Hurons hold on for 30-24 win over Cardinals
The Hurons (3-1) survived a late threat by Whittemore-Prescott (W-P) to take a 30-24 win over the Cardinals. After Eli Banttari took an end around 25 yards for a score and junior quarterback Bryan McKinstry hit Ethan Spens with the two-point pass, the Hurons built a 30-8 lead. With 8:31 left in the game, the Hurons seemed to be in control.
But the home team had something to say about that. The team traded three-and-out possessions before the Cardinals scored on a seven-play drive that covered 78 yards.
An onside kick gave possession back to the Cardinals with 1:56 left in the fourth quarter. A 23-yard gainer put the ball on the Hurons’ 27 with 1:48 left. Three incomplete passes later, the Cardinals chances dimmed. But on fourth-and-10, a pass interference call gave the Cards new life. Four plays later they were in the end zone on a 5-yard run. The two-point conversion with 54 seconds left made the score 30-24.
That would be as close as the Cardinals would get as the Hurons recovered another onside kick and ran out the clock from there.
THE CONFERENCE win sets things right after the Hurons suffered a loss to Calumet Copper Island in a rare Saturday afternoon game in week three.
“We went to work on these guys, because it just didn’t feel like we were prepared (last) Saturday. And we kind of emphasized it quite a bit this week. And these guys stepped up,” said coach Chris McKinstry.
Rogers City suffered a misfortune on its first drive. Bryan McKinstry hit Nolan Lesko with a long pass down the middle. Less than a yard before the goal line, a Cardinals’ defender punched the ball loose and it traveled through the end zone for a touchback.
The first score of the game came as W-P marched 76 yards in 13 plays, capped by a 10-yard run with 7:23 left in the second quarter.
Rogers City answered with a drive of their own. Daryl Hawley hauled in a pass good for 38 yards to the Cardinals’ 29. Lesko capped the drive with a 13-yard reception and added two points on the conversion to tie the score at 8-8.
Hawley recovered a fumble four plays into W-P’s ensuing drive and then scored a touchdown on offense. Hawley ran a crossing pattern, took a pass from Bryan McKinstry up the middle and then raced down the right sideline for a score. The conversion failed, but the Hurons led 14-8 with 1:01 left in the second quarter.
Evan McBride recovered the onside kick for the Hurons, but Rogers City couldn’t take advantage taking a six-point lead into halftime.
W-P HAD AN apparent touchdown pass called back on a holding penalty and then paid the price when Hawley had an interception on the next play.
That set up the next Rogers City score, coming on an unusual play. Banttari made the reception 23 yards from the line of scrimmage, but had the ball knocked out of his hands. This time Lesko had the last laugh, as he alertly scooped up the ball and ran the last 3 yards for a touchdown.
Levi Flemming caught Bryan McKinstry’s pass in the left corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion, giving the Hurons a 22-8 lead with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.
Bryan McKinstry connected on 12-of-23 passes for 228 yards, two touchdowns with one interception.
Lesko caught six passes for 97 yards with a touchdown and Hawley had five catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.
Sam Whitford rushed 13 times for 72 yards and Bryan McKinstry had five rushes for 31 yards.
W-P had 171 yards rushing and 71 yards through the air.
ROGERS CITY hosts Charlton Heston Academy (CHA) Friday at 7 p.m. The Patriots lost 48-0 to Manistique as they played 11-man that week, and played another 11-man game against Valley Lutheran (no score available) in week two. In week three CHA defeated Alcona 25-14 and topped Atlanta 40-22 last week. The Patriots struggled through a 29-game losing streak from 2019-2023 before fielding some good teams. They were 7-2 in 2025 that included a 36-0 win over the Hurons in week five.
Karl Grambau and Karl Momrik call the action on 99.9 FM for Friday’s game.
