Tigers to Travel on Saturday

By Bill Mullaly

The Tigers of Hudson are still alive in the race for the MHSAA football playoffs. With any chance to win the LCAA title long gone the Tigers are now playing for a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. The Tigers got a rare shutout win last Friday at Ida over in Monroe County. The 19-0 win moved the Tigers to 4-3 on the season with two games left and two wins needed for the playoffs. The next two weeks are going to be a lot of fun around here. Well, that is if you considering driving to Big Rapids the home of Ferris State University as fun. At least Tiger fans going to the far away “neutral site” game will get to see both the Hudson junior varsity and varsity play for the price of one ticket. More about that game with Kingsley later. The win last Friday came against a Bluestreak team that had been blanked the week before thus the Tigers handed Ida its second straight shutout loss. “We needed this win and the team played well except that we did get banged up a bit,” said Tiger head coach Chris Luma, who is striving not just for a playoff spot but a winning season. “We have an extra day to recover and prepare this week and it’s a huge week. It sure is exciting to have these final games mean a lot for our team at this time of the season.”

Hudson’s shutout of Ida was the first for the Tigers since they blanked the Royals of Blissfield back in 2004 over three years ago by a 39-0 count in week three. “It’s always nice for the team to gain a shutout and it speaks well for the defense and the job coach Danny Rogers is doing,” said Luma, who desperately wants his squad to avoid its third straight losing season and to do that he knows his defense must play well in both games with archrival Addison looming large in week nine. The shutout of Ida is evidence that the Tiger defense is playing better and that is good news as two high-scoring teams await in weeks eight and nine.

The game against Ida really boiled down to the Tiger defense making a key stop early in the game and that set the tone for the evening. Hudson had the ball first and punted. Then Ida, who beat the Tigers two years ago over there without throwing a pass, went on a long drive down to the Hudson one-yard line and were all set to score but a fumble was forced by the Tigers that was recovered by Hudson linebacker Kyle Benschoter. “That was a key stop and it made a huge difference in how the game unfolded from there,” said Luma, who feels that the momentum switched to the Tigers and they never gave it back to the Bluestreaks in claiming the LCAA win. “Ida never really came close to scoring again as our defense was in control most of the game.”

The game looked like it was going to be a scoreless first half until the Tigers scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback junior Taylor Milligan to sophomore running back Mitchell Webb with just two seconds left until intermission. “The score just before halftime was a big deal and it gave us the momentum going into the second half,” said Luma, who is in his 11th season as head coach at Hudson. The Tigers added another score in the third quarter when Milligan was again a part of the equation that led to a touchdown. He caught a 12-yard scoring pass from starting quarterback Zach Warner putting the Tigers up 12-0 with 2:02 left in period three. Both times the Tigers failed to score on the extra point attempts. The game was salted away by the Tigers when fullback Benschoter scored from a yard away with seven minutes left to play. This time the Tigers got the point after as Milligan split the uprights for a 19-0 lead and that is how it ended.

Hudson ran the ball 35 times for 198 yards to 164 for Ida. The Tigers hit five of six passes for 70 yards and the Bluestreaks totaled 37 yards in the air. Hudson lost the first down battle 13-11 and ran 41 plays to Ida's 52. The only turnover of the game was the Ida fumbled recovered by Benschoter. Leading the Tiger rushing attack was Gannon Curtis with 105 yards on 12 carries. Benschoter had 32 yards on nine tries and Joe Rodriguez was good for 30 yards on three carries. Webb caught two passes for 35 yards, while Milligan had one grab for 12, Curtis a catch for 11 and Brian Johnston a catch for 12 yards. Warner was three for three passing for 35 yards and Milligan 2-3 for 35 yards. On defense Caleb Ely led with 18 tackles and Benschoter added 14.

The win was also huge in helping the Tigers avoid the remote possibility of finishing the league standings at the bottom or at least tied for the bottom. With a record of 2-3 in the LCAA the Tigers finish fourth behind champion Blissfield, second place Onsted and third place Dundee. All three of those teams beat the Tigers in succession during weeks three-five.

