By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com
MANISTEE — Every football coach will tell you that games are won, or lost, up front in the trenches.
And, establishing the line of scrimmage is the key to success.
Oakridge clearly won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the line of scrimmage in a 49-22 blitzing of Manistee to spoil the Mariners home opener, and Parents’ Night.
Early on, it didn’t seem like the game would turn the way it did.
The Mariners got a defensive stop on the Eagles first offensive possession and forced a punt and started to move the ball on offense.
But the Eagles defense finally stiffened, and the Mariners drive stalled out, setting the stage for the first Oakridge score after the two teams had finished the first period scoreless.
Oakridge went on a 16-play, 70-yard march that burned almost eight minutes and led to a 2-yard touchdown by Bryson Stephenson and a 7-0 lead with 9:10 remaining before halftime.
Manistee answered, though, as senior halfback Kaden Kott broke off a 74-yard run on the Mariners third play from scrimmage after they took the ball on the Eagles kickoff.
Sophomore quarterback Dayvion Neal-Berry tucked the ball and went in for the two-point conversion as Manistee grabbed an 8-7 lead at the 7:37 mark.
It was the last time the Mariners would sniff the end zone until late in the fourth quarter as the Eagles scored 42 unanswered points.
“I don’t think we played too bad coming out of the gate,” said Manistee coach Alvin Rischel. “We didn’t open up a ton of holes early.
“That is the way football is played. You’re going to win a lot of games if you can control the line of scrimmage, and they (Eagles) certainly controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides tonight.
“I don’t think our kids quit. I thought they got discouraged, but they still played physically. We will, as coaches, sit down and evaluate this game, and get ready for next week.”
Oakridge scored twice more before the half and stepped out to a 21-8 lead.
Stephenson was responsible for both Eagles touchdowns before half, scoring on runs of 11 and 15 yards.
The Eagles’ special teams set up their next score when Braydon Peterson rushed in to block a Manistee punt, giving his team the ball on the Mariners 3.
Jayden Bailey burst up the middle and crashed into the end zone on a short 3-yard run to swell the Eagles lead to 28-8 at the 9:36 mark of the third.
Oakridge also got a 62-yard run from Jordan Guerrero-McGrady, Parker Williamsen stepped off a 7-yard scamper and Landon Meacher ran it in from 15 yards out.
Manistee finally scored again when Wyatt Prortasiewicz raced in on a 10-yard run that capped a 10-play, 90-yard drive and Keegan Shannon added the two-point conversion with less than four minutes left.
Josh Weiss wowed the Manistee crowd, skirting off tackle and putting the Eagles defenders in his wake in an electrifying 80-yard scoring run.
“We were able to get the number twos in and they had some success, which was really good for them,” Rischel said. “That run by Josh Weiss, … he showed me some speed there tonight which is a good thing to see. It’s good to get those guys in there and build up some confidence for them, but I think it says a lot about our program overall, too.
“We could have packed it in and just quit, and we definitely looked discouraged tonight a little bit, but I don’t think we packed it in and quit.”
Josh Weiss paced the Mariner offense with 109 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, Kott finished with 98 yards and one touchdown on six carries and Wyatt Protasiewicz racked up 57 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
Trevor Haag led the Mariner defense with 10 tackles, Ean Guenthardt and Neal-Berry each finished with seven while Landin Sowa added six tackles.
Manistee fell to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the WMC Lakes. The Mariners are at home next Friday night taking on Orchard View in another conference game.
Oakridge is also 2-1 on the season, all three games coming in the conference. The Eagles host Ludington next Friday.