Call it a typical bad news, good news situation. Munising was scheduled to play an 8-player football game at Brimley on Friday, but the bad news is Brimley was forced to forfeit that game. The good news is this gives Munising credit for another victory, giving them a perfect 4-0 start to the season.
“Brimley called us on Thursday around noon to forfeit the game, they had some injuries and sickness,” Munising head coach Matt Mattson said. “We offered to go there Saturday and play, but they stated the extra day wouldn’t help their situation.”
According to Mattson, they did reach out to Onaway, who also had an open date, but a contest could not be worked out between the two sides.
“I don’t like forfeits because these high school kids only have a limited number of opportunities to play, Mattson said. “Win or lose it may have been someone’s first touchdown or first tackle or just first time being on the field.”
The Mustangs will still of course take the victory, and might even see some of the benefit of the extra time off from game play.
“The forfeit doesn’t hurt us, we get the win and playoff points,” Mattson said. “Brimley will also probably win their next three games so we’ll get those bonus points as well. The other positive for us with our limited numbers is we didn’t pick up any injuries. So, we’re pretty healthy heading into week five.”
Munising (4-0 overall) returns to action on Friday, when they head to Newberry (0-4). The Indians are winless so far this season, but have had close losses, especially recently. They came up short to Ontonagon 4640 in week three, and last week they dropped a close one to Lake Linden-Hubbell, 40-30.
“Newberry has one of the toughest schedules in the state,” Mattson said. “They have a very explosive offense with one of the best athletes in the UP, Matthew Rahally, running, catching, and passing it. Their defense is very similar to ours so we’ll have to figure out ways to move the football and score. It’s Newberry’s homecoming and ‘Battle for the Ax’ so they’ll be well prepared for us. Hopefully our fan base travels well. It will be a great game.”
