Prep roundup: Traverse City Central gets big win in Big Rapids over St. Joseph
Aug. 27—BIG RAPIDS — Traverse City Central still has some weapons, and the Trojans showed that in their season-opening victory.
Following their 2021 state championship runner-up finish on Ford Field in Detroit, TC Central battled St. Joseph to a 49-28 win at Ferris State University to start the 2022 campaign.
Trojans' head coach Eric Schugars said he was "proud and ecstatic" after watching his players put on a fairly dominating performance against a state semifinalist that he believes is ticketed for another playoff run.
"Our kids had one of those grinder weeks of practice," Schugars said. "They really bought in, and we really coached them hard. They came out and played really well tonight."
Central went up 7-0 on an Alex Bocardo 5-yard touchdown run. After St. Joe knotted the ballgame at 7-0, quarterback Josh Klug scampered in from 12 yards out for a score and Reed Seabase followed with an 8-yard TD run to lead 21-7.
Klug added his second touchdown, a 2-yard run, with 3:43 left in the first half and then his third, a 53-yard rush, just 30 seconds later to lead 35-20 at the break.
The lefty quarterback made it a quartet of TDs about seven minutes into the third quarter on a 1-yard run. Brayden Halliday tacked on another score, a 5-yard rush, three minutes later to balloon the Trojan lead to 49-20.
The Trojans racked up 455 yards of total offense — 347 rushing yards and 108 yards through the air — on 77 plays. Klug finished 6-of-11 passing and gained 157 yards on the ground. Seabase rushed for 123 yards on 19 carries.
"Those are the guys we're certainly going to win with," Schugars said of his senior duo.
Schugars also gave credit to the offensive line, which is made up of five new starters after the Trojans graduated the entire o-line after last season.
"We knew we were going to be inexperienced up front. We didn't have varsity experience," Schugars said. "But our young guys really stepped up big time and opened up some holes."
On defense, Grant Schmidt led with four tackles and one sack. Anthony Hicks-Pulling also had four tackles.
Three of St. Joe's four scores came on big plays — a 71-yard kickoff return, a 69-yard run and an 80-yard pass. The other was a 7-yard TD run with 1:41 left in the game.
"They're a big-play potential team, and we knew that coming in," Schugars said. "Defensively, I'm proud. They didn't put a drive together against our defense."
The Trojans get back in action this coming Friday as they welcome Lapeer to Thirlby Field.
FOOTBALL
Rangers win nail-biter over Hesperia
HESPERIA — Connor Garno intercepted a pass inside the 10-yard line as time expired to preserve Manton's season-opening 37-34 road win over Hesperia.
"Our guys battled," Rangers coach Eric Salani said. "We bent but didn't break. I couldn't be prouder of the boys. It's a great win to start the season."
Manton ran for 295 yards as a team, led by Leon Barber's 112 and two rushing touchdowns. Andrew Phillips added 106 rush yards and Logan Baker pitched in 76 rush yards and 109 return yards, with quarterback Nathan Winters running for one score and throwing a 40-yard TD to Zander Johnigan.
Manton (1-0) hosts Houghton Lake next Friday.
Frankfort 33
Mason Co.Central 16
Frankfort: Nick Stevenson 20 carries, 120 yards, 4 TDs; Gletcher Anderson 8-yard TD run, 13 tackles; Carter Kerby 10 tackles.
UP NEXT: The Panthers (1-0) head out to Mancelona on Thursday.
Charlevoix 24
East Jordan 15
Charlevoix: Henry Herzog 3 TDs; Landon Swanson 11 tackles.
East Jordan: Stats unavailable.
UP NEXT: The Rayders (1-0) host the Rams of Harbor Springs on Thursday. The Red Devils (0-1) head to Elk Rapids on Thursday.
Mancelona 44
Joburg 22
Mancelona: Jason Naumcheff 7-of-13 passing, 157 yards, TD; Tavin Morgan 70 yards receiving, 2 TDs; Mykal Ballister 109 yards rushing, 2 TDs; Jackson Bennett TD.
Johannesburg-Lewiston: Nate Hummel 109 yards rushing; Rily McVannel 54 yards rushing, TD; Alex Gapinski TD; Benny Lindbert TD.
UP NEXT: The Ironmen (1-0) play host to the Frankfort Panthers on Thursday. The Cardinals (0-1) travel to St. Ignace on Friday.
Gaylord 15
Lake Fenton 14
Gaylord: No stats reported.
UP NEXT: The Blue Devils (1-0) take on the Kingsley Stags at home Thursday.
Manistee 54
Holton 6
Manistee: No stats reported.
