By Jennifer Eisenbart
Sports Editor
For the Waterford Wolverines, Friday’s season opener at home against Homestead was a case of good news, bad news.
On one hand, the Wolverines did lose, 22-6, after committing three turnovers – two of which led to touchdowns.
On the other hand…
“We did some really good things defensively,” said head coach Adam Bakken. “Defensively, we played pretty solid.
“Offensively, we didn’t control the line of scrimmage like we were hoping to,” he added. “There’s just some things that are very fixable.”
The Wolverines trailed 7-0 at the half, but got on the board with a 10-yard touchdown run from Kody Azarian. The extra point failed, but it looked like Waterford was back in the game.
Unfortunately, the Wolverines had one big breakdown on defense – an 81-yard touchdown run by Homestead’s Shaquille Cole. That put Homestead up by nine after the two-point conversion, and the Highlanders added an insurance touchdown in the fourth.
Bakken praised Azarian, who he said “ran very tough,” as well as JJ Pryzbylka on the offensive line and Brandon Miller and Jake Wirsching on defense.
Also, Ryan Danbrea was solid at quarterback in his first “earned” start. Danbrea started two games last year when starter Zach Fisher was injured, but got his first expected action against Homestead, going 7-for-11 passing with 64 yards and one interception.
“He played a very good game for his first start at quarterback,” Bakken said. “There’s going to be mistakes that happen. He made some very good throws. Just some fundamental things we need to work on.”
From here, the Wolverines jump right into Southern Lakes Conference action with the accelerated eight-game schedule, heading to Wilmot tonight at 7 p.m.
“It’s a very important game for both schools,” said Bakken. “Watching their film, they do things that are very similar to what they did last year.
“They have one of the best receivers in the state,” he added. “We have to be ready for them.”
-
-
-
-
-