Blissfield ended the league race at 5-0, while Onsted was 4-1, Dundee 3-2, Hudson 2-3, Erie Mason 1-4 and Ida 0-5. Had Ida won this game there would have been a three-way tie for places fourth-sixth in the LCAA. All in all this was a big win for the Tigers but they have two very tough games remaining. Kingsley is a division 6 team compared to the division 7 Tigers and Kingsley is 5-2 needing a win to get to the playoffs themselves. The game will be played at Ferris State University as the schools agreed to play in week eight due to Clinton defecting to the Tri-County Conference or TCC and Hudson needed a game in week eight. Thus, we are stuck driving up to FSU in Big Rapids. Beating the Stags who also wear orange and black is going to be a daunting task for the Tigers but it is one they are capable of doing. Kingsley lost its opener and then won five straight and then lost to a tough Frankfort team last Friday. The Stags were the division 6 state champions in 2005 and they have a long history of success on the gridiron. The Tigers have their own storied tradition of football glory and these two football powers will meet Saturday at 1:00. The JV game is at 10:00. Don't miss this game, as it will have a playoff atmosphere to it. Prediction: The Tigers have their backs to the wall and they have nowhere to go but straight ahead. Hudson needs a win badly and they will get it in a thrilling 24-23 triumph. Go Tigers!

Boys win Hudson Booster Invitational

By Bill Mullaly

The fall sports season at Hudson High School has reached the half-way point and beyond but strangely it still feels like summer or at least it did for the runners last Saturday at the 34th annual Hudson Booster Invitational. The temperatures reached near 90 degrees by mid-afternoon and it made for a very warm but splendid morning and early afternoon of running. The crowd was large and Hudson boys came up huge with a first place win in the division 4 race but more on that later. The girls placed fourth in the annual event. Both harrier teams were involved in a key LCAA jamboree last Wednesday at Erie Mason. The volleyball team was in a tournament at Morenci on Saturday and they fell to Onsted in a match last Thursday at home. The golf team had an invitational at Devils Lake on Friday hosted by Onsted. Here is a look at how all four teams did over the past week.

Boys Win 34th Booster Meet

Hudson won the boy's portion of the division 4 race by edging county rival Lenawee Christian School (LCS) by eight points. Hudson scored a meet-low 65 points and the Cougars had 73. Waldron was next with 124 points. Running first for Hudson was Stephen Tennis with a place of third overall in 17:27. Sabin Enerson was next in fourth place right behind Tennis in 17:30. Zach Pearce was the next Tiger and he was eighth in 18:01. Derick Clark was next in 19th place in a time of 18:50. The final Tiger to count in the scoring was Brent Merillat in 37th in 19:56. “I was very pleased that my top three were in ahead of any LCS runner and that was a key to winning the race,” said Hudson head coach Matt Carpenter. “We also had a great performance from our number four runner Clark as he ran a great race. This was a team effort and I was very happy to see us win this event.” Carpenter was also happy with the results from Wednesday’s jamboree at Erie Mason as Hudson took first with 55 points edging Ida with 59.

Tennis was the top Tiger in third with a time of 17:25, while Enerson was fifth in 17:31 and Pearce was sixth at 17:42. This was a big win for the Tigers who are now setup to win the LCAA championship with another first place effort at the league meet later this month. It won’t be easy, of course, but with the two strong showings in the jamborees and assuming they will produce another superb effort at the league meet the Tigers will win the LCAA crown for 2007.

Girls Take Fourth at Booster Meet

John Enerson was hoping for just a little bit better than what he got on Saturday. He knew going into the division 4 race that his team had a great shot at third place knowing that Vandercook Lake 41 points and North Central Pioneer from Ohio 57 points were the two top teams. He was hoping his team could edge both Pittsford and Waldron for third but it didn’t happen as the Wildcats were third with 127 points and Hudson wound up with 137. Waldron was just back by one point and that was without its top runner who was injured playing volleyball and had to miss the meet. Enerson wanted to beat the two local schools because they are both division 4 teams that Hudson will see in the regional race later this month. "We didn't run our best but hopefully we are saving our best for the bigger meets ahead like the league and regional," said Enerson. "We have room for improvement and I think that we have a great shot at finishing ahead of our local rivals at the regional."

