Photo by Jonathan Knight/A2 JOURNAL Skyline running back Khalil Madoula-Bey is wrapped up by a pair of Huron defenders while River Rat Brent King prepares to join the scrum. Huron won the game 40-34 last week at Skyline. September 30, 2010 Heritage Newspapers O UR S PORTS D SECTION Log onto our Web site for additional stories, local video and daily updates on everything Ann Arbor. Home is where the heart... Breaks Skyline loses to Huron in final minute at home fieldPREP FOOTBALL: LOOKING AHEAD By Mike Larson A2 Journal At the start of the fourth quarter of Friday night’ s game between Skyline and Huron, the Skyline band blasted a rousing renditio n of Journey’s “Don’t stop believing.” And the Eagles’ football team didn’t stop believing. Trailing by seven points at the start of the frame, Skyl ine battled, playing the River Rats in the closest game they have been in all season. Later in the fourth, the team recovered from a botched snap that turned in to a Huron touchdown, and with less than a minute and a half remain- ing in the game, Skyline, now trailing by six, was threatening inside the Huron 10-yard line. However, it wasn’t to be, as the Eagles were unable to punch the ball in. As the clock ticked down, Skyline had one final chance to get the ball into the endzone. But on fourth-and-15 , Skyline quarterback Andy Copp’s des- peration pass was intercepted by D.J. Edwards. The pick effectively ended the game with Huron winning 40-34. “It was very disappoint- ing,” Skyline coach Randy Hutchinson said. “We kind offocused on this game for a few weeks, feeling it was the game we had to win in order to feel good about our season and we didn’t win it. So it’s going to be a rough road for the rest ofthe way because we have some really good teams on our sched- ule coming up.” The River Rats opened the scoring early on, establishing the run early. Huron’s Luke Denson got his team on the board first when he capped off a long first posses- sion for the Rats by rumbling in for a 2-yard touchdown. It didn’t take long for Huron to score again, as the team recovered an onsides kick the following play and put the ball in the endzone shortly after. Trailing 13-0, Skyline finally got a chance to get its offense on the field. And the Eagles didn’t disap- point. Skyline scored on their first possession on a 3-yard run by Khalil Madoula-Bey . But Huron wasted no time answering. Denson scored for the River Rats on the very next posses- sion, dashing 32 yards to score and make the score 21-7. Skyline got the points right back when it took over, as Copp found receiver Jordan Woods for a 15-yard score. The scoring wouldn’t stop as Huron added another touch- down on the next possession to make the score 28-13. The tally came from a 3-yard run from Hassan Neither team was able to score for the rest of the half, and Huron went into the locker room with a 15-point lead. “I thought we played really well in the first half,” Huron coach Corey Gildersleeve said. “We real ly did a lot of great By Mike Larson A2 Journal Last week, the Skyline football team lost a heartbreaker in the final minute against Huron. The loss was especially tough, because it was probabl y the last game of the season that Skyline had a good chance of winning. This week, the task of the Eagles is much more daunting. On Friday, Skyline will host defending Southeastern Conference Red champion Bedford. The Kicking Mules come into this contest with a 5-0 record to start the season, which is a first for the school. Skyline, on the other hand, is 0-5 and is giving up almost 55 points a game. The Eagles will come out and play hard, as they have been doing all season. The team will probably even get some highlight reel plays from Andy Copp and Jordan Hill, but it would be an epic upset for the Eagles to get a win. Bedford is the best team in the SEC Red this season, and has a running attack that rivals any in the state. On the opposite side, Skyline has strug- gled all season to stop the run. This game is probably going to be a very lopsided affair, with the away team leaving with a victory. By Mike Larson A2 Journal After tough losses to Chelsea and Monroe, the Huron River Rats find themselves in a tough spot as they go into their game against Saline on Friday night. At 2-3 with four games remaining, Huron has to win out if it wants a chance to make the playoffs this season. And it all starts against Saline. The Hornets have shown flashes of bril- liance this season, but they have also shown weaknesses. The inconsistency has plagued the Saline team like a bad cold. One week the Hornets took down Pioneer, and then promptly dropped their next two games. Huron has a chance to win this game, but the River Rats will have to tighten up their defense. Last week Huron came away with a win against Skyline, but the Rats still gave up 34 points in the process. If Huron wants to keep its pl ayo ff hopes alive, the River Rats will have to get a huge performance from their defense. The team will have to be strong up front as Saline’s Garrett Gordon will probably get a lot of carries. If the River Rats can stop the Hornets’ star running back, it will be the first step to steal- ing a victory on the road. Huron will need a good showing from all ofits players, but the Rats will need quarterback Alex Hassan to step up and take an active role. Hassan had a good game last week against Skyline, and he needs to carry that momen- tum into Saline Friday night. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. at Saline High School. Skyline readies for Mules Huron looks to stay in race PLEASE SEE HEART /2-D
