The Friday Night Lights were bright, and the Sault High Blue Devils (3-1) had a big win at home, defeating the Escanaba Eskymos (1-3) in their second Big North Conference match up of the season. The score was 0-0 at the end of the first quarter, but the Blue Devils got on the board in the second quarter when senior Ryver Ryckeghem had an 85 yard touchdown run. Junior Cale Bell made it 8-0 with a successful two point conversion run. Senior Kaydin Lujan had a 7 yard touchdown run, bringing the score up to 14-0. The two point conversion attempt was no good. There were no additional points before the end of the first half, or in the third quarter. Senior Chris Kiekhaefer had a fumble recovery in the end zone in the fourth quarter for another touchdown for the Blue Devils. Freshman Aaron McLeod delivered, and the extra point kick was good, bringing the score up to 21-0. Escanaba rallied with a 40 yard pass for a touchdown, and a successful extra point kick, making it 21-7. The Eskymos did not put any more points on the board before the clock ran out. The final score was Sault Ste Marie 21, and Escanaba 7.
Head Coach Scott Menard praised his team’s defense. “Our defense played great again. Forced 5 turnovers.” Lujan had 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery; senior Ryan TenEyck had 6 tackles and 1 interception; Bell had 5 tackles, two of them for loss of yards for the Eskymos.
Senior Joey Gravelle had 3 tackles and 1 interception; senior Will Ohman had 3 tackles and 1 interception; senior Callen Campbell had 2 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble, and
Kiekhaefer had 1 tackle, and the fumble recovery, resulting in a touchdown.
On offense, Ryckeghem had 13 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown; Lujan had 15 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown; Campbell had 8 carries for 38 yards; Bell had 8 carries for 31 yards, and the two point conversion, and Ohman had 5 carries for 20 yards.
“We got a strong performance from our offensive line: (seniors) Evan Arbic, Kiekhaefer, Gravelle, Cam Labadie, and Carson Kronemeyer; (juniors) Sawyer Kuenzer and Calvin Aldrich, and (sophomores) Jonah Rishmawi and Emmett Jones. We had a lot of great contributions from some of our second-teams guys, who had to fill in and played a lot in the second half: Ohman, (juniors) Ezra Beach, Owen Rice, Owen Horrigan, and (sophomore) Tristan Walcher.”
The Blue Devils are now 3-1 overall, and 1-1 in the Big North Conference. They are back on the road next week, taking on another conference rival, Marquette, who are 2-1 overall and also 1-1 in the conference.
Photo credit: Cara DeNuccio
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