COSTLY WIN: Braves Top Patriots But Solis Injured
Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Kaden Gibbs, Evan Woelffer, and Luke Inghram.
Also hear comments from both teams' coaches, and player spotlight interviews with Gladstone seniors Rex Kelly and Parker Forrest. We will post a replay of the radio broadcast later this weekend.
WEST ISHPEMING---The Gladstone Braves football team earned an easy 49-8 win over the Westwood Patriots Friday night in West Ishpeming, but the Braves paid a heavy price for the win when senior running back Austin Solis suffered a leg injury that may sideline him for the rest of the season.
Solis was taken off the field on a golf cart after being tackled in the second period, and was treated at UP Health System-Bell. Solis says he does not have a broken bone, but believes he has muscle damage that may have ended his season. He is waiting for the results of an MRI, and he was allowed to come home to Gladstone early Saturday morning.
"It actually feels like a loss," a concerned and heartbroken Braves Coach Craig Ness said after the game. "That kid has put in so much time. Let's hope, and maybe it's a bruise or something. But he worked his butt off. It's just....it's tough."
As the night went on, it was clear that this was no bruise, but as always, Solis kept a positve attitude as he messaged concerned friends and teammates on Snapchat, and waited for word from the doctors on just how bad it was.
"He's probably mad that we missed so many tackles," Ness said. "That's something that we've got to clean up. But...if I lose a player, a gain a coach (on the sidelines). So, unfortunately, that's part of the game."
That huge downer of Solis' injury overshadowed what was a dominating performance for the Braves over the Patriots, who have not won a game this season under new Coach Marcus Tucker. It was a great night for the Braves senior Kaden Gibbs, who celebrated his 18th birthday with three touchdown receptions from fellow senior Nate Young (60, 19, 25 yards).
"It's a pretty good win to celebrate my 18th birthday," Gibbs said. "It feels weird to have a game on my birthday, but I like it. It's cool. He (Young) had some great passes all around, and even some runs where he had to roll out of the pocket. He played a great game. This is a good win for us. We a few things that we need to clean up. Offensively and defensively."
Gibbs also had an interception that he returned 35 yards on the last play of the first half, and he returned a punt 46 yards late in the first quarter. Gibbs also played both sides of the ball, teaming up with Vinny Howes and Eli Berthaume on several tackles for loss. On a night when Gladstone had many players step up, Gibbs was clearly the Player of the Game.
Gibbs said he, and the fellow seniors, had to pull together after Solis got hurt.
"We couldn't be down for him," Gibbs said. "I was telling everyone, and Coach was telling them, we've got to bring the intensity back up, and we've got to play for Austin. And I think that's what we did. We came out strong. We played for Big Terry."
Solis, before he got hurt, put the Braves on the scoreboard in the first quarter when he took a dump-off pass from Young and raced 64 yards for a touchdown just 2:11 into the game.
It was a great night for Eli Berthaume, who might have been Player of the Game had Gibbs not dominated so much. Berthaume, another senior, took two runs to the House: 25 yards in the second quarter to make it 27-0, and 48 yards in the third quarter to make it 42-0.
And there were other guys who stepped up for Gladstone. How about junior Evan Woelffer, who intercepted a pass in the end zone and took it 77 yards back to the Westwood 25-yard-line? Gladstone scored three plays later on one of the Young TD passes to Gibbs.
"They were in that 'bunch look' again, so I sat back in my third," Woelffer said. "I saw the ball go over, so I just sat back, and it just went right over his (Gabe Tossava) fingertips. Then I had the wide-open sideline all the way up the field. I got around these two linemen (in the return) and one of them stuck their hand out, and just grabbed my foot. Just barely! But it's my first year playing, so any achievements, I mean, my first interception of the year, so it felt pretty good."
And how about sophomore kicker Luke Inghram, playing varsity for the first time? He stepped in for the injured Trevor Thorbahn and booted five extra point kicks through the uprights. That's more than the Braves have had in the last few seasons, let alone one game.
"Well, it was a pretty good game and I got to kick five extra points," Inghram said. "That's better than last season and even on JV, I only had two. Last season, I had three, so this is way better for me. It felt good that I could help out, and do some kickoffs as well. I was hoping to do some field goals, but not tonight, I guess. But, shoutout to everyone who scored touchdowns tonight and let me kick extra points!"
As for Westwood, Tucker is a Northern Michigan University graduate and played three seasons on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad. And despite the score, he was happy with his young Patriots team.
"We got our butts whipped tonight, and we take our licking, but I do love the effort in which the kids went about their work today," the Patriots coach said. "The effort was there. We've just got to get better fundamentally. I think we have some kids who did some positive things tonight. We just kept fighting, man. That's something that the kids should hold their heads high about."
Westwood's Jayce Arsenault ran hard, and scored his team's only touchdown on a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter. He also ran in the two-point conversion.
As for Solis, he said after he returned to Gladstone early Saturday morning that he was thankful for the way his teammates, and the Patriots players and coaches, treated him, after he was hurt. They all crowded around him while he sat in a golf cart to be taken off the field and to the hospital. He was in good spirits, and had this to say to everyone:
"I'll be fine."
Gladstone improved to 4-1 on the season and will have a huge battle next Friday night in Menominee against the undefeated Maroons (5-0). Menominee laid a 56-0 licking on Houghton Friday night. The Maroons, playing under Gladstone graduate Chad Brandt, have run the table while allowing only six points on defense all season long.
The game next Friday will be broadcast on FM-93.5 and AM-600 in Delta County, and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
