The Munising Mustangs varsity football team traveled to Eben Junction Saturday, Oct. 21 to take on the Superior Central Cougars in the final game of the season for both teams.

The Cougars, led by senior quarterback C.J. Adams, got off to a rocky start in the first quarter, unable to manifest a strong passing game and ending up backed into their own end zone in punt formation. A bad snap resulted in the ball going over sophomore punter Jack Ledesma’s head out of the back of the end zone for a safety, giving the Mustangs an early twopoint lead. The Mustangs had initial struggles, too, with the Mustangs having trouble dialing up the passing game early, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Going into the latter stages of the first quarter, Munising scored after a fumble recovery off of Adams. The two-point conversion was good, resulting in a 10-0 score going into the second quarter. The Mustangs attempted an onside kick following this score, however it was successfully recovered by the Cougars to gain possession. Adams managed to connect for an eight yard gain to senior guard Elijah Penney off of a trick play, but was soon after halted as the Mustangs defense stood firm, resulting in a turnover on downs after a sack.

As the game continued, the Mustangs began to spark in their passing game, with junior tight end Jack Dusseault catching two touchdown passes from Reese Cotey, both of which were followed up by successful two-point conversions. The Cougars continued to struggle to find any momentum on either side of the ball, with only the offensive line, led by senior center Jason Kanerva, holding firm and granting plenty of time for Adams in the pocket. SC was unable to make up for the lack of viable options given to Adams, who had no choice but to attempt daring scrambles throughout the game with little to no success.

The Mustangs ended up with a dominant 86-0 win over the Cougars, with two Mustangs receivers passing the century mark in receiving yardage and a strong rushing game to back up the forward pass. Munising ends the season 3-6 and Superior Central went 0-9 for the 2023 season.