The Munising Mustangs football team had a wonderful performance on the road last Thursday, as the Mustangs won big 67-0 in Brimley.
“I think we came out and played pretty tough in the first half. Our defense was getting after it,” said Matt Mattson, Munising Head Coach. “They have a pretty nice passing game, so it’s good to get after the quarterback.”
With multiple starters out due to injury, Brimley struggled to get its offense started. Senior Landon Cameron, who is the team’s third string quarterback, was sacked nine times by the Mustang defense, throwing one interception.
“We play a lot of zone, but we decided earlier in the week that we would play more man because they throw the ball a lot. We knew the quarterback wouldn’t scramble a lot, so we brought the pressure and disrupt the quarterback from there,” Mattson said.
Rushing wasn’t an option either for the Bays, as Munising had an additional 16 tackles for loss. Special teams also went the Mustang way, after a 35yard punt return touchdown by Carter Deatsman.
Penalties did upset the Mustangs throughout the game, as the only first downs of the first half for the home team came on false starts by Munising. Three touchdowns were negated due to illegal formation or illegal blocks on a return.
“I put that on myself,” Mattson said. “We didn’t have the formation right, so something we will adjust for in the future. The rest of it are just hustles. Two years ago those were good blocks, so you work with them to put their hands in the right spot.”
Offensively, Munising could not be stopped. The Mustangs scored on its first five offensive drives, only getting stopped on their sixth due to halftime. Quarterbacks Blake Walther and Carson Kienitz had touchdown passes in the first half to Jack Dusseault and Reece Cotey respectively.
According to Mattson, the options at quarterback are a bright spot in the offense while players are still staying active.
“Tyler Nelson started the season, but after an injury, he’s focusing on defense right now. Walther has done a great job recently for us and he’s there to run the football, but Kienitz might be the most versatile out there. He does a little bit of everything and he’s a junior so we’re grooming him for next year a bit,” Mattson said. “Our game plan is to switch people out. The same eight are still out there, we just switch it around a bit.”
With two weeks to go, the Mustangs will most likely miss the playoffs, sitting with a 2-5 record. Their opponent this week is an old foe in the St. Ignace Saints, who are playing their first season of eight-man football. The all-time record between the schools is 3-3, including a 20-8 victory in 2017.
With the game at Brimley moved to Thursday, Munising got an extra day of rest and film to prepare for tonight. But the Saints are 6-1 with wins against Rudyard, Indian River-Inland Lakes and Suttons Bay and will be a challenge in Mustang Stadium.
“They’re a playoff football team. This is kind of our playoff game to see where we’ve grown throughout the year,” Mattson said. “We’ll have that extra day to recover, and Monday, we’ll get after it. Homecoming week is this week, so the kids will have some more things to do, so that will be a factor. Either way, we’ll be ready to go on Friday.”
