NEGAUNEE – After blowing a 17-0 lead by giving up three unanswered Negaunee touchdowns, the Marquette Senior High School football Redmen had every reason to fold Friday night.

They didn’t.

Rallying with a touchdown midway through the final quarter and making two defensive stops in the last two minutes of play, MSHS beat the host Miners 24-23 in their annual nonconference game.

The win not only moved the Redmen to 3-4 overall, but it enabled them to keep The Mining Journal’s Diamond Jubilee Trophy.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the kids for the way they responded and finished,” MSHS head coach Dave L’Huillier said. “They didn’t hang their heads or feel sorry for themselves.

“They dug deep and made plays at the end to finish.”

Senior quarterback Scott Tripp ran for one touchdown and passed for another as the Redmen claimed the Jubilee trophy for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

“The trophy means everything. It’s the oldest (football) rivalry in the Upper Peninsula,” Tripp said after running for 155 yards in 16 carries. “It’s awesome.”

The Redmen took the opening kickoff and held the ball for 11:32 – nearly the entire first quarter – before settling for a 25-yard field goal by Caleb Byma.

“That was OK because we burned a lot of clock and it gave our guys some confidence,” L’Huillier said.

Said Negaunee head coach Paul Jacobson: “They had that long drive and we tried to make adjustments. Then we gave them a short field.”

A snap over Negaunee punter Parker Bowman’s head gave the ball to Marquette at the Miners’ 5. Demetrise Mullen scored from two yards out on fourth down to give MSHS a 10-0 lead.

Tripp then made it 17-0 with 5:47 left in the second quarter on a 51-yard TD run.

“I rolled out, got some great blocks from my wide receivers and linemen and saw a seam,” Tripp said. “I was thinking about going out of bounds, but I saw a seam toward the middle of the field and got another great block.”

Dylan Tasson gave the Miners (6-2) a lift with just 22 seconds left in the half by catching a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brock Aho.

“(Tasson) was covered, but still fought for the ball. He grabbed it out of the air while on his back,” Jacobson said.

Said L’Huillier: “Give the kid credit. He made a great play.”

George Johnson scored on a 3-yard plunge in the third quarter and Aho scampered 49 yards for a score early in the fourth for a 23-17 Negaunee lead.

“We had talked with our guys and had made some adjustments,” Jacobson said.

The Redmen came back, however. A 64-yard drive, sparked by a 28-yard pass from Tripp to Patrick Burmeister, ended with a 14-yard TD strike from Tripp to Burmeister with 7:55 remaining.

“All of a sudden, our kids made plays,” L’Huillier said. “They … dug deep.”

On Negaunee’s ensuing drive, the Miners – aided by a 22-yard run by George Johnson – took the ball downfield until stalling on 4th-and-3 with 2:02 remaining when a pass fell incomplete.

The Miners got the ball back near midfield with 39.6 seconds left, but Burmeister intercepted a pass to seal the Marquette win.

“Marquette just made plays tonight,” Jacobson said. “The team that makes the most plays at the end wins.

“We need to see how we respond with back-to-back defeats like this. It’s tough.”

Craig Remsburg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251. His email address is cremsburg@miningjournal. net.