After missing the previous six games with his second spleen injury in two years, the talented senior returned Saturday in his team’s MHSAA District 66 semifinal against Gladwin and what a return it was.

The Michigan Tech recruit threw for two touchdown passes, returned an interception for another and recovered a fumble to inspire the Flivvers to a 26-6 win over the Flying Gs.

With the victory, the Flivvers (7-3) advance to the District 33 championship game to face Ogemaw Heights (9-1) on Saturday. Game time is set for noon Kingsford time in Ogemaw Heights.

Kingsford coach Mark Novara started his postgame comments Saturday with his thoughts on Kriegl’s return and superlative performance, plus the importance of junior backup quarterback Blake Tomasoski’s play as a placeholder for the last six weeks.

Jake Lockhart (21) finds daylight for Kingsford as he's ready to lower the boom on Gladwin's Logan Walters (9).

“I think anytime you get a player the caliber of Jack Kriegl back it elevates everybody,” Novara said. “We’re not here if we don’t have Blake Tomasoski. But Jack’s just that extra level player. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think he’s the best player in the U.P. as far as offense, defense, special teams. He does everything and you saw it again today.”

“It was a blessing, that’s all I can say,” Kriegl said. “God put me in a great place with a lot of good people around me and I just love the game. I was just glad to be back to play it, and I was enjoying every snap out there.”

Kriegl played with a sizable rib guard wrapped around his waist. The left side of the pad extending higher than the right to protect his spleen.

The fact that Kriegl played in the game was remarkable. After this season’s injury in the third week against Gladstone, Kriegl sought medical treatment and the first doctor he saw said he’d never play football again.

Kriegl and his family sought a second opinion and this time the doctor said he would be out six weeks, after which they would reevaluate. This doctor also recommended that Kriegl not play anymore.

But feeling antsy as his senior season wound down, Kriegl reported to the doctor two weeks ago that he felt good and he wanted to play in the playoffs if his team qualified.

It did and he did.

“I went to a checkup, and I was like ‘Doc, I really want to play, and he’s like, ‘You’re six weeks is here and I’m like ‘We have a playoff game (coming up). He gave me the green light, and I made sure it was OK with my mom (Laura) and my dad (assistant coach Joe) and coach (Novara).”

“His safety is No. 1,” Novara said. “So, we went and ordered him a big pair of rib pads. And to make sure that he was taken care of and make sure that he’s in the best possible spot.

Kriegl’s first touch of the day came on the opening play from scrimmage, a 32-yard reception from Tomasoski. After that, Kriegl moved back to his quarterback spot and Tomasoski rotated out to the wide receiver position.

Two plays later, Kriegl took off on a 17-yard run to the Gladwin 10-yard line. After Kriegl’s 5-yard pickup, junior tight end turned fullback Jake Lockhart rumbled in from the 5 to put the Flivvers on top just 3 1/2 minutes into the game.

Gladwin ran a no-huddle offense with three-year starting quarterback Colton Pfenninger leading the way. The Flivvers were quite familiar with the senior after he led the Flying Gs to an 18-15 victory over the Flivvers in last season’s district semifinal.

Pfenninger had several athletic offensive options to turn to, but Kingsford repeatedly sent blitzes at him and kept the backs from getting outside containment.

The scheme worked as Kingsford held the Flying Gs to 50 yards on 20 rushing attempts, 136 yards on 15-of-27 passes and 27 points under their average.

“That’s Coach (Chris) Hofer,” Novara said of the Flivvers former head coach and present assistant. “He’s been around for a long time, and he just keeps doing it. Nothing really shakes or rattles him. He gets the guys in the right spots and he’s always bringing pressure.”

After the teams played a field position battle for the rest of the first period and deep into the second, the Flivvers added to their lead with 1:33 to play before halftime when Kriegl hit sophomore tight end Chace Jungles for a 9-yard TD pass. The PAT kick missed but Kingsford pushed its lead to 13-0.

Just 28 seconds later, Kriegl came up with probably the play of the game when he picked off a pass from Pfenninger and returned it 52 yards for a score. The 2-point pass failed but the Flivvers took a 19-0 lead into the halftime break.

“They were trying to get down the field to score before halftime,” Kriegl said. “I figured they were going to resort to the pass game, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Once I got the ball, (my defensive teammates) did some good blocking for me and I was fortunate to get a pick six.”

At halftime, Novara reminded his team about losing a sizeable halftime advantage in the season-opening defeat to Escanaba.

“You’re up three scores at halftime and that’s a big thing,” the veteran head coach said. “But we talked at halftime that we lost the first game of the year because we took the foot off the gas a little bit and we had some special teams’ errors.

“We talked about that, making sure we’re taking care of our business (in the second half). We were really focused on the first drive of the third quarter. We wanted to keep them out of the end zone, which we did. That was critical for us, you don’t want to have any momentum swings.”

The Flivvers held Gladwin on downs near midfield on that initial drive of the second half. Kingsford then advanced the ball to the Gladwin 10-yard line but couldn’t punch it in and failed on a fourth down pass attempt.

The Flying Gs put some concern into Kingsford fans with a 15-play, 87-yard touchdown drive on the next possession, capped off by a 1-yard run from sophomore running back MJ McDonald. However, the Flivvers blocked the extra-point kick to keep a 13-point lead.

“That’s just a tough-nosed football team but I think we got them off their game with our pressure,” Novara said.

The game stayed at 19-6 until Kriegl made his next big play when he rolled to his left and heaved an off-balance pass under pressure from around his 20 to near midfield where Gaige Sorenson hauled it in and sprinted down the sidelines for a 76-yard scoring reception. Sorenson added the PAT kick to leave Kingsford with a 26-6 lead with 6:36 left.

The Flying Gs returned the kickoff to the Kingsford 26-yard line but any hope they had of a big comeback ended when Kriegl recovered a fumble after a pass reception at the Flivver 11 with five minutes left.

Kingsford kept possession the rest of the game, mostly by running Lockhart between the tackles. The burly back finished the game with a team-high 86 yards rushing on 18 carries.

Lockhart recently moved into the fullback role after Novara felt that Jungles was ready for more playing time.

“He’s going to be a really, really good one,” Novara said of Lockhart. “I’m really excited to watch where he’s going.”

But this day belonged to Kriegl, who amazed players, coaches and fans with his performance after six weeks out.

“I was pretty bummed (after the injury), but our boys stepped up, and they were playing great without me. And thanks to them, we got a playoff game, or I wouldn’t have gotten to play.

“We’re very excited for another opportunity to play. Football in the playoffs is a blast so I’m so happy to be back.”