UP NEXT: The Chips (1-0) travel to Mason County Central on Thursday.
Midland 27
Cadillac 21
Cadillac: Derek Rood 190 receiving yards, Keenan Suminski 92 yards, including a 90-yard TD; Charlie Howell 15-24 passing for 308 yards, 3 TDs.
UP NEXT: The Vikings (0-1) host Escanaba on Thursday.
Cheboygan 52
Lake City 26
Lake City: No stats reported.
UP NEXT: The Trojans (0-1) travel to Pine River next Friday.
8-MAN FOOTBALL
Pellston 60
Forest Area 0
No stats reported.
UP NEXT: Forest Area (0-1) welcomes Suttons Bay on Thursday.
BOYS SOCCER
Elks drops 2 at Cherry T Invite
Elk Rapids lost to Oxford 4-1; lost to Holland Christian 3-2
Elk Rapids: Spencer Ball 1 goal; Noah Hilley 1 goal; Jared Barcenas 1 goal; Alex Smith 2 assists; Ani Lugin 11 saves; Koa West 2 saves.
UP NEXT: The Elks (0-4) battle Traverse City West on the road Monday.
BOYS TENNIS
TC St. Francis 8
Mason 0
Traverse City St. Francis: 1S — Tristan Bonanni wins 6-1, 6-2; 2S — Owen Jackson wins 6-1, 6-0; 3S — Chris Bobrowski wins 6-1, 6-1; 4S — Brady Thelen wins 6-3, 6-3; 1D — William Gibbons/Derek Berta win 6-4, 7-5; 2D — Eli Schmude/Max King win 6-2, 7-5; 3D — David Ansley/Carson Poole win 6-1, 6-4; 4D — Will Sutton/Quinten Musgrave win 6-4, 6-2.
GIRLS GOLF
Trojans win Frank Altimore Invitational
MIDLAND — All four of Traverse City Central's scorers finished in the top 10 at the Frank Altimore Invitational at Currie Municipal Golf Course as the Trojans won the annual varsity girls golf tournament Friday. The victory was Central's third in four days.
McKenzie McManus was the top performer for the Trojans, taking fourth with an 82. Addison Balentine was just one stroke and one place behind McManus, taking fifth with an 83. Evelyn Nowicki and Traverse City West's Ainslee Hewitt tied for sixth place, each carding an 85. Sydney Rademacher rounded out the Trojans' top-10 finishes with an 87 and a ninth-place effort, tying with Petoskey's Aubrey Williams.
Team scores: 1. TC Central 337; 2. Goodrich 343; 3. Midland Dow 373; T4. TC West 391; T4. Cadillac 391; 7. Petoskey 410.
Other TC West scorers: Charlie Erickson 94; Maya Wilson 97; Ash Gagnon 115.
Other Petoskey scorers: Sophia Gardner 105; Sara Hasse 105; Piper Leidall 113.
Glads win LMC meet
KALKASKA — Grace Slocum continued her early bid for Golfer of the Year after she fired an 83 at the Grandview Golf Course on Thursday and helped lead her Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators to a convincing Lake Michigan Conference win.
Slocum's first-place individual performance was buoyed by teammates Mary Kate Carroll (94), Emily Jozwiak (96) and Avery Frederick (112) to finish with a 385 overall score, which was 33 strokes better than runner-up Harbor Springs.
CROSS COUNTRY
Day 1 of Pete Moss Invite in the books
Small division varsity boys top 10: Jacob Wartenberg (Johannesburg-Lewiston) 16:39.9; Nate Wing (Mason County Eastern) 17:06.5; Malaki Gascho (J-L) 17:14.2; Blake Fox (J-L) 17:15.3; Dakota Dykhuis (Montabella) 17:18.4; Mason Sinke (Bear Lake-Onekama) 17:22.1; Skylar Werden (Frankfort) 17:27.5; Ronin Vaden (J-L) 18:00.8; Jackson Kulawiak (Buckley) 18:08.5; Benjamin Lauber (J-L) 18:11.9.
Small division varsity girls top 10: Aidan Harrand (Buckley) 19:38.1; Allie Nowak (Johannesburg-Lewiston) 20:32.5; Madalyn Agren (J-L) 20:37.7; Ella Knudsen (Leland) 20:43.2; Petra Foote (Grand Traverse Academy) 21:23.5; Natalie Zochowski (J-L) 21:41.9; Cora Mullins (J-L) 22:14.5; Rosalinda Gascho (J-L) 22:20.9; Lucy Shoup (Mason County Eastern) 22:25.3; Anna Mitchell (Lake Leelanau St. Mary) 22:31.5.
