UBLY — With his Ubly squad trailing 21-0 after one quarter last week against Sandusky, Bill Sweeney glanced at the scoreboard, gathered his team and gave it one simple message.
“I told the kids, ‘We have to play our type of football’ — and I really like how the kids responded,” said Sweeney, whose Bearcats turned that first-quarter deficit into a hard-fought 30-28 victory over the Redskins in the Greater Thumb East opener for both teams.
“It’s been a long, long time since we’ve been down 21-0,” Sweeney added. “You don’t very often come back from (a deficit) like that.
“The big thing was we had plenty of time. We had three quarters to get back into the game.”
It took just one quarter for the Bearcats to steal back the momentum. They led 22-21 at the half, and then had to hang on in the final moments.
“We made some mistakes,” Sweeney said. “We turned it over, we had penalties... Sandusky threw the ball well and they gave us fits. I told them, ‘Look what can happen when things don’t go your way.’ But I think we learned something from that. We’re growing up as a team.”
The victory extended Ubly’s regular season winning streak to 25 games, dating back to Week 4 of the 2007 season. This week, Ubly looks to push the streak to 26 games when it hosts Marlette on Friday night in another important GTE showdown.
“It’s kind of like back to reality,” said Sweeney, who’s had to replace eight starters on both offense and defense from last season’s team which advanced all the way to the Division 7 state semifinals. “I have been telling them that they are the 2010 Bearcats. Don’t let anybody else tell you differently. Set your own standard.
“It’s been frustrating at times, but it can be rewarding, too.”
Ubly’s offensive recipe continues to be a potent ground attack. Last week, the Bearcats rushed for 340 yards, led by Bret Cleary’s 177 yards on 23 carries. Tyler Peruski added 90 yards while Bryan Nash chipped in 60 yards.
Defensively, the Bearcats gave up 183 yards through the air last week against the Redskins and quarterback Justin Mills, who completed 11-of-21 passes. Ubly’s defense has yielded more than 28 points just once during their impressive winning streak.
Sweeney knows his team will be challenged by the Raiders, who have not beaten the Bearcats since a 35-7 decision in 2005.
“Marlette has a lot of talent,” he said. “They have all kinds of talent and a ton of athletic ability. They have some big receivers and they have some really good speed.
“This is going to be a tough game for us. We are going to have to dictate the tempo.”
Prior to Friday’s game, Ubly will host a football field dedication ceremony for the late Jerry Herp. Former players who played under the Hall of Fame coach are invited to join the group on the football field for the dedication ceremony.
Commemorative Herp Field t-shirts will be available, as well. All proceeds from the sale of the shirts will help defray the cost of the granite marker that will be placed near the field.
“The kids are excited to play,” Sweeney said. “But honestly, I really don’t know what to expect. Except for (a few guys) this is new for most of them, the first home game, the dedication... We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
THE STREAK LIVES ON...
Ubly has won 25 consecutive regular season games dating back to Week 4 of the 2007 season, a 39-12 loss to Harbor Beach on Sept. 14.
2007
1. EPBP 44-14
2. Br. City 47-0
3. Deck. 38-0
4. Sand. 41-6
5. B. Axe 50-8
2008
6. USA 46-12
7. Marlette 49-14
8. Mayville 47-0
9. H. Beach 42-6
10. Vassar 56-28
11. Br. City 48-8
12. Deck. 36-6
13. Sand. 39-6
14. B. Axe 53-14
2009
15. USA 38-12
16. Sand. 41-6
17. Marlette 50-12
18. Mayville 48-21
19. H. Beach 42-22
20. Vassar 40-14
21. Br. City 44-8
22. Deck. 56-36
23. B. Axe 51-12
2010
24. USA 38-0
25. Sand. 30-28
AVERAGE SCORE
Ubly: 1,114 (44.5)
Opponent: 293 (11.7)
TRIBUNE POWER POLL
The Week 2 Power Poll for the GTC and NCTL as voted on by the Tribune sports staff. The power poll runs each week during the season in the Huron Daily Tribune.
1. Ubly
2. Reese
3. Deckerville
4. Cass City
5. Harbor Beach
6. Vassar
7. EPBP
8. Brown City
9. Sandusky
10. USA
11. North Huron
12. Marlette
13. BCAS
14. Memphis
15. Kingston
16. Mayville
17. Bad Axe
18. Peck
OTHER GAMES
OTHER GAMES
TODAY’S GAME
8-MAN
CPS at Flint MSD
FRIDAY’S GAMES
GTW
Bad Axe at Cass City
Vassar at BCAS
USA at EPBP
GTE
Marlette at Ubly
Sandusky at Mayville
NCTL
Deckerville at Peck
Kingston at Memphis
NON-LEAGUE
Harbor Beach at Reese
North Huron at Brown City
8-MAN
E. Washtenaw at A-Fairgrove
SATURDAY’S GAME
8-MAN
Wyoming Tri-Unity at Owen-Gage
3 comments:
Ubly is not the same team they were the last few seasons, but they are still better than anyone in the area.
Very few high school teams are able to field the same team 2 years in a row. Really, from what I've seen of Ubly over the years, they've had a lot of average type players. Their coaches are what makes all the difference in the world. Will this years Bearcat team go undefeated? Nobody knows the answer to that.
I still think it says a lot about this inexperienced team to give up 21 points and come back to lead by half time. Now that is a sign of a well coached team. As far as this weeks game, if Marlette's passing game is on, Ubly will have their work cut out for them. The game I'm looking forward to seeing is the Harbor Beach/Reese game. I say there is no way the Pirates win, but I want to see how close this game will actually be. If it's close, the Pirates are the real deal. If they get blown away, I'd say the Pirates have some rebuilding yet to do.
Ubly Fan - Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
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