Manistee starts the season with shutout victory over visiting Kalkaska

MANISTEE — Week One certainly went according to script for the Manistee football team.

The Mariners overpowered visiting Kalkaska with a punishing running game en route to a 45-0 shutout win at Mariners Field Thursday night.

As a gentle mist fell an hour before kickoff, the Mariners were already warmed up for the game which would mark a new start on a road they hope will bring them a fourth trip to the playoffs.

They heated up their fans who braved the ugly conditions that necessitated bringing out the umbrellas and slickers. The Mariners used the conditions to their advantage by pounding the ball down the field for a touchdown on their first possession.

Keeping the ball almost exclusively on the ground, the Mariners looked in midseason form as an experienced offensive backfield tore through the Blazers defense.

With freshman quarterback Dayvion Neal-Berry showing a poise and composure that belayed his youth, the Mariners put the exclamation point on the long, time-consuming drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Isaiah Davis.

Before the night was over, the Mariners had accumulated an impressive total of 313 yards rushing and Neal-Berry threw for two scores – both to Kaden Kott.

Nick Hornkohl was the leading rusher, ripping through the gaping holes provided by the offensive linemen to gain 136 yards and score two touchdowns.

Davis, another returning senior, contributed 61 and also found the end zone twice. Kaden Kott added 54 yards on seven tries.

“We feel that we put in the type of work in the off-season, we return the type of guys and we run the type of program that when the lights flick on for that first game they should play fast, they should play relatively mistake free and they should make plays … and they did,” Manistee coach Troy Bytwork said.

“Kaden was running angry. He’s very intuitive, he thinks it through, and he’s grown so much as a player. You pair that with Nick, who seeks out contact and Davis. That’s pretty tough to defend.”