First for Hudson and first among county runners on Saturday was senior Emily Austin third overall in 21:18. Jennifer Adams was next in 24th in 24 even, while Liz Austin was 35th in 25:04. Cassie Bailey was 43rd in 25:44 and Chelsea DeSeranno was 49th in 26:37. The Lady Tigers were also at Erie Mason last Wednesday for the LCAA jamboree and they were fourth. "We were fourth at the first jamboree but I saw a lot of improvement and our runners moved up quite a few places," said Enerson. Emily Austin was seventh in 21:29, Bailey was 21st in 24:02, while Liz Austin was 24th in 24:22, Adams next at 25th in 24:32 and the final Tiger runner was DeSeranno in 39th at 28:55. Just a note of interest for you racing fans. If you missed the Hudson Booster meet it was quite an extravaganza filled with lots of fun. The music provided by Hudsonite Mark Weber was much appreciated by the runners, fans and spectators at the meet. "It makes for quite a festive atmosphere," said Enerson, who organizes the appearance of Weber and he evens asks for certain music that is played and Enerson knows how much it adds to the spectacle that this meet has become. "Mark being there means a lot to us and it makes the meet special. It was just a great day overall," said the veteran coach.

Golfers Have One Meet

Hudson was at Devils Lake last Friday for the Onsted Invitational and they placed 12th. Tecumseh won the meet and Onsted was 11th with 498 strokes and Hudson had a 508 score. Samantha Stern shot a 106, Aubrey Laughlin had a 125, while Lauren Stanley scored a 136 and Emily Frantz had a 139.

Grin and Bare It 

Emily Frantz of Hudson shares a laugh with her fellow competitors after a less than stellar shot during the Onsted Golf Invitational at Devils Lake Golf Course. Photo courtesy Jeff Steers, Brooklyn Exponent

Volleyball Still Trying

Hudson fell to Onsted at home last Thursday by scores of 25-15, 25-9 and 25-19. Then Hudson was at the Morenci tournament on Saturday where they advanced to the semifinal round before falling to the host Bulldogs. In pool play Hudson fell to Madison in two games 25-15 and 25-13. The Tigers split with Morenci in pool play losing 18-25 and then winning 25-21. Hudson moved to the semis where they lost a three-game match to the host school by scores of 25-16 starting with a win but they lost 25-21 and in the deciding third game it was Morenci winning 15-4. Hudson is still searching for that elusive first win of the season. Check your local schedule for all of the exciting action this week.

JVs Extend Record to 6-1

By Bill Mullaly

The Hudson High School junior varsity football team picked up its second win in a row on Thursday night at home at Thompson Field as they beat the Bluestreaks of Ida. The win was a "special" one meaning it largely resulted from the play of the special teams. The victory improved the little Tigers record to 6-1 overall as they wrapped up a share of first place in the LCAA with the win. Despite official records not being kept the Tigers were 4-1 in the LCAA games and no other team was unbeaten so the worst the Tigers could have finished was in a tie for first place. The win over the Bluestreaks came in pretty much the same way as most wins by the Hudson junior varsity come by and that is from running the ball and playing smash-mouth football along with rock solid defense. However, this win had an added feature as the play of the special teams took center stage right from the get go. Interestingly enough, this game started in dramatic fashion as freshman speedster Drew Milligan returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown just 15 seconds into the game. "Drew found an opening and picked up a couple of key blocks and he was gone," said veteran junior varsity head coach Scott "Scooter" Marry. Then the Bluestreaks had three plays and were forced to punt. During the punt return it was Milligan again who had the ball and he got free for a long 45-yard punt return down to the 15-yard line. Three plays later the Tigers were in the end zone for another score on a nine-yard run by John Nealy and the game was less than four minutes old with Hudson on top 13-0 at the 8:08 mark. Milligan hit the first of his four extra points. "We started fast and took control of the game," said Marry, who has praised the play of his special teams all season and he did that again in this game. "The special teams play has really added a lot to our ballclub and it really makes a difference in how the momentum of the game can swing in your favor."

