Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By JASON JUNO
MINONG, Wis. — Jared Schultz did it all for Northwood-Solon Springs Friday night. What he did right before half might have been the most impactful thing he did against Hurley on a night he had a hand all seven of their touchdowns.
The Northstars fought back from a brutal first quarter where NSS took a 24-8 lead in the WIAA playoff opener. After a 34-yard touchdown pass from Jack Rowe to Devin Soltis with 13 seconds left, Hurley looked to enter halftime down by just one touchdown, 30-22, while getting the ball first in the second half.
But Schultz took the ensuing kickoff 77 yards for a gut punch of a touchdown. Undefeated Northwood-Solon Springs went on to win 54-28 and end Hurley’s first season of 8-player football with a 7-2 mark.
“It was a killer before halftime,” Hurley coach Scott Erickson said. “That was a case of him making a play and we wanted it squibbed. We didn’t want it to get back to him and we let it get back to him. We could get a hand on him, but we couldn’t get him to the ground.”
Schultz was tough to bring down all night. He ran for 247 yards on 26 carries and threw for another 119. He ran for four scores, threw for two and ran the kick back for another.
“I’ll never get to coach another player like that,” NSS coach Joe Brennan said. “He is so smart and he’s in great shape. He knows the offense as good as anybody. He sees weaknesses out there. He’s like having another coach on the field.”
Hurley has seen some really good quarterbacks this season, in both wins and losses, but Schultz stood out.
“He was stronger than all the other guys,” Erickson said. “Those guys were as fast, but he had a better touch on the ball, he was a little cooler under the pressure, he was definitely the hardest one to tackle and bring down. We did see a lot of good-looking quarterbacks this year and I think that’s a theme in 8-man. You better have a real athletic guy because he’s going to be a runner and a passer.”
The Northstars hoped to get off to a good start and get some momentum, but it didn’t work out that way.
It wasn’t so bad that NSS got in the end zone on their first drive of the game, on a 28-yard run by Schultz. What happened next was a big blow, though. Northwood-Solon Springs’ Ian Woodhull recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and they took just three plays to score a touchdown, on a 22-yard pass from Schultz to Jayger Link. It was 16-0 before the midway point of the first quarter before Hurley ever got the ball offensively.
When they did finally get it, they scored, on a four-yard run by Devin Soltis, who ran for all 52 yards in the six-play drive.
Hurley got a stop on the next possession but were forced to punt themselves. NSS managed to score once more before the first quarter ended as Schultz ran 11 yards for the touchdown that made it 24-8.
Schultz picked off a Hurley pass early in the second quarter, but Gavin Moore intercepted him and Hurley got on the board again with a 26-yard pass from Soltis to Wyatt Hall.
Schultz was stopped on the ensuing possession for a two-yard loss by Brodie Erickson on fourth and goal at the 14. Hurley’s fake punt on the next set of downs wasn’t completed and NSS took over at the Hurley 23. Schultz ran 18 yards for a touchdown after a five-yard penalty and gave them a 30-14 lead.
The Northstars responded with a huge scoring drive. They completed a 73-yard drive in seven plays, capping it with a 34-yard touchdown toss from Jack Rowe to Soltis. Soltis’s two-point run got them within a possession, 30-22, with 13 seconds left in the half.
That should have been the halftime score. But Hurley kicked it to Schultz and he went to the house for the play of the game.
“I think that one stung,” Brennan said. “We weren’t expecting that. When you have someone with that kind of talent, who knows.”
The Northstars were still only down two possessions, 38-22, at the half, and they got the ball first coming out of halftime. After a 23-yard pass to Hall put Hurley in NSS territory, Hurley took two sacks, including one on fourth and 15, and NSS took over on the Hurley 40.
They scored on a 19-yard pass from Schultz to Woodhull.
Hurley turned it over on downs and NSS scored again, this time on a 39-yard rush by Schultz that made it 54-22. Soltis ran 54 yards for a TD after that, but that was the end of the scoring and Hurley’s season.
The Northstars’ first season of 8-player football ended with a nice 7-2 mark, but they ran into an elite QB in their first playoff game where big plays in key moments eluded them.
“When you look back, it was a good season switching over from 11 to 8, learning how those guys play,” Erickson said. “That was an adjustment, I’m not going to sugarcoat that. I felt we had stuff pretty well figured out by the middle of the year — just finding out what worked, what didn’t work.
“We were playing some of our better ball at the end and then just ran into that buzz saw on Friday and made mistakes.”
Soltis led Hurley with 90 yards on 22 carries. He ran for two touchdowns, caught one and threw for one.
“He could make things happen when it wasn’t there and he had a great year,” Erickson said.
He led the Northstars in tackles on the season with Brodie Erickson second. Brodie had a nice year and his dad, Scott, enjoyed being on the sideline for it.
“It was one of the last things that I needed to do here this year and I really enjoyed it,” he said. “Very proud of how he played, both in the leadership and his play on the field.”
The defense was stout for much of the year, including against high-scoring Rib Lake. But Phillips and NSS scored a lot in Hurley’s only losses.
“We had a couple bad games, and that cost us a conference title and the playoff game,” coach Erickson said. “But they got put in some tough spots with some turnovers and some bad plays, kick returns. Those were some tough spots for the defense to play, but overall they played well.”
Hurley loses their biggest playmaker in Soltis, a fantastic lineman in Gavin Moore, along with Brodie Erickson, Nolan Anderson, Morgan Baron, Tyler Sain, Lawrence Anderson and Dylan DeRosso. But they bring back Rowe and Wyatt and Ty Hall among others.
“We got some guys coming back and I’ll make a decision somewhere down the road about I’m going to do,” Erickson said.
Hurley 8 14 6 0 — 28
Northwood 24 14 16 0 — 54
First Quarter
NSS — Jared Schultz 28 run (Schultz run), 8:26
NSS — Jayger Link 22 pass from Schultz (Schultz run), 6:52
Hur — Devin Soltis 4 run (Soltis run), 4:14
NSS — Schultz 11 run (Schultz run), :24
Second Quarter
Hur — Wyatt Hall 26 pass from Soltis (pass failed), 7:27
NSS — Schultz 18 run (pass failed), 2:59
Hur — Soltis 34 pass from Jack Rowe (Soltis run), :13
NSS — Schultz 77 kickoff return (Schultz run), :00
Third Quarter
NSS — Ian Woodhull 19 pass from Schultz (Schultz run), 9:09
NSS — Schultz 39 run (successful), 6:06
Hur — Soltis 54 run (run failed), 4:20
Fourth Quarter
No scoring
Hur NSS
First downs 10 13
Rushes-yards 41-238 34-272
Comp-Att-Int 5-11-1 6-17-2
Passing 106 119
Total yards 344 391
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 10-75 10-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Hurley, Devin Soltis 22-90, Wyatt Hall 7-53, Jack Rowe 12-minus 5. Northwood-Solon Springs, Jared Schultz 26-247, Sam Fromm 4-19, Cole Neva 4-6.
PASSING — Hurley, Jack Rowe 4-9-80-0, Devin Soltis 1-2-26-1. Northwood-Solon Springs, Jared Schultz 6-17-119-2.
RECEIVING — Hurley, Wyatt Hall 2-70, Devin Soltis 2-30, Brodie Erickson 1-6. Northwood-Solon Springs, Ian Woodhull 3-66, Jayger Link 2-51, Cole Neva 1-2.
