SPORTSBEAT, by Peter Jakey–Hurons are road weary

It was another road game last Friday and another tough loss to swallow for the Huron football team. First year varsity coach Mike Kosiara and his players must feel like the Montreal Expos after playing everywhere but on the friendly confines of Gilpin Memorial Field the last three weeks. The Hurons are 1-3 heading into week five, the midway point of the season, and have only played once on Gilpin, an opening-night win against Hillman. Rogers City is on the downside of five straight road contests, with two more games outside of Rogers City, tomorrow at Sault Ste. Marie, and again back in the UP for a game at Rudyard.

Friday’s game will be the Hurons’ first appearance against the Soo Blue Devils since 1998, when RC took a hard-fought 12-10 win. The Hurons will be back for a home game October 8, which, appropriately will be homecoming. So, after about another 1,000 miles on buses, the boys will be able to come home. The long road trip could be worse.

THE INCOMING athletic director at Hillman thought the Rogers City-Hillman game was supposed to be in Hillman. That would have been six in a row on the road. “That would have really stunk,” said Kosiara. Kosiara described the five straightaway games as a fluke because Cheboygan and Sault Ste. Marie joined the Straits Area Conference before the start of the season. Of course, the five road games should be five consecutive home games in 2005, when this young and up and coming football team should compete for a playoff spot. That’s the good news. Getting through this season. That’s the challenge. “It’s been tough on the kids,” said Kosiara. “You look at the next game and say ‘Geez, when are we ever going to get home.’ “

IN LOOKING at what has happened to Rogers City the first four weeks, it’s not hard to imagine these guys with a 3-1 record. There are two games they just didn’t put away, and it all started with the heartbreaking loss at Boyne City. The Hurons had the lead with about five minutes to go against the Ramblers. Boyne’s had some tremendous football teams over the years, and to defeat them would have changed the entire make-up of the season. Instead, it left some emotional scars. The next game was at Alcona, which ended up being the most disappointing loss of the season. “Alcona — I don’t think we were ready for it,” said Kosiara. “I give all the credit in the world to Alcona, they played a good game, they didn’t make mistakes, we did. That tore them up, that loss at Boyne City. I think it was more of an emotional letdown for them. It snowballed on us.”

MISTAKES ALSO hurt at St

. Ignace. Oh, sure there was a controversial call at the end of the game. Should the referee have let the remaining time in the game elapse without letting the Hurons take one last shot at the end zone and a game-winning score? That’s the play I heard about from people around town on Monday, but if you rewind the tape to Rogers City’s second-to-last possession, the Hurons should have wrapped up the victory and not have allowed the Saints to touch the ball. “We get one more first down, the game is over,” said Kosiara. “We end up with a penalty and then we end up two yards short.”

The Saints needed only 22 seconds to score. “We have a young team. We don’t have a veteran ball club here. In many ways that makes it even harder,” said Kosiara. “It takes a little out of them.” There are some talented players on this team. They just need a break or two to go their way, to execute when the game is on the line, and last but not least, they need to play some games on Gilpin again.