Ida was stymied by an aggressive Tiger defense that held the Bluestreaks scoreless at halftime as the Tigers had opened up an impressive 34-0 lead. Nealy scored again this time on a five-yard run with 3:41 left in period one making it 20-0. Then Nealy scored his third touchdown of the game with 5:27 until halftime and it was 27-0 as Milligan was good again on the point after. One key play in the first half was the defensive gem turned in by freshman linebacker Matthew Smith who burst through the line during a Bluestreak punt attempt and he lunged forward to block the punt. The Tigers jumped on the loose pigskin and recovered it setting up a final short run for a touchdown with just one second left in the half. That score was a five-yard run by Milligan. "That again was a play from our special teams," said Marry, who credited the freshman Smith with making the big play on the team's punt block. The Tigers used all of their players as much as possible and despite losing the shutout the Tigers still won the game easily. Marry was impressed by Ida, which came out in the second half and put together a nice 13-play drive that resulted in a score taking over six and a half minutes in the third quarter. Neither team quit playing hard and Ida added a final score with one-minute left to play in the game.

Hudson was led on the ground by Milligan with 12 carries for 148 yards, while Derrik Marry had 57 yards on 13 tries and Nealy had 27 yards on five carries and his three scores. For the game it was Hudson running for 282 yards on 46 attempts. Hudson didn't complete a pass but didn't need to on this night. On defense it was Juan Alba with 13 tackles, while Brad Kirkendall, Zeek Williams and Marry had six each. Nealy and Smith chipped in with five tackles and Nate Osborne had a fumble recovery. The Tigers will travel to Ferris State University along with the varsity to play class C, division 6 school Kingsley on Saturday this week. The JV game is set for 10:00 in the morning at the college field in Big Rapids. The varsity game will follow at 1:00 as the two Tiger teams take on the orange and black Stags of the Northwest Conference.

Pop Warner Football Results

By Bill Mullaly

The fifth week of Pop Warner football is over and the teams are now past the halfway point of their season. The teams got together for week five in Addison on an unusually hot first Saturday in October with temperatures hovering near 90 degrees. The exciting was as fast and furious as always and here is how things turned out. In the first game it was Hudson winning 28-0 over Waldron. The Tigers are in first place and they are unbeaten at 5-0. Waldron falls to 0-4. Jacob Morgan took the opening kickoff 80 yards for a score for Hudson and Cody Nelson ran in the point for a 7-0 lead. Next, it was Cole Weaver with a 17-yard scoring run and Nelson again got the point for a fast 14-0 Hudson lead. Morgan picked up a safety by tackling the Spartan quarterback in the end zone for a 16-0 Tiger edge. Weaver then intercepted a pass and went eight yards for a touchdown making it 22-0. The final Tiger score came from signal caller J.D. Waters who went four yards to paydirt leaving Hudson up 28-0 and that is how it ended. For Hudson Daniel Komarynski, Jacob Baker and Logan Milligan had fumble recoveries. Clayton Brockway had an interception for the Tigers. Jerry Champion had a fumble recovery for Waldron. Another highlight for Waldron was the hard running of Keith Lindeman. Cainan Lindeman and Shane Baldwin also had a couple of good tackles for the Spartans. This week we will recognize the coaches who spend a lot of time with these players each week. For Hudson Eric Nelson is the head coach and he is assisted by James Waters and Rod Weaver. Waldron’s head coach is Jim Curtis and he is assisted by Chris Bates.

In the second game it was Madison winning 22-6 over its rival Adrian Blue. Madison scored first on a nice 80-yard scoring toss from Nolan Anschuetz to speedy Colin Slates. Anschuetz threw it ten yards and Slates ran the other 70 for the touchdown. This was one of the best pass plays of the season so far. Nick Klemm ran in the point for a 7-0 lead. Next, it was Anschuetz going two yards on a sneak for a 13-0 lead near halftime. The Blues of Adrian bounced back on a nice pass play of their own as Matt Clark hit Caleb Copeland for a score from 45 yards away making it 13-6 at halftime. Zach Fisher got a safety for the Trojans as he tackled the runner in the end zone for a lead of 15-6 early in period three. Anschuetz hit Slates for their second hook up for a touchdown this time from five yards out. Then Anschuetz hit Tito Cabellero for the point after making it 22-6 and that is how it ended. For Madison Slates also had a pickoff on defense and Fisher had a huge interception in the end zone just as halftime came. Colin Anschuetz had a fumble recovery for the Trojans. David Thompson and Carlito Hamden had fumble recoveries for the Blues of Adrian.

