Marquette, MI – September 22, 2018 – The Marquette Redmen face the Petoskey Northmen for their 2018 Homecoming game. Windy conditions on Friday forced the game to a crisp, sunny Saturday afternoon. Marquette hopes to improve their record to 3-2 in the fifth game of the season.
The Redmen looked good as they drove down the field over four 3rd down conversions in the first eight minutes of the game. Marquette made it to the Petoskey 17-yard line but did not put any points up on the board. They ran down the clock though, and Petoskey found themselves with only a few minutes to spare in their first possession of the quarter.
The first quarter passed with no score and The Northmen began the second quarter with possession. The Redmen could not stop Petoskey’s Sean McCloskey, who drove into the end zone from five yards out. On their next possession Marquette’s Ethan Martysz drove down to mid-field on the kick-return to inject some life into the game. An unfortunate fumble, however, sent the ball back into Northmen hands.
Number 78, Josh Iwanicki took down McCloskey to try and keep the Northmen at bay, but Petoskey found the end zone early in the second quarter to bring the score to 7-0. Petoskey stayed in control and a successful field goal brought the Northmen lead to 10-0 going into the half.
Number 11, Bryce Brazeau made a statement with a huge hit on Petoskey at the top of the second half. However, Marquette’s defense was no match for McCloskey, who plucked a huge 74-yard touchdown pass out of the crisp fall air. Drama ensued and the Northmen would not claim those points after a couple of flags resulted in two penalties, one for a blindside block and another for taunting. Instead of celebrating a touchdown, Petoskey shouldered 30 yards worth of penalties for a gain of only seven yards.
Marquette’s defense cashed in on that little bit of luck. The Redmen held off the Northmen and gained possession of the ball. It didn’t take long for Brendan Kaski to find Ethan Martysz with a 42-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 10-7. The Redmen turned right around and yet another Kaski pass sailed into Martysz’s hands from 17 yards out to gain a lead of 14-10.
The fourth quarter started off with a smash for the Northmen. They snatched the lead back from the Redmen to bring the score up to 17-14. Marquette could not make anything happen during their next possession which gave Petoskey an opening to seal the victory. An unfortunate pass-interference call on Marquette late in the quarter almost did just that. A glimmer of hope came from Beau Zorza when he slapped the ball out of Northmen fingertips. Marquette defense stopped Petoskey from five yards out to gain possession with just a few minutes left on the clock.
Marquette offense got right to work. Ethan Martysz had a huge 68-yard run down the middle to give fans some hope. However, Petoskey’s Gabe Whitmore picked the ball off at the next pass and dashed Redmen hopes of pulling off a homecoming victory. It was a tough loss for the Redmen but in spite of their best efforts, Petoskey will take home the win.
The Marquette Redmen will be at Kingsford next week on Friday, September 28th. Pregame is at 6:25 and kickoff is at 7:00. Catch all the action on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1-99.9 and 103 FXD.
Listen to a recording of the live broadcast here.
