Almont outlasts Marysville, 14-13

ALMONT— Almont outlasted host Marysville, 14-13, in a non-league varsity football battle last Thursday night.

It was the season-opener for both combatants. In Thursday’s battle, Almont spotted Marysville a 7-0 advantage after one quarter was over.That was followed by a scoreless second quarter of play.

Almont countered with a one-yard touchdown run by Brody Corneau and a successful extra point kick courtesy of Rian O’Neil during quarter three, making it a 7-7 contest. The visiting team then went up 14-7, capitalizing on a five-yard touchdown run by Colten Karbel and an accurate extra point boot from O’Neil with 3:01 showing on the fourth quarter clock.

Colten Karbel, of Almont, looks to elude the Marysville defense in last Thursday’s 14-13 victory. [Kevin Kissane/Tri-City Times staff]

Marysville fought back with a touchdown with 14 seconds remaining, enabling them to close the gap to 14-13 at the time. It was there the Vikings opted to go for the two-point conversion to gain the lead. However, that strategy would backfire as the Almont defense came up with a clutch stop and held on from there to earn the win.

For the evening, Blake Lane completed four of 10 pass plays for 76 yards as Almont’s quarterback. He threw one interception along the way. His successful tosses were distributed to three different targets. Their ranks consisted of Karbel (two catches for 55 yards), Corneau (one reception for 15 yards) and Micah Kozak (one catch for six yards).

The Almont ground attack wound up with 224 yards on 37 totes.

Individually, Corneau (15 rushes for 93 yards) and Karbel (65 yards on 11 totes) posted the top Almont credentials. The remaining 11 Raider rushes netted a combined gain of 67yards.

Karbel (six solos and 12 assists) and Max Glavich (four solos and eight assists) registered the top Almont tackle totals. They were backed by Corneau (four solos and four assists), Shepherd Moussiaux (one solo and six assists), Logan Schapman (three solos and three assists), Ayden Battani (two solos and four assists) along with Brennan Bowers (one solo and five assists).

Almont returns to action this Thursday when it travels to Armada. The Blue Water Area Conference meeting lists a 7 p.m. starting time.

— Kevin Kissane covers sports for The Tri-City Times. He resides in Imlay City.