Talent
The Munising football team knows that they have a talented roster. They also know that with just 14 players on the squad, they really need to stay healthy if they’re to have a successful 2024 season.
“The first week went well, injury free, you’re always worried about that in early camp,” twelfth year head coach Matt Mattson said. “The attitudes have been good, they have worked hard and we have a good group of seniors. The biggest problem is with only 14 players, any injuries we have will certainly affect our season.”
The Munising Football Roster
On the roster this year will be Dylan Adkinson, Nolan Connaughton, Jacob Homes-Niven, Jaxon Malone, Avery Murk, Dimetri Balko, Carter Deatsman, Jack Dusseault, Connor Eisenhardt, Carson Kienitz, Zack Lindquist, Keegan Long, Trevor Nolan and Damion Hase.
“Kienitz is our quarterback and Dusseault and Lindquist are back for us, Deatsman is back for us, he is a fantastic football player,” Mattson said. “Eisenhardt, should start both ways [offense and defense] for us. We have a lot of players starting both ways so we have to be a well conditioned team.
“We have some talent coming back, last year we had some people missing games so that didn’t help us get off to a decent start,” he added. “This year we have four non-conference games to start our season and then conference games the last five. I’m happy with the talent we have coming back offensively, we should be able to have some big plays and defensively we have pretty good team speed so that’s important on that side of the ball.”
Great Lakes Conference
Munising will play in the Great Lakes Conference once again this season. In their division will be Newberry, Norway, Rudyard, St. Ignace and Pickford.
“The conference is a little bit crazy, we’ve been separated into three divisions,” Mattson said. “All six teams (in our division) are possibly playoff teams year-in and year-out, the problem will be that we beat each other a bit and not all of us will get into the playoffs. That part of our schedule is very tough, but if you make it through you are certainly going to be ready for the playoffs.”
Last Year
The Mustangs went 3-6 last year, getting wins over Rapid River, Brimley and Superior Central. They also lost close games to Newberry and Pickford.
“We’re not big on team goals, we just look to get better every day and try to give 100-percent effort every day,” Mattson said.
“If we do that, we can hang our heads high. I think that has worked out well for me in my career, our teams play hard and are successful.”
Stories from last year’s football season can be found here on The Munising Beacon: https://www.munisingbeacon.com/?s=Munising+Football&ct_post_type=post%3Apage
Munising Football Opener
Munising opens the season August 29 at Ironwood, a team that went 3-6 last year.
“It is a three-and-a-half hour bus ride, so I’m glad it is occurring prior to school so we can take our time getting down there and back,” Mattson said. “Ironwood is a decent football team, they have some talent, they spread things out and throw the ball more than some teams we see. Defensively they
are aggressive. In week two we see Lake Linden-Hubbell, who is always a powerhouse. The first two weeks are going to tell us a lot about our football team.”
Read more about the Munising Schools on their website: https://www.munisingschools.com
