Sabers top Onekama for 3rd straight league title

By MATT WENZEL
Manistee News Advocate Sports Editor
Published: Saturday, October 16, 2010

ONEKAMA — After being shaken up while covering a punt in the third quarter, Nick Kolanowski went to the sideline.

MCC coach Dave Russell sent his senior back onto the field a couple plays later, but told him he would get a break and wouldn’t carry the ball for a couple downs.

The next time Kolanowski touched the ball, he broke off a spectacular 56-yard touchdown run. The time after that, he took it to the house from 57 yards on an almost identical effort.

Big plays, like those two, were key for the Sabers who pulled away late from Onekama for a 42-14 win on Friday. "They're definitely big because Onekama was playing us tough," Kolanowski said. "It was a close game through the first three quarters We needed a couple of big breakaways like that."

The win gave the Sabers (7-1, 4-0 WMD) a third consecutive league title (the last two as part of the Mid-State Activities Conference-North). “That’s our goal and we’re glad to accomplish it,” Kolanowski said.

Kolanowski finished with 17 carries for 194 yards and four touchdowns to push himself over the 1,000-yard mark on the season. His backfield mate Nick Doyle rushed for 124 yards and a score on 21 carries, to go with two catches for 95 yards — including a 65-yard touchdown.

“You already know going in that Nick or Nick are going to break a big one on you at some point in time,” said Onekama coach Jim Hunter. ...“We didn’t get (the big plays) and they did.”

Hogan was 3-for-5 passing for 116 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Mason Clark took over in the second half for the Sabers and was solid.

MCC jumped out to a 14-0 lead by scoring on its first two possessions as Kolanowski rushed one in from four yards out and Doyle scored on a 15-yard carry.

 Onekama (3-5, 2-2 WMD) responded with a scoring drive of its own as a 37-yard carry by Logan Fogarty set up a 21-yard touchdown pass from Adrian Norman to Skyler Kimpel as the Portagers pulled within six points late in the first quarter.

Logan Fogarty had 10 rushes for 62 yards while Tyler Fogarty had 19 carries for 64 yards.

However, the Sabers again scored on back-to-back drives as Kolanowski pushed his way in from a yard out, then Doyle took a pass 65 yards down the right sideline for a 28-8 lead.

The Portagers mixed run and pass well in an 11-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 1-yard plunge on fourth down by Norman to make it 28-14 with 3:08 to play in the first half.

Norman finished 7-for-11 passing for 80 yards and picked up 38 on the ground on 13 carries.

After Hogan was picked off by Logan Fogarty, the Portagers turned it right back over on the next play as Hogan was injured.

Neither offense generated much in the second half other than the two scores Kolanowski put on the board. The linebacker also finished with 18 tackles to lead the Sabers while Andrew Perry had 11 and a sack.

Onekama moved the ball deep into MCC territory late in the fourth quarter, but a fumble ended the threat.

Leading up to the game, Hunter stressed the importance of playing all three phases of the game at a high level for all four quarters.

“We were talking about every player, every play, and we’re not there yet,” Hunter said. “Some of that’s a maturity thing. Some of that’s an individual thing.

“I was very proud of the kids at times tonight. We made a little bit of a game of it before the half. We were still hanging.”

But, big plays made the difference, and the Sabers had all of them.

“They just had big plays after big plays,” Norman said.

 

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