The Lakers traveled to Kalkaska Friday night, where they held on to win 16-12, with a big defensive stop being the deciding factor.
“We knew we couldn’t give this team hope, and we kind of let them stick around,” Glen Lake coach Jesse Smith said. “When we do what we were supposed to do, we’re a pretty good team.”
Kalkaska got on the board first with just under six minutes left in the first quarter, but on the point-after attempt, several Lakers broke through, blocking the kick.
On the following kickoff, Sam Dykstra returned the kick 81 yards for a touchdown with the Lakers converting on their two-point attempt, giving them an 8-6 lead.
After an interception in the first quarter, Glen Lake drove down to the Blazer 1-yard line to start the second quarter, but they were stopped by the Blazers’ stifling defense.
Kalkaska would run the clock out until halftime.
The third quarter was full of back-and-forth drives with the defenses not breaking until Glen Lake scored off a 60-yard touchdown pass from Parker Robertson to Kingston Palmer. Glen Lake converted on the two-point conversion to extend their lead to 16-6.
“I had an interception at the beginning of the game, and I just didn’t throw it hard enough,” Robertson said. “Besides that, I had a nice touchdown to Kingston, and it was a good game.”
To start the fourth quarter, Kalkaska drove down the field and after reaching first and goal from the 9-yard line, they went backwards until a Hunter Wilkinson scramble brought them back to the 10-yard line for a crucial fourth down.
On fourth down, Wilkinson scrambled for a touchdown, cutting the Laker lead down to four (16-12).
“I feel like my team’s game was awesome,” Palmer said. “I feel like we let a few go; if we did our assignments better, we would have had a lot more on the scoreboard.”
After a stop by the Blazer defense, Robertson punted the ball within the 10-yard line.
The Blazers were able to get a first down, but then the Lakers stopped them and forced a turnover on downs on Kalkaska’s 18-yard line.
Glen Lake was able to run one play before a snap sailed over Robertson’s head, which was recovered by the Blazers.
The Blazers marched down to the Glen Lake 19-yard line in two plays when Glen Lake was forced to call a timeout.
Kalkaska was able to run two plays before calling a timeout of their own with less than a minute to play.
On third and three from the 14, a Glen Lake defender was able to knock a pass away, bringing up
fourth down with 50 seconds left.
On fourth down, Kalkaska tried setting up a screen play that was batted down by senior Fletcher Middleton, giving the Lakers the win.
Glen Lake: Sam Dykstra 87-yard kickoff return TD, 64 rush yards; Fletcher Middleton 78 rush yards, 6 tackles, sack, TFL, game-winning pass break up; Parker Robinson 3-for-7, 76 pass yards, TD, INT; Kingston Palmer 5.5 tackles; Griffin Dilley 4.5 tackles.
Glen Lake is on the road again next week against Johannesburg-Lewiston Friday at 7 p.m.
