Posen hosts Arenac on Parent?s Night after losing to a speedy Au Gres team

It?s been one of the toughest schedules in recent memory for the Posen Viking football team. The combined record of the teams Posen has played in 2005, after week four of the high school football season, is 14-2. Three teams the Vikings have played are undefeated, all have been ranked at some point in the year, and last Friday Posen went up against their toughest opponent to date when they lost 58-12 to Au Gres. ?The North Star League better look out, I mean, Au Gres is for real,? said coach Glenn Budnick. ?This is the best Au Gres team I?ve ever seen. They are fast and have speed all over the place. They block well and they come off the ball well.? Third-year Wolverine coach Scott McAlindon said his boys came out ready to play. ?We prepared knowing that Posen is one of premiere programs,? McAlindon said. ?I think we stressed that enough that they came in with the intensity that we needed to get off to the start that we needed.?

THE WOLVERINES used their speed to get things going. Posen had first possession but had to punt after three plays. The punt was blocked and picked up by Isaiah Kauffman who ran the ball in for a 25-yard score. The point after was good and Au Gres was up 7-0, and only 27 seconds of the game had been played. The Vikings got the ball back but couldn?t seem to get anything going against a defense that had allowed only allowed 20 points this season. The Wolverines broke the first of several long touchdowns on a reverse play with Clinton Anderson taking the ball 58 yards for the TD. The point after was good, giving Au Gres a 14-0 lead with 7:47 left to play in the first quarter. Posen?s next scoring drive came to an end when Jason Romel?s pass was intercepted at the Au Gres 48 and returned 52 yards for a score and a 20-0 first quarter lead. The last four minutes of the first quarter belonged to Posen as the offensive line gave Richie Kroll some running room and the Vikings looked to be on their way to putting the ball in the endzone. On a fourth down play, Romel was looking for Matt Szczerowski near the goal line, but was picked off at the Au Gres three by Nick Garvie, who returned it 97 yards for the fourth touchdown of the game. It was one of three touchdowns for Garvie.

The only thing that did not go right for Au Gres was they missed four extra points in a row. The score with 10:52 remaining in the first half was 26-0. The Vikings couldn?t get anywhere on their next possession and had another punt blocked in their own end, which set up a 33 yard touchdown run by Anderson to make it 32-0. The nightmare continued when Posen fumbled the ball to Au Gres on their next possession, which resulted in another touchdown. The Wolverines scored two TD?s in a span of 1:09 of the second. The score was 38-0, but Posen would come back with an impressive drive. Kroll capped it off with a 21-yard run toward the endzone, but the ball was jarred lose, but fortunately for the guys in the red and white uniforms the ball was recovered by Matt Styma for a Posen touchdown with 36.5 seconds to go in the second quarter. The score at the break was 38-6, but the Vikings came out of the locker room with a lot of intensity.

?JORDAN HINCKA said a mouth full when he said, ?where was that energy in the first half that we showed in the second half on defense,? ? said Budnick. ?I?m proud of the guys the way they came out in the second half and stayed fired up the entire half, no matter what was going on and just played hard.? The Viking defense made their presence known with some good hits in the backfield, but Au Gres couldn?t be stopped, although the better description is that the Wolverines couldn?t be caught. Au Gres had touchdown runs of 55, 25, and 47 in the second half. The Vikes answered on a one-yard run by Kroll with 2:54 in the second half.

?This is the first time I have been 0-4, but I think you have to look at the teams that we have played. Ro

gers City was ranked at the time we played them, and now I?m sure they have fallen out of the rankings, but every other team we have played is in the AP rankings, either an honorable mention or in the top 10,? said Budnick. ?It?s not like we are playing weak teams, we are playing some of the best teams in the state.? Posen will look for their first win of the campaign on the home field Friday against Arenac Eastern, a team that is off to its best start since 2000. Game time is at 7:30 p.m. and it will be Parents? Night. The remaining two home games will both be at 7:30 p.m., contrary to what the pocket schedule says.

Statistics: Total offense: Posen 165 rushing, six passing, 171 total. Au Gres 335 total. Rushing: Richie Kroll 24/148; Paul Kroll 10/4; Jason Romel 8/-12; Aaron Romel 7/13; Nathan Strzelecki 3/12. Au Gres: Justin Kelly 7/158; Nick Garvie 7/91. Passing: Jason Romel one-for-four six yards, two Int. Receiving: Aaron Romel 1/6. Defense: Richie Kroll 7 tackles; Greg Donajkowski 6; Aaron Romel 6.