Houston Ends GM’s 51-Game Streak

Grand Meadow entered a week two contest with Houston having won 51 games in a row.  The streak started Oct 11, 2013.  The Lark’s last loss occurred on Oct. 4 and 5 of 2013. Due to a Friday postponement, Niko Anderson led Lanesboro past GM on Saturday 47-36. The Larks went on to win the 9-Man title. They followed it up with three straight perfect seasons, three more titles to run the championship streak to four. Nine-man’s biggest dog lately procured the #1 ranking to start 2017.  Houston, meanwhile, had a good season last year (7-3), but fell to GM twice, 56-26 and 49-22.  The Hurricanes entered week two not receiving one vote in the polls.  They’d dropped ten straight to GM, dating back to 2009, the year after Houston won the 9-man state title.   That streak is over.  GM’s streak is over.  In all likelihood, team double-H is headed to the top 10.  Coached by a Lanesboro grad, Cody Hungerholt, and with Houston and Hurricanes huge in the news, team double-H wrote their own big story.   The teams exchanged first half scores.  Hurricane QB Jaytin Millen scored on a 10-yard run in the first.  GM’s Josh Graves hit Chance Hammermeister on a 16-yard TD pass in the second.  Two conversions resulted in an 8-8 halftime score.  GM went ahead in the final seconds of the third on a Zach Myhre 5-yard run.  Graves to Hammermeister for two made it 16-8.  Millen hit James Hongerholt on a 24-yard TD strike, on 4th and seven no less, early in the fourth.  Brady Happel’s two-point run tied the game 16-16 (8:52).  Hongerholt then authored an interception.  Millen subsequently scored from one yard out to make it 22-16 Hurricanes (5:51).  After a defensive stop, with under two left, Happel absolutely iced things with a 16-yard TD run (Joey Fishel two-point run).  Posting probably the program’s biggest win since the 2008 state title, out-scoring GM 22-0 in the fourth, Houston gets double kudos for a 30-16 victory.  They did so mostly on the ground, and in team fashion.  Fishel (17-71 rushing), Happel (11-66, TD), Zach Schneider (12-63), and Millen (14-53, 2 TDs, 3-5, 70 yards, TD passing) combined for over 250 yards rushing. Myhre, the Larks lead runner, was generally held in check (27-125, TD rushing).   Houston out-gained GM 319 to 278. Turnovers loomed large.  Houston (2-0) won that battle 4 to 1.  Hongerholt had two interceptions, Millen one.  Schneider and Cody Carpenter each had double-digit tackles for the ‘Canes.  The addition of Houston (2-0) to the mix makes the Southeast-East and 9-man Section 1 races very interesting.