Youthful Manistee can’t slow down Reed City’s potent ground attack in Division 6 district loss

 

REED CITY – The younger Manistee Mariners saw its football season come to an end on Friday night in a 41-20 Division 6 loss to Reed City.

 

The Mariners, under new coach Alvin Rischel, were making their fifth straight playoff appearance.

 

The most experienced Coyotes’ domination came, as you might expect, in the trenches where games are typically won.

 

Manistee caught a glimmer of hope when the Mariners stunned the home crowd at Coyote Stadium by taking a 6-0 lead.

 

It lasted just 23 seconds.

 

No longer than it took for Reed City quarterback to spin around and hand the ball off to junior running back Andrew Kiaunis, who whisked to a 55-yard touchdown. The successful point after gave the Coyotes a 7-6 lead, and they never looked back.

 

Kiaunis scored three more touchdowns on the night.

 

“Sometimes that’s a difficult offense to stop, and up front, we made a few plays here and there, but not consistently enough to keep them off the field,” Rischel said. “They have kids who hit the hole fast in their trap game, and by the time they’re past your linebackers, it happens quickly. We moved the ball fairly well tonight. We sputtered a few times, but we were able to steal a couple of possessions.”

 

Reed City took a 27-6 lead into the half and it was 34-12 after three periods.

 

It was a ground and pound offense that accumulated 419 yards.

 

Kiaunis finished with 123 yards on 12 carries, but it was freshman Kason Coppick who was the leader with 165 yards on 22 totes.

 

Senior running back Kaden Kott had a big game for the Mariners with 154 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

 

That rushing total gives him more than 1,000 yards for the second straight season, and he increased his school record touchdown total as well in a disappointing finale. He also caught a TD pass. Manistee didn’t do much passing, as Dayvion Neal-Berry was just 3-of-8 for 33 yards. Kott caught two for 20.

 

The defense was led by Malachi Cruz with seven tackles, Sowa and Ean Guenthardt had five apiece.

 

“I’m pretty proud of our kids’ resilience all season,” said Rischel, whose team finished 5-5. “Defensively, we didn’t have the kind of season you’d like to have, not the kind of season you have to have. Especially after you come off of one like last year, when we only gave up 16 points a game, and our defense helped lead us to a lot of wins last year.

 

“But, I think it’s important to remember that this is a pretty young team. We only had a handful of seniors, and even less seniors with a lot of varsity experience.”