Cheboygan overpowered by top-ranked Traverse City St. Francis

CHEBOYGAN – When it comes to trying to beat – or even hang with – a team as powerful as the Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators, being at your best in every facet is mandatory.  

If not, the Gladiators – this Gladiators team, especially – will just leave you in a cloud of dust.  

For the Cheboygan Chiefs, their chance to hang around with one of the best football teams in the state was wiped away quickly in a 59-14 home setback to the Division 7, No. 1-ranked Gladiators at Western Avenue Field on Friday.  

“They (TC St. Francis) got off to a really fast start and we kind of struggled to slow them down,” said Cheboygan head coach Dave Schulz. “From there, we just tried to regroup, work on ourselves and try to become better football players. You could tell they were well coached from the line, the linebackers, the secondary. They get to the ball really, really fast and you’ve got to be at your best to keep up with that, and offensively, they do a lot to overwhelm you, get more guys to the point of attack, and they got good team speed.” 

The Gladiators (6-0, 5-0 Northern Michigan Football League Legends Division) displayed their speed, strength, physicality, skill and discipline early in the contest, opening up a 31-0 lead after one quarter of play.  

After the Chiefs (2-4, 0-3) failed to convert on a fourth-down play on their first possession, the Gladiators immediately took advantage when senior quarterback Wyatt Nausadis broke loose for a 32-yard touchdown run, while a successful two-point conversion made it 8-0 TCSF with 9:32 left in the first.  

The Gladiators continued their dominant stretch of play for the rest of the quarter, receiving a one-yard TD run from Joey Donahue, a 14-yard TD pass from Nausadis to Drew Hardy, and then a seven-yard TD run from Garrett Hathaway to build a commanding 31-point lead.  

“We’ve got a lot of seniors with a lot of experience, and so they work well together,” said St. Francis coach Josh Sellers. “The (offensive) line up front, the kids who have the ball, they enjoy playing together and they play really fast. We’re pretty balanced. We can run with the quarterback and we can run with our running backs, too. 

“None of our coaches thought the game was going to go the way that it went. Dave’s (Schulz) got a good group of kids, and he’s going to get them going and win some more games this year.” 

Nausadis, who was a problem all half for the Chiefs, raced 50 yards for a TD and then connected with Burke Flowers on an 11-yard TD toss to push the TCSF advantage to 45-0 with 8:06 left in the second quarter. The Gladiators maintained their advantage heading into the break.  

“Just overall, they had that speed, but they also had that physicality,” Schulz said of the Gladiators. “It’s not just small guys that are fast. They bring a punch to the tackle, to the block. They bring it with them. That’s a good football team, their coaches do a great job of having them ready to play. They make it tough.” 

Despite an ugly first half, the Chiefs showed improvement over the final two quarters. The Chiefs finally got on the board right before the third quarter expired, when senior backup quarterback Beau Ginop delivered a pass to junior Cody Lane, who ran 33 yards into the endzone untouched. After Cheboygan junior Jacob Seaman picked off a TCSF pass, the Chiefs received a 24-yard TD run from senior Seth Flores, which helped cut the deficit to 52-14 with 9:10 remaining.  

“It’s fantastic and you feel a lot of pride when you can put in a second (string) guy in there, a third (string) guy in there that’s not always in there, and he can go in, he can execute, he can play hard, run the offense, he can come up and do what he’s supposed to on defense,” Schulz said. “I felt really good for the guys to come in during that second half, they forced some turnovers, and they played with excitement and energy, and I was just really happy for them to get in that game and contribute the way that they did.” 

Schulz was encouraged by the play of Ginop, who helped get the offense into a rhythm when he was under center.  

“We’re lucky to have two good quarterbacks like that, so he stepped right in there, and he plays with a lot of poise and he has his own athletic ability that we try to take advantage of,” Schulz said of Ginop. “He can make plays right there for sure. Both guys (Ginop and Caden Gardner) are going to work hard. Caden got a little dinged up, so we’ve got to make sure he gets what he needs so he’s ready to go, too.” 

For the game, the Gladiators held a 347-120 advantage in total yards and outgained the Chiefs 314-71 on the ground.

On defense, Gauge Ginop led the Chiefs with 10 tackles, while Kaleb Goodrich had eight tackles, Jacob Seaman tallied four, and Robert LaPointe and Gavin Rose each recorded three. Price Warner, Luke Munger and Tommy Jones registered two stops apiece. Sean Postula (fumble recovery), Devihn Wichlacz, Lane and Couture chipped in with a tackle each.  

The Gladiators showed they were great in many areas on Friday, but there’s one facet that shouldn’t go unnoticed.  

Attention to detail.  

“That’s something that we preach is that when you focus on the little things, the big things take care of themselves,” Sellers said. “We’re always harping on the little things and nitpicking, but when the kids come out and perform like they did tonight, it all pays off.” 

Cheboygan will put the TCSF defeat in the rearview mirror and prepare for a homecoming clash with Grayling (1-5, 0-4) on Friday, Oct. 7.  

“It’s a great atmosphere, it’s homecoming, it’s in Cheboygan,” Schulz said. “We get a lot of great support, and I know the kids are going to want to go play their best football game and get a win against the Vikings.” 

For Sellers and his Gladiators, they’ll be looking to seal another NMFL Legends title when they face Sault Ste. Marie (4-2, 2-2) next week.  

“They (Sault) took on Kingsley tonight, so we’re going to get that film and see how that went,” Sellers said. “We’ll have to kind of see what they’re (Sault) all about, but we’re looking to go out there, get a win, and get the conference championship. We want to secure the conference championship and go 9-0 if we can, but we also have (Detroit) Country Day in Week 9 coming to town, so that’s going to be a challenge for us. Then we’ll see what we can do in the playoffs.”

In junior varsity action, Cheboygan suffered a 40-0 loss at TC St. Francis on Thursday, Sept. 29.