Sault football returns to win column on homecoming night vs. Petoskey

SAULT STE. MARIE - The Sault Blue Devils had two boxes that they wanted to check heading into Friday night's game against the Petoskey Northmen.

They were out to snap a three-game losing streak and they also wanted to give the home crowd a big win on homecoming night.

With a 21-0 win over visiting Northmen, the Devils were able to accomplish both goals.

“It always feels good to win on homecoming,” Sault coach Scott Menard said after the game. “And it felt great to get off the slide. It felt like we finally started returning to the way we were playing in the first four games.”

It most likely felt that way because the Sault's punishing ground game was able to produce three touchdowns in the win and the Blue Devil defense returned to its havoc-wreaking ways at the expense of the Northmen.

The Sault scored early in the contest, as Ryver Ryckeghem took a handoff from quarterback Callen Campbell and put his feet in the end zone 45 yards later. Ethan McDonald kicked the extra point and the Sault led 7-0.

The Devils made a habit of scoring early in quarters as Campbell made it 13-0 on a one-yard run to begin the second.

The Devils finished the scoring on their opening possession of the second half as Ryckeghem got his second TD of the night on a three-yard run. Campbell hit Max Scott for the two-point conversion.

“I was happy that we were able to do some of the things that we wanted to do in the game,” Menard said of his team's performance. “We still have some things to work on and clean up though. I thought we left some points out there that we could have had.”

One of the things that Menard was happy about was the fact that Ryckeghem eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Since the Sault started keeping records on such things, Ryckeghem sits fifth on the Sault High single-season rushing record list with 1,047 yards through eight games.

With 95 yards in the final game, he would move to third on the list, and if he had a career kind of night he could get to second on the list. Ryckeghem would need 188 yards to pass Tate Kay, who ran for 1,234 yards in 2018. Raynell Anderson holds the record with 1,936 rushing yards in the 2013 season.

“That was a nice milestone for him,” Menard said of Ryckeghem. “He's put in a lot of work and this is a reflection of that.”

Ryckeghem led the Sault in rushing on the night, carrying 30 times for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Cale Bell was also over the 100-yard mark on the night with 105 yards on 16 tries.

Campbell threw seven times and completed three, for 18 yards.

Defensively, the Sault was led by Kaydin Lujan, who had eight tackles in the game. Bell had five stops, while Joey Gravelle and Billy Menard had four each. Campbell and Adam Horrigan were each credited with 1.5 sacks, while Gravelle also had a sack. Sebastian Salcedo-Arroyo picked off two Petoskey passes in the win.

The Sault, 5-3 will host Benzie Central in its final regular-season game of the season. The playoffs are a possibility, but not one Menard wants to discuss prior to Sunday's selection show.

“We can only control one aspect of getting into the playoffs,” he said. “We just have to go out and win on Friday and that's what we're focusing on.”

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Sault football returns to win column on homecoming night vs. Petoskey