Tuscola County Sports

North Branch punter Jerome Sullivan earned All-State honors. He was named to the Associated Press Division 3-4 Team . Frankenmuth's Heather Schultz was named to the Saginaw News 2008 Vollyball Dream Team. Congrats to both athletes

Class B 1st Team B - Kyle Hemingway, Millington, Senior L - Ken Hoffman, Millington, Senior K - Nathan Kraft, Frankenmuth, Senior 2nd Team B - Tyler Reinert, Millington, Senior B - Matt McMeans, Frankenmuth, Senior L - Brent Phillips, Frankenmuth, Senior E - R.J. Fritz, Caro, Senior Coach - Tim Furno, Millington Honorable Mention Millington Matt Berlin Matt Bennett Ethan Wright Corbin Barbersek Josh Williams Frankenmuth Rody Loesel Matt Cramer Vassar Dontay Crist Ryan Worden Troy Hecht Josh Dubois Zach Germain Marcus Taylor Caro Max Schlereth Seth Kratz Kyle Diaz Jordan Decker Mike Green Tim Curtis Class C-D 1st Team L - Derek Saylor, Reese, Senior 2nd Team B - Raydar Williams, Kingston, Senior Honorable Mention Cass City Blake Messing Josh Inbody Tony Middaugh Austin Babich Lucas Varney Adam Osentoski Tyler Tomlinson Clark Walsh Reese Kevin Kinasz Morgan Walter Jacob Bierlein Luke Sommerfield Tommy Wheeler Mayville Frank Labadie Nate Richardson Corey Travis Unionville-Sebewaing Ryan W...

The Thumb Sportswriters Association (TSA) recently got together to select their All-Thumb Volleyball Team. Many Tuscola County athletes comprise this team. Please check out the TSA's blog for more information. The football team will be announced in the coming days.

Here are Tuscola County football players that have been chosen to their respective conference teams for 2008. For the full list from each conference click here . A couple noted exceptions from the all-conference teams that I feel should be noted. Vassar's Zach Germain and Mayville's Nate Richardson have to be first teamers on any team that is put together. It is a shame that they are not listed below. Tri-Valley East 1st Team Offense FB - Seth Kratz, Caro, Junior B - Kyle Hemingway, Millington, Senior B - Matt McMeans, Frankenmuth, Senior OL - Matt Berlin, Millington, Junior OL - Brent Phillips, Frankenmuth, Senior OL - Max Schlereth, Caro, Junior TE - RJ Fritz, Caro, Senior K - Nathan Kraft, Frankenmuth, Senior 1st Team Defense DL - Matt Bennett, Millington, Senior DL - Ethan Deshetsky, North Branch, Sophomore DE - Jimmy Ferkowicz, North Branch, Senior LB - Ken Hoffman, Millington, Senior DB - Tyler Reinert, Millington, Senior DB - Nathan Kraft, Frankenmuth, Senior P - Jerome ...

Millington's senior linebacker Ken Hoffman has followed up his 1st Defense Tri-Valley East selection by being named to the Associated Press Division 5-6 All-State Linebacker. Hoffman is 6'1" and weighs 197 pounds. His stats and a few high light videos can be found here . Congrats Ken.

The Ubly Bearcats football team is the Thumb's last hope for a state championship in this fall sports season in the Michigan High School Athletic Association. After losses by the Croswell-Lexington football team and USA's and North Branch's volleyball teams this week, the Bearcats seem to be poised to bring home their first state championship. For a quick recap and some great photos of Ubly's 47-8 destruction of previously unbeaten Reading check out Chris Ogryski's blog here . For some extra great photos, check out Paul Adams camera skills at the Huron Daily Tribune sports blog . Channel 12 also has some good video of the game. Good luck to Ubly as they take on the Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators (12-1). The game will take place on Saturday, November 29th at 10:00 a.m. The game can be seen on Fox Sports Detroit, and heard in the Thumb on WLEW 102.1. Tom Markowski of the Detroit News has a quick preview of all the state championships in today's paper . Go U...

Class B Volleyball Semi-Finals #1-North Branch Broncos (70-4) vs. #5-Fruitport Trojans (45-10) The winner of this match will play #7 Holland Christian Maroons (49-12). The Maroons defeated #8 Ida Bluestreak in three straight games in the first Class B semi-final match. Holland Christian won the matches 25-18, 26-24, and 25-14. Ida finishes the season with a record of 47-10-2. Game #1 North Branch scored first. Game tied at 1. North Branch 4 - Fruitport 3 Game tied at 5. North Branch 9 - Fruitport 7 Timeout Fruitport. North Branch in middle of one of their runs. North Branch 12 - Fruitport 7. North Branch 13 - Fruitport 9 Fruitport 4-1 run to close gap to 14-12 North Branch 16 - Fruitport 13 North Branch on 5-3 run to lead 19-15 North Branch 21 - Fruitport 16 Miss Volleyball has been nothing short of great in the back line. Fruitport timeout. North Branch 22 - Fruitport 18. North Branch keeps their game won streak alive. It now rests at 40 and counting. They win Game #1 25-20. Game #2 N...

