WELCOME BACK, MID PEN!
A new era of football began on Saturday at the Mid Peninsula High School. After cancelling their program four years ago due to lack of numbers, the school held its first game in the new eight-man format. The Wolverines lost to Bellaire in their first game. (Travis Frazier photos)
Wolverines Return To Field; Lose Opener, 54-30
PERKINS---The Mid Peninsula Wolverines lost a football game on Saturday. But to pretty much everyone in attendance at the game, the score of the game didn't matter all that much. That's because Mid Peninsula Wolverines football is officially back.
The Mid Pen program was cancelled after the 2007 season because of declining enrollment, but when the Michigan High School Athletic Association began offering "eight-man" football for small schools, the Mid Peninsula Schools...and the community...jumped at the chance.
So, the fact that the Wolverines lost to Bellaire, 54-30, was less important than just having the Orange and White on the field again.
"Everyone's excited," Mid Pen Coach Jeremy Herman said before the game. "It's good to be back. This has really been community-driven. A lot of people really wanted to see football back, and they put in a lot of work to make it happen. The kids are excited."
And the kids were really excited when they took the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Evan Winkelbauer (at left) ripped off runs of 11 and 14 yards, then he found Brett Branstrom at the goal line for a 24-yard pass.
Winkelbauer then scored from one yard out, then on the two-point play, he took the snap off the facemask and found Cody Stone in the end zone.
Not only were the Wolverines back, but they had the lead, 8-0, against a Bellaire team that was the second-best "eight-man" team in the state last year. But Mid Pen's lead lasted just 76 seconds.
The Eagles team moved the ball at will all afternoon long, and put 41 points on the board before Mid Pen scored again. Quarterback Reece Koepke scored on a 24-yard run, then after the Wolverines suffered a bad snap on a punt, Bellaire freshman Chase Small scored on a seven-yard run. Later in the half, Koepke went to the air, hooking up with Damon Proctor for a 21-yard touchdown pass.
All of a sudden, it was 20-8, and it got worse before the second quarter clock ran out. On the ensuing kickoff, the Wolverines had to start on their own two yard-line when Winkelbauer waited for the ball to go into end zone (but it never did) before fielding it. After three plays, a short punt gave Bellaire the ball at the 17 yard-line.
Koepke scored on the very first play, then when the Wolverines got the ball back, Evan Winkelbauer fumbled when he was drilled by a Bellaire defender on a running play.
Bellaire's Hunter Walsh is pursued by three Wolverines>>
Koepke scored on an 18-yard scamper, and all of a sudden, the Wolverines trailed, 34-8. When Bellaire scored on the first possession of the second half, it was 41-8, and the rout was on.
But not so fast. Ryan Lehtikangas made two nice plays on runs of 41 and 28 yards, then Alex Winkelbauer scored from four yards out to make it 41-14.
"We did a lot of good things, and we did a lot of things poorly," Herman said. "We've got a lot to work on. We need to work a lot on the basics. Tackling, especially."
Bellaire scored two more touchdowns as sophomore Hunter Walsh got a bunch of carries and scored on a pair of four-yard runs.
The mercy rule went into effect at 54-14, and it was still the third quarter. But the Mid Pen boys didn't give up. Alex Winkelbauer took the ensuing kickoff to the house, covering 87 yards, then he found Lehtikangas in the end zone for a two-point conversion.
<<<Cody Stone (22) grins as he and Alex Winkelbauer wait during a time-out.
Freshman Trey Beauchamp scored on an 11-yard run late in the fourth quarter, and Evan Winkelbauer shook off his injury long enough to come back into the game to score the two-point conversion.
That first score came courtesty of a ten-yard run by Branstrom, and after Alex Winkelbauer ran in the conversion, it was 8-0. On the next series, the Wolverines faced 4th and 9 when Evan Winkelbauer hooked up with Ryan Lehtikangas for a 24-yard touchdown pass. Mid Pen missed the conversion, so it was 14-0.
Traverse City came back again, on another sweep by Larkin, this time a 52-yard scamper.But once again, the Wolverines answered as Branstrom scored his second touchdown of the game to make it 26-12 with 52 seconds left in the half. Alex Winkelbauer was named Homecoming King during the halftime ceremonies, and then Mid Pen went on another drive.
And despite some of the glaring fundmaental mistakes the Mid Pen boys made on Saturday, Herman has his eyes on the big picture.
