×

Football: Redmen make late stop, beat Flivvs

Marquette thwarts Kingsford’s last-minute two-point conversion

Kingsford's Trevor Povolo (24) shakes the grasp of Marquette's Drew Wyble (7) on Friday in Kingsford. (Burt Angeli/The Daily News)

KINGSFORD — Marquette stuffed a two-point conversion in the final seconds and edged Kingsford 21-20 in Great Northern Conference football Friday at Flivver Field.

The Redmen (3-3, 2-0) produced a 21-7 halftime advantage while the Flivvers (2-4, 1-1) regrouped in the second half.

Luke Terrian’s third touchdown run brought the Flivvers to within one point with 1:18 left in the game.

Kingsford then played for the win, calling consecutive timeouts prior to the two-point conversion attempt. Terrian rolled right on a run-pass option and came up a foot short.

“That was a huge play by these young men, something they will remember for a long, long time,” said Marquette head coach David L’Huillier. “That’s the difference in wins and losses sometimes. Today it comes down to one foot. Just great play by our young men.”

Kingsford head coach Chris Hofer and his team wanted the two-point try.

“I just thought we could get it and they wanted it, too,” Hofer said of his Flivvers. “We had the momentum at the time.”

L’Huillier, who pulled off a two-point conversion in overtime to beat Escanaba this season, wasn’t surprised by the Flivvers’ bold move.

“They had the momentum,” L’Huillier said. “They were driving in the second half and had just ran in from 5 yards away to score.”

The first half of the homecoming game certainly didn’t look like it was coming down to a single point. Marquette moved to a 21-7 advantage behind two touchdown runs of 2 and 36 yards by Brady Wright and a 67-yard pitch from Brendan Kaski to Ethan Martysz.

Terrian raced 69 yards for a second-quarter touchdown. The senior quarterback added a pair of five-yard scoring runs in the second half.

“The second half is how the first half should have been,” Hofer said. “It stated that way and then just poor execution with so many things. We had poor execution on little things that we shouldn’t be doing at this time of the year.”

Kingsford held Marquette to 63 yards total offense in the second half. Martysz was held to one catch for two yards before leaving with a shoulder injury midway through the fourth quarter. Wright’s second-half rushing was three carries for 16 yards.

“We just had a different attitude (in the second half),” Hofer said. “We showed what we could do.”

L’Huillier cited Kingsford adjustments and mistakes by his club for the second half.

“They changed their coverage a little bit defensively,” L’Huillier said. “They did a few thing differently. They tried to slow Ethan Martysz down a little bit. We made a few miscues that we didn’t take care of.”

Marquette tallied three turnovers, with Austin Tabbert and Wright intercepting passes and Ethan Hayes recovering one of the several high snaps by the Flivvers. Trevor Povolo and Tyler Beauchamp picked off Marquette throws.

Kingsford had one last gasp with an on-side kick, but Marquette’s Robert Bell recovered.

“I’m just so impressed with our kids and how they dug deep,” L’Huillier said. “We didn’t do the things we needed to do offensively in the second half but our defense showed up big time at the end in stopping the two-point conversion.”

Both teams play non-league games with Wisconsin foes next Friday, with the Flivvers hosting Lomira and the Redmen meeting Lakeland of Minocqua.

Marquette is the only unbeaten team in the Great Northern Conference.

“We have a lot of games left to play but this is a huge win all the away around for us,” L’Huillier said. “It keeps us in contention in for playoffs and the conference.”

Marquette last won the GNC in 2011.

“Its’ been too long,” L’Huillier said.

Marquette 0 21 0 0 — 21

Kingsford 0 7 7 6 — 20

Second Quarter

M — Wright 2 run (Wyble kick), 11:57

K — Terrian 69 run (Normand kick), 11:39

M — Martysz 67 pass from Kaski (Wyble kick), 10:37

M — Wright 36 run (Wyble kick), 4:51

Third Quarter

K — Terrian 5 run (Normand kick), :38

Fourth Quarter

K — Terrian 5 run (2-pt failed), 1:18

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today