Hillman falls to Hurons, 23-6

There, that didn’t take long. Coach Mike Kosiara notched his first career win as head coach as his Huron charges took a 23-6 win over Hillman at Gilpin Field last week. That sets up a meeting with Boyne City, a 14-6 winner over Newberry last week. It will be the first of five consecutive road games for the Hurons who finally return home to host Onaway October 8.

THE WIN over Hillman gave this year’s team the chance to step up, minus the graduated seniors from last season. “That’s the biggest development out of this game, having (new players) take up the leadership role,” Kosiara said after the game. “These players never had the chance to be leaders. Now we are really depending on these players. Now they are on the spot.” New quarterback junior Austin Fairbanks, responded well, running the offense and hitting on 10-of-18 attempts for 203 yards and two TDs while rushing for 45 yards and another touchdown.

ON THE OTHER side of the ball, the Huron defense, led by new assistant coach Nick Rethman, limited the Tiger offense to 63 yards in the first half and 114 in the second. A total of 95 yards came on the only Hillman drive to end in a score, an 11-play late fourth quarter march that came with the Hurons already up 23-0. The first Huron score came in a novel way–a field goal. Cody Wenzel hit a rare 21-yard field goal out of the hold of Chris Santini to give the Hurons a 3-0 lead with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

The kick, the first field goal by a Huron since the 1997 boot by Cory Hess to win a playoff game in the Superior Dome, came at the end of a drive begun at the Hillman 37. (Hess connected on 28-of-34 PAT kicks that season, but attempted just one field goal). A 30-yard Fairbanks pass to tight end Mark Grulke was the big play of the drive. A big play set up the next score. Wenzel, playing safety, picked off a Hillman pass and returned it 57 yards to the Tiger 19 yard-line. Fairbanks and Grulke kept the drive alive by hooking up on a 10-yard gainer on a fourth down play. Two plays later, Fairbanks found Wenzel in the right corner of the end zone as the Hurons went up 9-0 with 4:53 left in the half.

WENZEL MADE the difference in the next drive, taking a pass from Fairbanks over the middle and outracing two defenders for a 71-yard TD play. He added the PAT kick for a 16-0 Huron lead with 2:26 left in the second quarter. Wenzel had four catches for 97 yards and two TDs on the day. The Huron defense stopped a drive

to begin the second half, setting up the longest Huron scoring drive of the day. Starting at their own 14, the Hurons marched 86 yards in 10 plays using 3:40 off the clock, capping it off with a one-yard plunge by Fairbanks over the block of center Scott Kamyszek. Two receptions by Grulke were mixed around a strong running attack led by junior running back Dylan Centala, who had runs of 7 and 27 to spark the drive. Centala had 53 yards on 10 carries while sophomore Tyler Schuiteman added 20 yards on six carries. Justin Wilbert had one reception for 27 yards. The Hurons lost two fumbles and had two interceptions.

GRULKE HAD an interception to keep the ball out of the Tigers’ hands as the fourth quarter began. Hillman got its only score on its next possession. Rogers City and Boyne City have met each of the past 14 seasons with the Ramblers winning eight of those, including the last four. The Ramblers won last year by a score of 48-26 on the way to an 8-2 season. The Hurons’ game on Friday will be broadcast on WVXA-FM with Karl Grambau handling the play-by-play.