Marquette, Mi – November 3rd, 2025 – The Negaunee Miners began their postseason on the road at Ogemaw Heights, facing a Falcons team that entered with an 8-1 record, while the Miners stood at 6-3. After a scoreless first quarter, Ogemaw struck early in the second. Negaunee quickly responded, tying the game at eight. The Falcons regained the lead with a 60-yard rushing touchdown, but the Miners answered in dramatic fashion, as Owen Cardinal connected with Evan DellAngelo for a 62-yard touchdown pass. With that, Negaunee took a 16-14 advantage into halftime.
In the second half, Ogemaw received the kickoff and made a statement, marching down the field and connecting on a 43-yard pass that set up a 3-yard touchdown run, putting the Falcons ahead 22-16. What followed was a defensive standoff, with both teams held scoreless for over 20 minutes. With just 38 seconds remaining, Owen Cardinal found Evan DellAngelo for a touchdown, tying the game at 22 after a missed potential game-winning extra point. The contest headed to overtime. On Negaunee’s second play, Cardinal hit David Juchemich for a touchdown, but the Miners missed the two-point conversion. The Falcons answered with a touchdown and converted the extra point to secure a 29-28 win.
The Marquette Sentinels would head to Gaylord to face the undefeated 9-0 Blue Devils, whom Marquette lost to by 1 point earlier in the season on a missed two-point try by one yard. Gaylord was gifted the first two points of the game from a safety after the Sentinels snapped it too high for the punter, resulting in the punter kicking it through the endzone to save a potential touchdown. James Goodwin would get Marquette on the board after a rushing touchdown, taking a 7-2 lead. Gaylord would then put up back-to-back scoring drives against Marquette for a 16-7 advantage. The Sentinels would then put up 20 unanswered points, capped off with a Ford Richardson touchdown, heading into the half up 27-16.
Gaylord would answer first in the second half, cutting the deficit to 27-24 against Marquette. Richardson would not stop fighting as he scored his second rushing touchdown to put the Sentinels up 34-24 with 9:16 left in the game. However, Gaylord shifted into their final gear. On fourth and nine, with their season on the line, the Blue Devils connected through the air for a 45-yard touchdown, trimming the deficit to 34-31. Unfortunately for Marquette, with 20 seconds left, Gaylord would end the Sentinels’ season as the Blue Devils found the endzone, reclaiming the lead with a game-winning touchdown to claim a 38-34 victory.
