Garber Kickoff's -- MyBayCity's Game of the Week

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Blocked Field Goal Attempt Foils Garber Comeback

Three lost fumbles stop scoring drives adding to Duke woes.

September 3, 2012       2 Comments
By: John Keuvelaar

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A sluggish start saw Garber fall behind early 9-0. But a late second quarter touchdown run by Wesley Asel helped the Dukes climb back into the game by the half. After trading touchdowns, Garber started what appeared to be a 93 yard game winning, or at least tying drive in the final four plus minutes of the game. When the drive stalled on the North Branch 13, the Broncos blocked the field goal attempt and returned the loose ball the length of the field to capture a 24-14 TVC-East opening game win.

North Branch struck early. After holding Garber to a three and out, the Broncos quarterback, Jacob Young, scampered 26 yards to the Duke 34 yard line. Garber's defense stiffened holding the Broncos to a 37 yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Garber responded driving down the field on the ground. With running backs Wesley Asel and Noah Bargouthy pounding between the tackles, the Dukes moved out to midfield. Simeon Berry broke loose running to the Bronco 35 yard line before the ball was jarred loose and recovered by North Branch.

North Branch quickly responded. Young ran up the middle to Garber's 44. A couple plays later, Young found receiver Garrett Bradley wide open down the middle for a 30 yard touchdown strike. When the kick sailed wide right, the Broncos had a 9-0 lead.

As has happen so many times over the last four years, senior Wesley Asel got the Dukes rolling. Starting with an eleven yard run, Asel helped the Dukes move to the Bronco 30 yard line. Two incomplete passes and a no gain swing pass ended the drive.

After trading punts, Garber got the ball at midfield with just under three minutes in the first half. The Dukes showed patience hammering at the Bronco defense before Asel broke an initial tackle and ran 30 yards to put Garber on the board. Drew Piotrowski kicked the extra point and Garber entered the half down 9-7.

Both teams came out focused to start the second half as they swapped touchdowns. North Branch struck first starting with Aaron Freeland taking an option pitch and running 30 yards to the Duke 39. Then Young raced 26 yards down the sideline before Brad Hages made one of several touchdown saving tackles on the night at the Duke 5. Garber appeared to have stiffened before Young threw a three yard touchdown pass and with a two point conversion North Branch was up 17-7.

After the two teams trade possessions, Garber took over on their 44 yard line. Alternating between Berry's outside runs and Bargouthy's inside rushing, the Dukes were on the march again until their second fumble of the night stalled the drive at the Bronco 14. Garber's defense came up tough forcing a quick punt. Unfortunately, the punt reception was fumbled giving the ball back to North Branch. While the Broncos didn't score, they were able to drive the ball out far enough so that their punt put Garber deep at the Bronco 14 to start the fourth quarter.

Missing Wesley Asel due to an injury, the Duke offense stalled. A disaster was avoided when a bad snap on the punt was muffed but senior Tyler Schroeder got a handle on the ball and was able to get the punt away. The Duke defense shut down the Broncos and regained the ball on the Bronco 13. Moments later, Simeon Berry rolled right and found Sean Reilly who turned a 15 yard pass into an 81 yard touchdown to pull Garber to within 3 at 17-14.

Garber regained the ball after a punt went out of bounds on their 7. With 93 yards to go, the patient offense went to work. Riding the punishing running of Bargouthy, they moved the ball down field to the Bronco 8. A key play on this drive was when wide out and backup QB Chris VanDriessche stepped in after Berry apparently cramped up. VanDriessche rolled out hitting Bargouthy for a big first down pass. Later, the Dukes were faced with a fourth down on the Bronco 13 with 26 seconds to play. Piotrowski stepped in for what appeared to be a game tying field goal. However, the Broncos broke through the middle blocking the attempt sealing the victory. But an interesting event occurred to set the final score.

When the field goal was blocked, North Branch erupted into a celebration as the headed off the field. Meanwhile a dejected Garber squad headed to their bench as well. The live ball laid on the field when Corey Franks picked up the ball and first started walking before running 80 yards to the end zone scoring with 3 seconds to play. As a result the final score was 24-14 in favor of North Branch.

Wesley Asel led Garber with 91 rushing yards despite missing most of the second half due to an injury. Berry added 60 yards rushing.

Bronco's quarterback, Jacob Young, ran for 72 yards while throwing for 102 yards.

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djace34 Says:       On September 09, 2012 at 09:04 PM Tried a few web sites and could not bring them up. We will try again tomorrow night or Tuesday. If we need to get ahold of you, will send another e-mail or call you. Thanks.............Jean

djace34 Says:       On September 09, 2012 at 09:10 PM Neat capitions under your pictures!!!! What is the price of an 5x7 and an 8x10 picture? Send a message when you have time. We want 3 pictures of your Article 07328.

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John Keuvelaar
John Keuvelaar is a college student at Midwest Photography Workshops and Delta College. More from John Keuvelaar

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