Brad Anschuetz is the head coach for Madison and he has Chad Slates, Chad Fowler, Chad Proudfoot and Greg Shermerhorn as assistants. The Adrian Blues are led by head coach Todd Grubbs, while he is assisted by Todd Robinson and Brock Lorenz. Madison is now 2-2 and the Blues are now 3-2.

The third game was the best of the day as the Adrian Maples beat the Addison Red team 27-20 on a touchdown by Chris Knorr with just 37 seconds remaining in the game. Knorr scored on a nine-yard run that was set-up by a thrilling 40-yard run by Maple speedster Kody Galvan that took the ball to the nine-yard line. Don Lofton ran in the point making it 27-20 and that is how it ended up. The first score of the game from Knorr on a nice 33-yard run and Lofton added the point after and it was 7-0 Adrian Maples. Addison tied the game as Tyler Clark went 57 yards for the touchdown and Luke Meyer ran in the point after for a 7-7 tie. Jonn Dotson then went 28 yards on a scoring run for Adrian and it was 13-7 Maples. Addison tied the game when linebacker Austin Laurie went 25 yards on an interception return for the touchdown. Addison pulled off the successful onside kick as Ryan Stubbins booted the ball and Clark fell on it for Addison for his second fumble recovery of the game. The Red didn’t score off the recovery but Adrian scored when Galvan went 38 yards with just 21 seconds left before halftime as he took a direct snap and found the end zone. David Dennis scored the point after and Adrian led 20-13 In the third quarter Clark went 48 yards to make it 20-19 as Addison then tied the game on a conversion run by Stubbins. It looked like the game was going into overtime but Galvan and Knorr had other ideas as Adrian won to move to 4-1 on the season, while Addison Red fell to 2-3. Lofton had a fumble recovery for Adrian, while Knorr also had a recovery. Auggie Rodella of Adrian put a hard hit on Stubbins in one of the best collisions of the day. The Maples of Adrian are led by big Jay Reed. He is assisted by Brandon Reed, Isiah Reed and Jeremy Johnson. Addison Red is coached by its leader Tony Clark and his assistants Pat Davis and Greg Borton.

The final game was something of a minor upset as unbeaten North Adams was stunned by a winless Addison White team as the White won 31-0. “We felt coming into this game that if we played well we had a good chance of winning,” said victorious Addison coach Randy DeFay. Tyler Corbin got the scoring going with a two-yard quarterback sneak in period one. Then RJ Walch picked off a pass for Addison and he went 15 yards to the one-yard line. Trevor Maynard then scored from a yard out and it was 13-0 in favor Addison when Drew DeFay ran in the extra point. Then DeFay thrilled the crowd with a run of 60 yards and Addison White led 19-0 at halftime. DeFay was done as he went 64 yards on a sweep with one minute left in the third quarter. Then it was Corbin picking off a pass and going 50 yards for the final score of the game making it 31-0. Trent Powers had an interception for North Adams, while Jacob Sarles had an interception and fumble recovery for the Rams. Ben Ackerson also had a fumble recovery for the Rams and Hannah Webb had several tackles on defense. Finally, it was Justin Whitcomb with a fumble recovery for the Rams. North Adams is now 3-1 and Chris “Digger” Monahan is the head coach and he is assisted by Dave Shaffer and Mark Irish. Addison White is now 1-3 and the head coach Is Randy DeFay and his assistants are Randy Walch and Brian Burt. In the flag games it was Madison beating North Adams. The Adrian Bears beat the Hudson Tigers. In the third game it was the Addison Patriots beating the Hudson Buccaneers 6-0. The Adrian Maples beat the Addison Gladiators 24-0 and in the last game it was Pittsford shutting out Waldron 6-0. Be there on this Saturday for more thrilling Pop Warner football action in Addison at the high school.

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