Ishpeming, MI – September 10, 2022 – The Ishpeming Hematites played host to the Unity Eagles from northern Wisconsin on a Saturday afternoon. The game was played at The Playgrounds with Tyler Young and Bob Nedeau on the call on 98.3 WRUP!
Q1: Ishpeming started the game on defense and played strong. AJ Prosser was able to reach the quarterback off the edge. Unity struck first with a long run from Jacob Erickson right up the middle, and with a successful 2-pt conversion made it an 8-0 game.
The Hematite offense struggled early against the strong defense from the Eagles. Looking to the run game, Ishpeming wasn’t able to break anything past the line and forced to punt. Unity quarterback Brody Allen fumbled the snap a few plays later, and Ishpeming was able to recover to get back on offense. After another another failed attempt on offense, Unity took over before having to punt back to the Hematites.
Q2: Ishpeming began the quarter on offense, and started off by gaining a first down. The Hematites crossed into Unity territory and into the redzone. After an incomplete pass on fourth down, Ishpeming turned things over to Unity on their own 15 yard line. The Eagles went to the run game with a 25 yard gain on their first play of the series. A few plays later Eagles quarterback, Allen, was able to rush his way to continue to move the chains. Unity converted another first down facing a third and seven off a reception from Connor Eichelt.
Senior running back Tristan Tillery broke loose for Unity gaining 22 yards on the carry. The Eagles were knocking on the Hematites door before a fumble backed them up 10 yards to give Ishpeming some space. After back to back incomplete passes, Unity turned the ball over on downs.
Hayden Hares opened up the series with a big 28 yard reception from Hunter Smith to bring life to the Ishpeming offense. The Hematites stuck to the air, but after three straight incomplete passes they were forced to punt the ball away. Neither of the teams were able to get a score before the half.
Halftime: Unity 8 – Ishpeming 0
Q3: The Hematites started the second half with a 60-yard return. With only a couple plays in their first drive the Hematites scored a touchdown by Preston Gauthier. The 2-point conversion scored by Hunter Smith. Ishpeming would tie it at 8-8. Unity started their first drive with a couple of first down and would cap off the drive with a touchdown by Brody Allen. But would not be able to convert the 2-point conversion. Ishpeming second drive after a couple of big plays got them to the middle of the field, but would unfortunately be a turn over on downs, stalling their drive. Unity with their second drive would continue to rundown the clock for the rest of the quarter and punting it back to Ishpeming. Unity 14-8
Q4: The Hematites at the start their first drive of the quarter would have to start inside their own 5-yard line. Hematites took their time getting down the field getting first downs with short runs and passes. Ishpeming would turn over the ball on downs after a 7 minute drive. Unity would start their first drive on their side of the field with 3:06 to go. With a little over a minute left Hematites had to use their last timeout. Eagles would go for it on fourth down and get it to run out the last minute of the game for a 14-8 win over the Hematites.
Final Score: Ishpeming: 8 Unity: 14
Ishpeming’s next game will be on next Friday against cross town rival Westwood Patriots. Kickoff will be at 7pm and the broadcast will be on 98.3 WRUP!
Listen to the full broadcast here!
