Stunner in Trojan town

CRYSTAL FALLS - It took 14 years, and all 48 minutes before Hurley could leave Dick Mettlach Field and Crystal Falls happy.

And were they ever happy.

Hurley crafted a comeback for the ages, scoring 12 unanswered points in the final 6:30 of the fourth quarter, including a one-yard touchdown run by Devin Czerneski as time expired to give Hurley the 18-14 win.

Since joining the conference in 2000, Hurley had never won here. That included their last visit here when the Midgets tripled the offensive output of Forest Park --- and lost. Hurley almost fell again with two first-half turnovers putting them behind in a defensive battle.

"To come back like that ... that usually happens to us here," Hurley coach Scott Erickson said. "To have it go the other way, man, that's an astronomical feeling. I hope the kids can wrap that up and feel that way a lot more here during the year."

It was Forest Park's second GWC loss at home since 2000.

"You lose on the last play of the game like that, it's a tough pill to swallow," Forest Park coach Dave Graff said. "We've had some great battles, Scott Erickson, the Hurley Midgets and us. We stole them at the 1-yard line before and I guess this is just poetic justice. Hats off to Hurley. They stuck with it when the chips were down."

It was a defensive battle throughout.

Lee Graff's 44-yard touchdown with 6:30 left in the game gave Forest Park a 14-6 lead.

The Midgets didn't quit then. Nor did they quit after Mitchell Maki rushed 15 yards for a touchdown, and the two-point conversion try failed with 2:56 left. Hurley trailed 14-12.

Hurley's onside kick didn't work, so it used all of its timeouts and stopped Forest Park on downs. Hurley got the ball back on its own 38 with 2:21 to go in the game.

Two runs that didn't go anywhere took a chunk of time off the clock. On fourth and 9, James Sukanen hit Maki for a 13-yard pass to the Forest Park 48 with 1:02 left. On the next play, Czerneski went for 19 yards and another first down at the FP 29 with 44 seconds left.

A Maki run netted zero and Sukanen's next pass was incomplete. On third down, Sukanen hit Maki for a 28-yard pass to the 1-yard line. Of course, the rain hadn't let up any.

"I told the James, 'Just give me something I can work with," Maki said. "It came down perfect."

Officials started the clock and Sukanen spiked it with 3.1 seconds left. Hurley had one play and Czerneski, a sophomore, ran one yard off tackle for the game-winning touchdown.

"I just wanted it; I wanted the win so bad," Czerneski said. "We heard this week, that we never won here. It's a great win."

Maki said, "I knew we needed that half-yard, so we just fought. He got stuffed right at the line, but he kept fighting and fell forward and got the touchdown."

The Hurley sideline, coaches and players, rushed the field. Nobody even thought about, or needed, the conversion try: Hurley won in Crystal Falls.

Everybody had a tale of something bad happening here. It was easier to tell with Friday's fantastic finish.

"My freshman year, right before halftime I gave up a 70-yard touchdown pass," Maki said of two years ago in Crystal Falls. "It feels good to come back and beat them."

After scoring just once, Hurley found paydirt on the final two drives of the game.

"I think they had to back up protecting the lead," Erickson said. "James made some beautiful throws and Mitchell made some great catches. We had the protections to make it happen. And we had just enough time on the clock to run one more play."

Sukanen had three passes for first downs when it counted in the fourth quarter. Maki caught all of them.

"At the end, they marched down with the passes," Graff said. "They always have an explosive running game. For the most part, I felt we did a good job of keeping them in check. When they needed it, they went to the air and exploited a weakness. They made the big plays when they had to."

The game started in Hurley's favor. Hurley faked everybody and Czerneski came out of the pile and ran 69 yards on a trap for a touchdown and the 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, it was fourth and 2 for Hurley at its own 21.

Matt Christoferson fumbled the wet ball on the fake attempt – it was recovered by John-Raymond Trzeciak - losing two yards and giving Forest Park the ball on the Hurley 19.

"We gambled on that fake punt and lost," Erickson said.

Forest Park had trouble moving the ball, but it took advantage of the short field. Connor Kezerle hit Jacob DeNell for a 12-yard pass to the 6. Dan Nocerini scored from 6 yards out. Lee Graff leaped in for the two-point conversion.

That 8-6 Forest Park lead held, seemingly forever.

Forest Park tried an onside kick, which Hurley's Erik Barker recovered. On Hurley's next possession, Maki fumbled on the Forest Park 10 with 1:44 left in the half. Nocerini picked up a fumble that probably kept Hurley from scoring.

The action didn't pick up again until the fourth quarter when Forest Park widened the lead and Hurley pulled off the amazing comeback.

"Forest Park is an excellent team and I just feel fortunate to come out of here with a win today," Erickson said. "These conditions lead to defensive games. Very proud of how our defensive guys stepped up."

Hurley (4-0) hosts Northland Pines Friday.

Hurley 6 0 0 12 - 18

Forest Park 0 8 0 6 - 14

First Quarter

Hur - Devin Czerneski 69 run (run failed), 8:12

Second Quarter

FP - Dan Nocerini 6 run (Lee Graff run), 10:58

Third Quarter

No scoring

Fourth Quarter

FP - Graff 44 run (run failed), 6:30

Hur - Mitchell Maki 15 run (run failed), 2:56

Hur - Devin Czerneski 1 run (no conversion attempted), :00

Hur CFFP

First downs 9 9

Rushes-yards 37-176 33-164

Comp-Att-Int 4-9-0 1-1-0

Passing 102 12

Total yards 278 176

Penalties-yards 1-15 2-15

Fumbles-lost 3-2 0-0

Individual statistics

Rushing - Hurley, Devin Czerneski 16-127, Mitchell Maki 13-35, Cole Huotari 5-14, Jake Tenlen 2-2, Matt Christoferson 1-minus 2. Forest Park , Lee Graff 27-152, Connor Kezerle 2-11, Dan Nocerini 4-1.

Passing - Hurley, James Sukanen, 4-9-102-0. Forest Park, Connor Kezerle 1-12.

Receiving - Hurley, Mitchell Maki 4-102. Forest Park, Jacob DeNell 1-12.