Kingsford senior Gavin Grondin (1) celebrates a touchdown late in Friday’s game against Marquette at Flivver Field. (Terry Raiche photo)

KINGSFORD — Striving to become the first Kingsford High School football team in 22 years to go undefeated in the regular season, the Flivvers were stuck in a tug-of-war with a talented and big Marquette squad on Friday night at Flivver Field.

In the latter stages of the third quarter, the Kingsford defense had just forced a three-and-out and Flivver senior Gavin Grondin went back to around his 20-yard line to receive the Sentinel punt.

Having muffed an earlier punt that led to Marquette taking a 7-0 lead early in the opening quarter, Grondin was apprehensive when Sentinel senior Jacob MacPhee kicked a line drive toward him.

Grondin caught the punt cleanly and built a head of steam before he was met by a group of Marquette tacklers around midfield. Grondin kept fighting to stay on his feet as the Sentinel defenders struggled to stop his momentum.

And just when it appeared they had, Grondin squirted out of the pack, saw an empty field before him and sprinted into the end zone to celebrations from his teammates, his coaches and the Flivver faithful. The remarkable play gave the Flivvers a 10-point lead and they were never headed from there, defeating Marquette 27-17 to complete their perfect regular season.

A lot to unpack, for sure. First Grondin on his punt return.

“I was a little nervous from the first one, but I knew I had to shake that off,” Grondin began. “I caught it clean, had a few blockers, made a few guys miss and history.”

Well, there was more to it than that, no?

“I was like, ‘OK, I’m running into a bunch here,'” Grondin said, going into more depth. “I made a move, spun out of there and all I saw was green and I was off to the races from there.”

Then late in the game with his team still up by 10, Grondin sealed the deal when he took a direct snap at quarterback (subbing for injured starter Nic Novara), made a move at the line of scrimmage, broke right and sprinted 16 yards into the end zone.

After the extra point by Sid Olson, Kingsford put the game out of reach at 27-10 with 2:36 to play.

Among all those witnessing Grondin’s exploits, including a sizable crowd that included a large contingent from Marquette, stood Flivver coach Mark Novara, who was clear afterwards on his opinion of one of the biggest playmakers the U.P. has seen, in both football and basketball, in recent years.

“He’s the best player in the U.P. in any sport he’s in,” Novara said. “And we’re sure glad he’s on our team. He’s a special one, and humble, and just wants it so bad for himself and for his team.

“He’s the ultimate team player and he delivers. That punt return, I don’t think I’ve seen a play like that. Ever.”

While Grondin’s plays were the most eye-catching, Kingsford has several heroes on this night. After the Sentinels (6-3) took the early lead, Nic Novara stabilized things for his group by completing his first 10 passes of the night.

His fourth completion, a 5-yarder to fullback Trenton VanOss, helped even the score at 7-all with 3:40 left in the opening stanza.

Marquette took a 10-7 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Sawyer Johnson nine seconds into the second quarter before the Flivver offensive line, comprised of seniors Mason Tappy, Andres Finley and Brettin Rouse, junior Logan DeClark and sophomore Connor White, began to enforce itself on the game.

The Flivvers responded to Marquette’s score by going on a 11-play 78-yard drive, capped off by senior Gavin Trevillian’s 7-yard touchdown run with 7:21 left before halftime and KHS’s annual band and fireworks extravaganza.

The point-after was blocked as Kingsford headed into the locker room with a 13-10 edge.

The score remained that way until Grondin’s electrifying punt return added to Kingsford’s lead. And that 10-point gap was more than enough for a Flivver defense that has been the heart and soul of the squad this season.

With a seemingly endless supply of blitzes drawn up by defensive coordinator Chris Hofer, Kingsford kept Sentinel junior quarterback Ford Richardson scrambling much of the night.

The Flivvers did this against a mammoth offensive line, including 6-6, 275-pound Central Michigan University recruit Talon Smith and 6-7, 295-pound Pavel McCutcheon at the tackle spots.

While Marquette did run the ball well at times and senior running back Drew Bradley finished with 106 yards on 15 carries, the Flivvers held Richardson to just 10 of 28 passing with an interception by Trevillian.

The pressure on Richardson was intense all game long.

“We really get home to the quarterback a lot,” Coach Novara said. “That’s been our M.O. all year and that showed up again tonight.”

The defensive unit on this historic night included defensive tackles Blake Flaminio and David Nanninga, Finley and Tappy at defensive ends, Rouse, VanOss and Caleb Kleist at linebackers and Grondin, Trevillian, Sid Olson and Jack Olson in the defensive backfield.

They all did their part on a night they were tested often.

“Obviously, Marquette’s huge,” Coach Novara said. “I mean, they created a lot of problems for us. I think they were bigger than us across the board and they’re athletic as can be across the board.

“We knew we had to out-tough them and we went out and did that.”

With the victory, the 2024 Kingsford team etched its name in the annuals of Flivver football.

“From the beginning of the season, we knew we had a team that could do it,” Grondin said. “And that’s what we worked for all summer, to be undefeated. We knew we could do it.”

“It’s just a special moment for those guys and we talked about it all week,” Coach Novara added. “It will be something you’ll remember when you come back here for your 20th reunion, you’ll be talking about.”

Despite the celebration that spread across Flivver Field after the game, there was an underlying feeling of concern. For the night, and the week in fact, did not go perfectly for the Kingsford football program.

Earlier in the week, junior do-it-all standout Jack Kriegl suffered a lacerated spleen in practice and will miss the rest of the football season and possibly portions of the basketball season.

Then midway through the fourth quarter, Nic Novara suffered an apparent head injury and was helped off the field, never to return.

Novara’s availability for Kingsford’s first-round MHSAA Division 5 playoff game is not known as of press time. The Flivvers will host Gladwin (6-3) on Saturday, Nov. 2, with a 1 p.m. kickoff.