One of the nation’s oldest high school football rivalries was restarted on Thursday night when Negaunee posted a 30-22 victory over visiting Marquette at Miner Stadium in Negaunee.

Until 2017, these teams had played each other just about every year since 1894.

Then a change in conference alignment, specifically with the Miners, forced their matchup into mothballs until they got together in recent times to reschedule this game for the Diamond Jubilee Trophy, handed to a jubilant Negaunee team and several hundred mostly young fans at midfield after the game was over.

There’s been no word if or for how long their games against each other will continue, however.

Negaunee quarterback Kyle Waterman, left, runs on a keeper as he eludes the tackle of Marquette's Ford Richardson during their high school football game played at Miner Stadium in Negaunee on Thursday night. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Thursday’s game almost had a storybook ending — though if the story had been completed, the game would’ve continued on — with a quite involved hook and lateral play, often called a hook and ladder, too.

Marquette trailed by eight points after getting the ball back with 13 seconds left at its own 21-yard-line. After running a play that resulted in an incomplete pass, the Sentinels offense knew it was do-or-die on the final play of regulation, hoping to score a touchdown, then making the subsequent two-point conversion just to force overtime.

Quarterback Ford Richardson, under fire much of the night, scrambled around and got off a pass to fellow senior Pierce Pittsley near the MSHS sideline close to midfield.

That when the fireworks actually just began.

Numerous laterals — estimated to be in the range of 15 to 25 — were made to keep the ball alive.

What’s tough about this play is that only true laterals, or almost always backward passes, are the only legal tosses on this play. A bunch of those heaves brought the ball well back into Marquette territory, not far from where the play started.

On one connection, though, QB Richardson got free in front of the Negaunee bench and sprinted down the sideline for about 30 yards. After the ball bounced free several times, Negaunee finally either recovered it or tackled the Marquette ball carrier — it was hard to see in the scrum — around the Miners’ 25.

Several penalty flags had already been thrown, but no one knew exactly what they were for during the play.

“I’ve seen Ford Richardson on tape, but seeing him live showed me he’s an even better athlete,” said Negaunee head coach Jeff Niemi after his first game in the position.

“Overall, our defense played really good, and KJ (assistant coach Kevin Jacobson) made a couple small adjustments with our offense at halftime that really helped us.”

For Marquette, it was a matter of playing catchup as the Sentinels trailed by multiple scores for much of the game.

“In the first half, we lacked focus,” MSHS veteran head man Eric Mason said. “I don’t know if it was a little too much adrenaline or what — who knows?

“We just started out a little slow, we missed some tackles, we were just a step slow. That’s not something you can get away with against a good team like Negaunee.”

He agreed with Niemi about his quarterback’s talent.

“Ford did a good job protecting the ball,” Mason said.

Adding about the catching up his team had to do, “He’s always looking to make the big play — he’s a competitor.”

And he confirmed that the hook and lateral was not something the team works on his practice.

“That was strictly the guys doing their thing,” Mason said.

The Sentinels actually outgained Negaunee, unofficially holding a 348-334 edge in yards. But some things that don’t show up in those stats swung the Miners’ way.

Like the 95-yard kickoff return made by Evan DellAngelo at a crucial juncture of the game late in the first half right after Marquette pulled within one score.

DellAngelo, who also caught all three passes completed by Negaunee QB Kyle Waterman on the night for 96 yards, brought in the kickoff a few yards in front of his goal line, then sprinted a short distance upfield before cutting to the sideline in front of his team’s bench.

He ran by his teammates and coaches, of course including Niemi, and got on such a dead run that he looked back to see if anyone was chasing him.

They were, but not that closely as he sprinted in to make it 30-14 at halftime.

DellAngelo also recovered one of Marquette two’s first-half fumbles lost to the home team’s defense, and while playing offense, made the biggest negative-yardage play of the night, much to Niemi’s — yes! — relief.

That’s because it came in the second half off a bad pitch to a running back with the ball bouncing around for a 18-yard loss — much better than if the Sentinels had landed on it, or worse, even returned it a long way.

“Evan played a really good game,” Niemi said. “That helped us when we made some lapses on assignments. Those are correctable things.

“They always say it’s a lot easier to make corrections coming off a win that it is off a loss.”

The Negaunee defense’s other fumble recovery was by Mason Sandy, also in the first half.

The Miners’ lone turnover came on a Waterman pass that was intercepted by his Marquette counterpart, Richardson, while playing defense in the second half, though Waterman soon after made a nice defensive play of his own after the possession change.

Meanwhile, Marshall Peters turned into a battering ram for the NHS offense. After carrying the ball 10 times in the first half for a modest 23 yards, he carried the rock 16 times after intermission and rolled up another 110 yards for a 133-yard total on 26 attempts.

And Mason Swenor, a player who hadn’t seen the field since he was a freshman, mostly due to injury, touched the ball just twice in each half for seven yards gained.

But both of his first-half touches resulted in TDs of five yards and one yard.

“I’m really happy with how Mason took advantage when he got his chance,” Niemi said.

Waterman, a modest 3 of 7 passing though for the 96 yards through the air, added 112 yards on just 10 tries on the ground.

For Marquette, Richardson completed 13 of 21 passes for 161 yards to five receivers. Braylon Zdunek had the most catches, five, while Landen Faccio had the most receiving yards with 49, including a 42-yarder in the second half.

James Goodwin led MSHS rushers with 112 yards in 13 runs, while Richardson had 60 yards in 12 tries.

Marquette was called for about 20 more yards in penalties, 44-25, but also had more first downs, 17-15.

Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.