ALMONT — The Almont varsity football team was bested, 28-0, by visiting North Branch in a Blue Water Area Conference contest last Friday night.
With the outcome, North Branch improves to 2-0 versus league foes and overall. Almont drops to 1-1 this season and against BWAC counterparts.
Emilio Lord, of Almont, looks to wrap up North Branch’s Jacob Ranney in Friday’s game.
“We ran into a good team tonight,” Almont Coach James Leusby said following the game. “All we can do is learn from this and get back to work on Monday,” he noted.
In Friday’s contest, Almont spotted North Branch a 14-0 advantage after one quarter was done.
Quarter two would see North Branch collect seven points and Almont none giving them a 21-0 cushion at the halftime break.
It was followed by a scoreless third quarter.
North Branch then outscored Almont 7-0 the rest of the way, closing out a 28-0 win.
On the night, Noah Houvener completed two of nine pass plays for seven yards as Almont’s quarterback. He threw no interceptions en route to those numbers.
Charlie Koenig (one for eight yards) Michael Lulgjuraj (one for a one- yard loss) had Almont’s receptions.
The Almont ground attack managed 92 yards on 32 totes.
Individually, Lulgjuraj (15 rushes for 53 yards) proved Almont’s toughest player to stop. The remaining 17 Raider totes netted a combined 39-yard gain.
Nolan Panduren (two solos and seven assists), Eli Bankson (four solos and three assists) and Landon Kruse (two solos and five assists) put up Almont’s best defensive numbers. Issa Abu-Joudeh (two solos and four assists), Pierce Matthews (two solos and two assists) and Brock Conger (one solo and three assists) supported their performances.
Matthews added a pair of interceptions to Almont’s cause.
Almont is scheduled to return to action Friday, October 16 when it hosts Blue Water Area Conference rival Richmond. That clash lists a 7 p.m. starting time.
Kevin Kissane has been covering high school sports for the Tri-City Times since 1985. When not standing on a field or court with his camera and notepad, he enjoys golf, travel and family. Kevin is a 1980 graduate of Capac High School, and is also a grad of St. Clair Community College and earned a degree in journalism from Central Michigan University.
