Posen is the first 2-0 football team in the state

The Posen football team won its fifth straight season opener Friday on the home field by defeating Cedarville, 16-6, and now the players will have a rare early season game night off. Sophomore Jason Romel’s two first half touchdowns, from one yard and five yards out, held up against the Trojans for win number one of the 2004 season. The Vikings were handed win number two because this week’s scheduled opponent, De Tour, will not be able to field a football team Friday night.

The upper peninsula school forfeited the first two games of the season to Atlanta and Posen. While there was probably enough players to field a squad against Posen, more time was needed to prepare. The Raiders were expected to resume the schedule week three. The forfeit made the Vikings the first 2-0 team in the state and gave the coaches and players two weeks to prepare for Pickford, who gave the Vikings all it could handle in week three last year.

COACH GLENN BUDNICK had a few surprises when his 2004 team took the field Friday and not all of it was by design. The most noticeable difference was at quarterback. Senior Matt Ponik, who started at the position as a sophomore and a junior, was moved to the backfield, and Romel got the start at quarterback. “We thought Matt would give us a good running threat with (Matt) Szczerowski going down,” said Budnick. “We had new tight ends going in there, learning the positions, so we didn’t want to put any pressure on them as far as having to learn all the pass routes.” Junior tight end Matt Szczerowski went down with an injury in a scrimmage at Hillman and may be lost for the greater part of the season.

Ponik proved his coach right, leading the Vikes with 18 carries and rushing yardage, a game-high 132 yards. The starting backfield consisted of all seniors: Ponik, Curtis Beach, and Matt Schuch. The trio combined for 237 yards on the ground, including 81 yards from Schuch. Junior Richie Kroll made good on his carries with 50 yards from his four touches. “We had trouble shutting down the run,” said Cedarville coach Randy Schaedig. “That was the big key, we felt like we were on defense most of the second half.”

“WE SAID we are going to have to run the ball to win the game and we did that tonight,” Budnick said. This is Schaedig’s first year back as Cedarville coach, after a number of years away. He said Friday’s opener was a game of mistakes, but in the end, Posen played a cleaner ball game. Posen still has some work that needs to be done. Because of injuries and players not being able to practice, it’s taking time to get everyone on the same page. “We have a lot of new faces in there,” said Budnick. “Once people become acclimated to their positions and get the experience, we’ll be okay.” Budnick, who entered his 11th year as head coach, was pleased with the way the young men stayed together for four quarters. The game was close for a portion of the first half, and the Vikes failed to touch pay dirt in the second half.

“They didn’t give up on one another,” said Budnick. “They fought hard. They could have easily let up. I think it was the cohesiveness of our unit — it could be improved upon — but I think that’s the biggest positive, is that our guys fought hard for 48 minutes and we told them that they would have to do that in order to win.”

THE DEFENSE, led by senior linebacker Aaron Hincka’s 10 tackles, also had to be credited for keeping the Trojans off the scoreboard for nearly three quarters. “Coach (Howard) Madsen did a good job preparing the guys,” said Budnick. “The second half we had some guys that weren’t necessarily in there in the first half. The fresh legs helped. We did some things and the guys adjusted to their formations and their plays. “The defense did a great job. They are the ones that stood tall in the second half and won the game for us.” Posen st

arted the game with the ball at the Cedarville 40 yard line. The opening drive was kept alive with a 19-yard run by Ponik on a third and 13 play. The drive was capped at the 6:39 mark of the first quarter with the one yard plunge by Romel. Ponik took the snap for the two point conversion and fired the ball to Romel in the right corner of the end zone for an 8-0 lead. The Trojans also started the season 60 yards away from a score and moved the ball to the PHS 29 yard line. They had it first and 10, but the drive stalled at the 23 and on a fourth-and-four play, James Sobek sacked the quarterback for a seven yard loss.

THE TROJANS would score the next time they got the ball, early in the second quarter on a nine yard run. Sobek made the tackle on the conversion and that would be it for Cedarville. The Vikings answered, putting together a long drive. Schuch had a big first down run deep into Cedarville territory that set up the five-yard touchdown run by Romel. He got to within a couple of yards and stretched out the football to get the pigskin across the line. Ponik ran in the conversion, somehow squirting through the pile, and getting in at the 3:41 mark. That would end the evening’s scoring, although the game remained interesting until the end. The next game will be on the home field September 10 against Pickford.

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