Glen Lake defeated Frankfort for the first time since 2019 in a 50-7 route of the Panthers.
“Frankfort is good, East Jordan, all those teams in our conference are good. It just shows that we can play with them, you and hopefully we can take this attitude throughout the rest of the season and take it into the playoffs,” Glen Lake coach Jesse Smith said.
The varsity Lakers weren’t the only Glen Lake football team to win last week. Every single program from Pop Warner (both levels) to the junior varsity defeated Charlevoix The last time Glen Lake defeated Frankfort in 2019 the score was 53-7.
Glen Lake is currently ranked No. 7 in Div. 8 as the Laker are 2-0 on the young season.
Frankfort took the lead early in the first quarter with a 2-yard run by quarterback Carter Kerby.
“They jumped up seven to nothing. It shows the mental growth of this team, that they can take a punch and then come back and take over,” Glen Lake coach Jesse Smith said. “They took a punch and I think last year we wouldn’t be able to bounce back, but they’re showing how mature they are, and they just started cooking, man.”
Glen Lake’s Sam Dykstra quickly answered with a 90-yard kickoff return to tie the game 7-7.
“I was confident. I knew I was going to do it. I was confident in our blocking. Our whole team was keeping each other up. We never get down on each other,” Dykstra said. “We were talking about it all week, how it’s been five years since we beat them. This year, we knew we could do it. We were nailing it to our brains that we could win this. We were just building up our confidence.”
Boden Fisher caught three passes for 56 yards and ran five times for 71 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two interceptions and went 6-for-6 on extra points.
The offensive line led by Brendan Roush, Dominic Stein, Henry Plamondon, Ethan Verschaeve and David Kish led the Lakers to averaging nearly seven years per carry on the ground.
Stein and Allen led the Lakers defensive attack with six tackles each.
“We can take a punch. They scored the first drive, and I think that didn’t affect us ... I think we just came out and it just motivated us even more to get that ball in the end zone,” Allen said.
Roush recovered a fumble and Allen also intercepted a pass.
Glen Lake held Frankfort to 201 yards of total offense, while gaining 352 on offense themselves.
The Lakers took their first lead of the game when Allen scored off a 7-yard run. Allen would then throw a touchdown pass to Isaac Hlvaka at the end of the second quarter to go into halftime up 21-7.
Breckin Nerg forced a safety 42 seconds into the half, followed by a 17-yard touchdown score by Fisher. Fisher would score again halfway through the third quarter to continue the route and push the Lakers lead to 37-7. Middleton scored from 10-yards out to take a 44-7 lead. Cillian Dorman scored the final Laker touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
Glen Lake will battle Harbor Springs on Friday in the first home game of the season. The Rams will be traveling to Glen Lake with an 0-2 record with losses to Johannesburg-Lewiston and Farwell.
