Posen prepares for NSL opener at Au Gres, looking to rebound from loss to Pickford

It wasn’t a defensive clinic Friday night on the Posen High School football field. Offensive units from both Posen (2-1) and Pickford (3-0) compiled nearly 800 yards of offense. The stats were close, as the visiting Panthers had 408 total yards (64 plays) of offense, while the Vikings had 383 (58 plays).

It was just that Pickford, which scored on every possession except for the last two, had that extra firepower or line surge when it was needed the most and went on to win the game, 34-20. “There were a couple of times we were able to back them up, but they still were able to get first downs,” said coach Glenn Budnick. “They have an awesome football team and I wouldn’t doubt if we don’t meet up with them down the road.” The Panthers had two running backs who had more than 300 yards on the ground.

“It does feel good getting the monkey off our back,” said Pickford head coach Josh Rader, whose younger brother Caleb Rader ran the ball 22 times for 154 yards. Posen had won four straight against Pickford.

“YOU HAVE to congratulate Pickford, they came in and did what they do best,” said Budnick. “They ran the football right at us and they were just better than us tonight with their blocking assignments.” The Vikings have had a week to make some improvements and prepare for tomorrow’s game at unbeaten Au Gres. The host Wolverines roughed up Alcona, 45-6, in the opening week, had an open date, and then defeated Hillman in their North Star League opener, 27-6. Posen has defeated Au Gres five years in a row. After the loss to Pickford, Budnick reminded his players of the importance of Friday’s game, which is the league opener for his club.

“Next week starts a brand new season for us,” said Budnick. “We go into our conference where we want to run the table and win the North Star League title.”

AFTER POSEN scored on its first three possessions, to answer each of Pickford’s touchdowns, the Panthers scored just before halftime to take a 22-12 lead. The Vikings only had 18 seconds left and ran out of time, but had the ball to open the second half. Posen took the ball midfield on the kickoff, ran three plays, and was forced in a fourth-and-one situation at the Pickford 45, but came up short and turned the ball over one downs. The play seemed to take something out of the players.

Six plays later, the Panthers opened up a 28-12 lead. The Vikings moved the ball to the Pickford 26 on their next possession but a mishandled snap on a fourth and three spoiled a scoring chance and the ball went back to the Panthers, who milked the rest of the time off the clock in the third quarter and scored at the 11:12 mark of the fourth quarter. The Pickford lead was 34-12. A 20-yard run by fullback Richie Kroll to the Pickford 40-yard line gave the Vikes new life, but time was growing short. Quarterback Matt Ponik, who completed eight of 14 passes, hit Aaron Hincka on a nine-yard pass play and fired a strike to Jason Romel for 22 yards.

AT THE PANTHER 15, the drive stalled, but coach Budnick called time out with a fourth-and-five play coming up. He asked the players what play they wanted to run to get the needed yards. Budnick provided some coaching as to what would make the play work, and that it did. Curtis Beach burst through the line for seven yards. Beach would score his second touchdown of the game two players later from two yards out. He also ran in the two-point conversion and the Vikings were down by 14 with half a quarter to go. Pickford, for the first time in the evening, had lost its spark and struggled and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Andy Styma. The momentum shifted and the excitement started to build. The next play, another pretty pass play from Ponik to Romel, added to it. A six-yard run by Kroll and a 14-yard sprint by Beach to the Panther 16 had fans believing that there might be a chance the Vikes could pull the game out.

PICKFORD CAME up wit

h one more big play, as Curtis Bew cut in front of the receiver for an interception with 4:01 left. The defense stopped the Panthers on their next possession, but there wasn’t much time left to do anything else. “Some things started to finally happen for us on the positive side at the end of the game,” said Budnick. “We were down knocking on the door three times and only got it once. There are a lot of positives to take out of that into next week.” Kroll rushed for 169 yard on 18 carries, while Beach ran the ball for 90 yards. Ponik had 84 passing yards, 44 to Romel and 44 to Hincka.

Bew carried the ball 23 times for 147 yards. Paul Kroll had a five-yard touchdown run with 5:27 left in the first half, “As long as we keep on building and getting better,” Budnick said, “we’ll keep on improving and good things will happen to this football team.

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