**ARTICLE BY JOSH LONGSTRETH**
To say that the Gladwin Flying G’s have their had their way in 2022 would be putting it mildly. Gladwin had outscored opponents 148-0 through four weeks of the season. They would have another solid test on their hands in week 5 in the Meridian Mustangs. The winners of three in a row, the Mustangs have impressed many to this point. Over that three week span, they have outscored their opponents 101-14. They would head into this one to see if they could give Gladwin their toughest test to date.
Gladwin would do what they do early in this one. They would jump on the board first after a Logan Kokotovich 4-yard TD run. The Anna Seebeck successful PAT would give the home team a 7-0 lead. On the ensuing kick off we would see what no team has been able to do this year. Meridian would take one all the way back on the kick return for 80-yards. All of a sudden, it looked like we might be in for a barn burner in this one. Gladwin would jump right back up, however. That’s when Nick Wheeler would hit Lucas Mead from 32-yards out to give Gladwin a 14-7 lead. Wheeler had the Gladwin offense rolling again when he would go all the way to paydirt on a 65-yard TD run. This would give all the momentum right back to Gladwin as they took a 21-7 lead after another Seebeck PAT. The kickoff return that put Meridian one the board would seem like a very distant memory at that point. Wheeler, again, would add more. This time from 24-yards out. It would be all Gladwin after one, 28-7.
The second quarter would be another dominant one from the home team. Gladwin would take a 35-7 lead after a 47-yard TD pass. Seebeck would add the PAT making her 5 of 5 on the night, before the half. Then to top the half off, Kokotovich would add another. It was Gladwin 42-7, after one half of play.
Gladwin would grab the first points of the 2nd half on a Mead 4-yard TD run. In full control, Gladwin would take a 49-7 lead. Then they would mix things up a bit when the defense would add a safety to put it at 51-7. A 25-yard TD run to end the 3rd would be the final score of this one. Gladwin would put together another great performance in this one taking the night, 58-7.
The Gladwin defense has now yet to yield a point through five weeks of the season. Nick Wheeler led the way for the offense by piling up 217 yards of total offense to go with 3 TD’s. Logan Kokotovich would add 67 yards on the ground and 2 TD’s. Lucas Mead added 2 TD’s, 1 on the ground and 1 receiving. Anna Seebeck converted all 8 PAT tries on the night. The Gladwin offense would rack up 469 yards of total offense in this one while holding the Mustangs to just 220. Kaden McDonald would add a takeaway for the defense with his interception.
Gladwin will move to 5-0 overall on the year. They sit atop the JPC at 4-0. Gladwin head coach Marc Jarstfer was proud of his guys again afterwards. “Really proud to see the way our guys responded to giving up a score to make it 7-7, early. They just put their heads down and stuck to the plan. We’ll enjoy this one and get back to work pretty quickly”.
The Flying G’s look to add another win to their tally next week at the hands of the Pinconning Spartans. Pinconning fell to 0-5 overall, and 0-3 in league play after a loss to Beaverton Friday night. Gladwin welcomes them in next Friday night for week 6. Meridian will move to 3-2 overall, and 2-1 in JPC play. They’ll face a Beaverton team in week 6 who is coming off their first win of the year. Beaverton now sits at 1-4 overall, and 1-2 in JPC play. The Mustangs will welcome them in when they battle at 7:00 next Friday night.
