put on a spectacular display of speed and athleticism Friday night in the cold rain and mud, but thanks to the Vikings fourth quarter heroics, Akron-Fairgrove spoiled the Bulldogs homecoming festivities with a 50-44 victory.

“These kids were down after the first quarter, but they fought back hard tonight,” Akron-Fairgrove head coach Carl Aldrich said. “It’s not very usual that you get revenge on a team in the same season. But that’s what these kids wanted. Owen-Gage spoiled their homecoming earlier this year - this time it was our turn.”

Owen-Gage took a 22-14 lead into the half after forcing Akron-Fairgrove fumbles and fourth down turnovers. But, the Vikings never let up, taking their first lead of the game with just 18 seconds in the fourth quarter. The same quarter that saw the lead change between the two squads three times.

But, it was Josh Repkie who found Austin Rodriguez on a 26 yard pass play that sealed the win for Akron-Fairgrove.

Passing was what worked best for the Vikings, so that’s what they stuck with. With the weather conditions it may have seemed unusual, but not to Aldrich.

“It’s what worked for us last week against CPS, so we stuck with it again this week,” Aldrich said. “We wanted to get our players in open space first, then getting the ball to them.”

The most successful weapon for the Vikings? None other than Repkie to Rodriguez. The two hooked up four times for 130 yards and four TDs while Repkie finished the night by completing nine passes for 223 yards and six scores.

Even with the Vikings taking home the victory, Owen-Gage’s offense did not go quiet on the night. But it was however, a one man show for the Bulldogs.

Running back Nick Zaleski totaled 342 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries.

BCAS 42, Cass City 35

CASS CITY — It was a tale of two halves for Cass City on Friday night.

After taking a 28-21 lead into the break, the Red Hawks could not find the end zone the rest of the night, going scoreless the entire first half.

“We really need to get back to where we were two weeks ago, and hopefully it will start with a good week of practice coming up,” Cass City head coach Scott Cuthrell said. “It has to start with our attitudes, better tackling and fundamentals. If we can get back to doing those things right, we will be OK.”

Austin Osentoski led the Red Hawks offense with 186 yards and three TDs on 25 carries, but the Cougars countered with a one-man offensive threat that did it all.

Drew Janer rattled off 324 yards on 23 carries for Bay City All Saints.

“He really was just a one-man show for them,” Cuthrell said. “We could not stop him.”

Alongside Osentoski for Cass City was Alex Varney who ran the ball eight times for 66 yards while quarterback Justin Ketterer completed three passes in the wind and rain for 15 yards.

Osentoski also led the Red Hawks on defense with eight tackles.

Cass City is now 1-3 in the GTW, 3-4 overall.

Deckerville 38, Marlette 0

MARLETTE — Deckerville handed Marlette their third conference loss of the season by shutting out the Red Raiders offense. But, Marlette head coach Denny Lester said the key to the Eagles success began and ended in the trenches.

“Deckerville really dominated the line of scrimmage tonight,” Lester said. “We thought we had them stopped on the goal line on the last play of the second quarter, but they got in. It was rough going from 8-0 to 16-0 right before the half.”

Deckerville didn’t stop there though. The Eagles poured on 16 points in the third quarter along with another score in the fourth to complete Deckerville’s scoring frenzy.

Now Marlette will have to win the rest of their games this season if they want to have a shot at the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

“We know what we have to do, we have to win out,” Lester said. “It’s going to be a great challenge with us having to play two quality teams. But, we will see what happens.”

Justin Shaver led Marlette’s offense with 85 rushing yards on 14 carries while Dee Sanchez added 20 yards on 12 carries.

Marlette is now 3-2 in the GTE, 4-3 overall.

Millington 24, Caro 22

MILLINGTON — Caro watched a 22-8 lead quickly disappear in the fourth quarter as Millington responded by hanging 16 points in the fourth quarter including a big defensive stop with under a minute left in the game.

But, it was Josh Williams and Jesse Stewart who found the end zone in the final stanza to push the Cardinals past the Tigers.

Josh Stutler got it done for Millington by running the ball 26 times for 219 yards while Jesse Stewart rumbles for 80 yards and two scores on 16 carries.

Defensively, Millington was led by Zach Stewart with 12 tackles.

Millington improves to 4-1 in the TVC East, 6-1 overall while Caro falls to 2-4 in the conference, 3-4 overall - eliminating themselves from a possible playoff birth.

North Branch 55, Bridgeport 0

NORTH BRANCH — North Branch bounced back in a big way after last week’s tough loss to West Branch - Ogemaw Heights. The Broncos bolted out to a 27-0 lead after the first half and followed it up by posting 28 more points in the second quarter.

“I was very, very happy with how our team responded after last week,” North Branch head coach Pat Forster said. “But, I told the kids to enjoy this one because next week we have a big game against Millington and we need to get ready.”

The weather did play a factor in the Bearcats downfall as the Broncos recovered five Bridgeport fumbles, but North Branch’s offense also got the job done.

