Huron Shocks Jefferson

“Biggest win in school history” was the first thing Huron coach Dan Kalbfleisch could say after his team’s 42-28 victory over Jefferson. It just may have been. The Chiefs haven’t beaten the Bears since 1980 and it’s their first win over one of the so called “Big Four” in the Huron League in well, forever.

Things didn’t start out well for the Chiefs as Jefferson started the game with an impressive 13 play 70 yard drive that ended with a Bryan McCullough 4 yard touchdown plunge. The extra point was added and the Bears led 7-0. Huron’s first drive started at their own 30 yard line and they quickly drove into Jefferson territory before 3 straight big penalties had the Chiefs staring at 2nd and 45 at their own 20. The Chiefs were forced to punt and Jefferson was took over deep in their own territory. Huron was able to force a short punt and the Chiefs second possession started at the Bear 32 yard line. It took the Chiefs just 6 plays to find the endzone when Andrew Mayrand sneaked one into the endzone from 1 yard out. The extra point was good by Huron’s Zach Richardson who had just arrived to the game after leading the Chief’s soccer team to a 2-0 shutout of Riverview. The quarter ended with the game tied at 7.

Early in the 2nd quarter Huron was able to take a 14-7 lead when Andrew Mayrand connected with Caleb Tavtigian on a 45 yard TD pass. The Chief drive covered 75 yards in just 4 plays. Jefferson responded quickly when RB Dylan Sharkus took a pitch and scampered 61 yards on the first play of the drive and the score was tied 14-14. QB Mike Oley made the key block that sprung the quick back into the open for the score. Huron would come back and score again on a 1 yard run by Tyler Weclowski. The Chief drive covered 53 yards in 9 plays. The key play of the drive was a “Boise State” type pass play that covered 29 yards. The extra point was blocked and Huron led at the break 20-14.

The third quarter started with the Chiefs taking possession at their 37 yard line. It took the Chiefs just 3:16 to cover 63 yards in 7 plays to find the endzone again. This time it was Mayrand hooking up with WR Dave Stockert on a 20 yard pass that found they endzone. The 2-point conversion was good and Huron held a 14 point lead with 8:34 to go in the 3rd. On the ensuing possession Huron was able to force a fumble that was picked up by Chief defender Jacob Murphy and returned to the Bear 20 yard line. The Chiefs would cover the 20 yards in 4 plays as Mayrand scored on a 5 yard keeper to give the Chiefs a 35-14 lead with 6:09 to go in the quarter. Jefferson was not fazed by the score and went on a classic “Marc Cisco Drive” which covered 62 yards on 9 plays. Bryan McCullough would carry the ball 7 times on the drive and it ended with him scoring from 3 yards out making the game 35-21 going into the 4th.

The 4th quarter started with Huron in the middle of a 13 play drive that would end up covering 78 yards. The Chiefs were able to chew valuable minutes off of the clock. The drive would take 6 minutes and 19 seconds as Weclowski scored again on a 1 yard run. Once again the point after was good and the Chiefs led by 21 points again 42-21. Jefferson would not go away quietly though. The Bears would promptly march 50 yards in in 6 plays as Mike Oley threw a short 4 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Boring and the score was 42-28 with 5:26 to go in the game. Jefferson would get the ball back a minute later and would drive down to the Chief 31 yard line before turning it over on downs with 2:23 to go. The Chiefs were able to run out the clock and preserve what is certainly one of the school’s biggest wins in history. “Our defense gave up some points but they stepped up when they had to” said a happy yet business like Kalbfleisch after the game. “We had a lot of two’s out on the field late in the game and they did a nice job.”

The Chiefs were led on the offensive side of the ball by QB Andrew Mayrand who was an impressive 7-11 for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns. The senior signal caller also ran for 2 scores. The key though was the Chief running game which racked up 252 yards on the ground and ate up much of the clock in the 2nd half. Sterling Wilson carried 18 times for 139 yards while Weclowski added 66 yards on 13 carries with 2 touchdowns. The Chief defense was led by Weclowski’s 15 tackles while Jake Kincaid added 13 for Huron who moves to 1-1 in he league and 2-1 overall. Jefferson was led by McCullough who carried the ball 19 times for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns while Sharkus added 81 yards and a score on just 7 carries. The Bears fall to 1-1 in the league and 2-1 overall.