Doug Griffin led the Bronco charge by running the ball for 88 yards and a TD on nine carries while completing one pass for 15 yards and a score. Warburton also found the end zone twice by running the ball eight times for 42 yards.

Jacob Armstrong led North Branch’s defensive efforts by gathering five tackles while Cody Bender posted three tackles, one sack and two fumble recoveries. Dennis Natke had three tackles and an INT.

North Branch is now 5-1 in the TVC East, 5-2 overall.

Garber 41, Frankenmuth 21

FRANKENMUTH — It was Frankenmuth’s turn to try and knock of the TVC East’s top team in Essexville-Garber, but the results remained the same as the Dukes trampled the Eagles, 41-21.

Garber took a 20-7 lead into the locker room at half-time, but it was the fourth quarter effort of the Dukes that put Frankenmuth away. Garber posted 13 points in the final stanza while Frankenmuth posted their only points of the second half in the final minutes of the game.

Eagles quarterback Luke Sheppard completed seven passes for 124 yards and a score while Ryan Stainforth and Anthony Warnemunde hauled in two catches each for 54 yards and 43 yards respectively.

Jacob Frank led the Eagles ground game with 61 yards and a TD on 13 carries while Sheppard rumbled for 38 yards and a score on 10 carries.

Frankenmuth is now 2-3 in the TVC East, 3-4 overall.

Reese 33, EPBP 7

PIGEON — Reese stormed in to Laker country and did what some people thought was the impossible by returning home with a victory over the defending Greater Thumb West champs, 33-7.

“I’m really proud of these boys,” Reese head coach Bob Saylor said. “We had to win, and these boys rose up to grab it.”

Reese took a 12-7 lead into the half, but that is the only scoring the Lakers would see as the Rockets blanked EPBP in the second half.

Cody Summerville led the Rockets ground game by rushing for 189 yards on ten carries while Jimmy Hahn ran the ball nine times for 67 yards. Travis VanAlst rumbled for 30 yards and a score on three carries.

Travis Menapace got the start under center for Reese. Menapace completed three passes for 60 yards and two scores while Travis Heinlein had the hot hands for the Rockets. Heinlein pulled in all three passes for two scores.

Heinlein also led Reese on defense by gathering eight tackles and an interception alongside Travis Mendyk who racked up 12 tackles. Kevin Keinath and Kevin Kinasz had 11 apiece.

North Huron 33, Kingston 14

NORTH HURON — North Huron put Kingston away by rattling off 27 straight points that started in the second quarter.

Sophomore Evan Bootz made his first start at the varsity level under center for the Cardinals and completed seven passes for 103 yards and a TD while rushing 12 times for 67 yards. Ish Morell totaled 51 yards on eight carries and score.

Bootz also found the Thumb area’s leading receiver in Taylor Nicol five times for 90 yards and a TD.

Dustin Pennington led the Cardinals defensively with 19 tackles while Morell gathered 17. Sebastian Shubert had nine tackles and Joe Strauel picked off one Warrior pass.

Bad Axe 44, Mayville 14

BAD AXE — The Wildcats never quite found their rhythm in a loss Friday night to the host Hatchets.

Bad Axe scored early and often, tallying 22 first quarter points while holding Mayville scoreless and taking a lead 22-0 heading into the second quarter.

The Hatchets then put their offense into cruise control by adding six points in the second, eight in the third and eight in the fourth.

According to Mayville head coach Mike Campbell, it was turnovers plagued the Wildcats in the opening half.

“Three turnovers inside the red zone in the first half really hurt us,” Mayville head coach Mike Campbell said.

Mayville finally got on the board in the third when Aaron Mercer hit William Henderson with a three yard strike. Mercer rounded out the scoring with a seven yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Mercer finished with 196 yards rushing and one touchdown on 16 carries. He also threw the ball 26 times, completing 13 of them for 137 yards and one touchdown.

Vassar 24, USA 21

SEBEWAING — Visiting Vassar came away with a victory Friday night, but not without a fight from the host Patriots.

USA scored first behind a 20 yard run by Tim Canfield and the subsequent point after kick by Alex Khoury to lead 7-0 after the first.

The Vulcans' Troy Hecht gave his team a huge lift in the second quarter when he returned an interception 74 yards to the Patriot one yard line, quarterback Kyle Auernhamer would punch it in on the next play for two.

Hecht would later add a 72 yard reception for a touchdown to put his team up 18-14 at half-time.

“In the second quarter we made a couple mistakes and they made some big plays,” USA head coach Jason Beagle said. “We played well in the second half, but had some stalled drives that hurt us.”

A defensive battle between the two teams ensued in the second half. Tyler Masse scored the games only third quarter points on a 26 yard run to regain the lead for his team, 21-18.

In the fourth, Vassar’s Auernhamer scored on a one yard run with under three minutes remaining in the game to give his team the win.

Auernhamer ended the night 5-12 passing for 133 yards and one touchdown along with his game winning rushing touchdown.

Masse led the Patriot rushing attack with 114 yards on 14 carries while Canfield added 57 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

Defensively, USA’s Dakota Gangler had a big night, finishing with nine tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery, and one blocked punt.