Class C Volleyball Semi-Finals Schoolcraft Eagles vs. USA Patriots Game #1 of USA and Schoolcraft. Christian, Andrew, and Chad reporting. Currently USA 12 - Schoolcraft 9 Schoolcraft on 11-4 run to take lead 20-16. Too many unforced errors for USA. Schoolcraft uses a 9-3 run to close out Game #1. Schoolcraft wins 25-19 . Game #2 Tied at 3 Schoocraft 7 - USA 5 Schoolcraft 12- USA 8 Schoolcraft 15 - USA 12 Three point run for USA. Schoolcraft 15- USA 14 All tied at 16 USA takes 18-17 lead USA in midst of 9-3 run to take 20-18 lead Game tied at 22. USA wins Game #2 25-22, after being down 15-11. Match tied at one game apiece. Game #3 Schoocraft jumps to 4-0 lead before USA takes next 3 points. Schoolcraft 9 - USA 4 Schoolcraft 12 - USA 6 USA in midst 4-1 run. Schoolcraft 15-USA 10. Schoolcraft 17 - USA 11 USA timeout - Schoolcraft 19 - USA 12 Schoolcraft 21 - USA 15 Schoolcraft wins Game #3 25-17. Schoolcraft holds match advantage 2-1. USA has now lost both games in front of their fans. ...

As chosen by you, the 1st Annual Freak Nasty Player of the Year is Millington's Ken Hoffman. Hoffman won the award with his Week #1 performance against Alma. In the win, Hoffman had 12 tackles, including six tackles for a loss and three sacks. He also had a rushing touchdown and a two point conversion. Hoffman was a main cog in the Millington machine this year, leading the Cardinals to their first league championship since 2000. In the regular season, Hoffman led the Cardinals with 104 tackles, including 19 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks. Hoffman also scored five touchdowns on the year with four of them coming on the ground. Congratulations Ken. Browse by and download your trophy. Democracy can be fun some times.

Both USA and North Branch advance to the state semi-finals after victories last night. What a gift to host a State quarterfinal game as the gym was loud and packed to the brim. North Branch faced maybe their biggest test of the post season in Lakewood. Facing a six point deficit in the second set, the Broncos battled their way back to grab a 25-20 win, and also kept their undefeated postseason streak in tact. Thats right, North Branch has yet to lose a single game, sweeping all four of their opponents, including Lakewood (25-15, 25-20, 25-19). USA struggled out of the gate, dropping the first two matches. But the Patriots went on a late tear, rattling off three straight wins and beating Allen Park Cabrini in a five game thriller (20-25, 15-25, 25-21, 25-12 ,15-11). Both teams will now play in Battle Creek on Thusday, with USA (33-7-7) taking on Schoolcraft (40-9-2) at 2 p.m. and North Branch (70-4) will take the floor against Fruitport (45-10) at 7:15 pm. Look for updates on Thursday ...

For the second time this year, the best player in their perspective sport has come from the Tri-Valley Conference. Earlier this year, Frankenmuth's Brad Redford won the Mr. Basketball Award. Now, North Branch's Olivia Kohler wins the Miss Volleyball Award. Read the article here from the Detroit Free Press. Congratulations Olivia, and good luck tonight.

The North Branch Broncos dispatched of the Frankenmuth Eagles in three games to win the Class B Region 15 title. North Branch won the games by scores of 25-9, 25-7, and 25-10. North Branch will play Lake Odessa Lakewood on Tuesday, November 18, at North Branch High School. Gametime is 7 p.m. Post game comments from Head Coach Jim Fish will be posted in the player above shortly. Look for a full write-up in this Sunday's County Press .

It is now time for the post season football awards. There were some big weeks through out the year, and you get to choose the biggest week. The Freak Nasty Players of the Week will be listed below and you can vote on side. Week #1 - In North Branch's 52-22 win over Imlay City, Cody Stawecki led the Bronco offense with 192 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Millington's Ken Hoffman was dominant in their 28-12 victory over Alma. Defensively, Hoffman had 12 tackles, including six tackles for a loss and three sacks. He also had a rushing touchdown and a two point conversion. Week #2 - North Branch's Dion Cimini kept the Broncos close in their 28-22 loss to Frankenmuth. He rushed the ball 15 times for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Reese's Chris Bauer was the main factor in the Rockets 62-0 win over Bad Axe. Bauer rushed for 152 yards and three touchdown. He also kicked six extra points and ran for a two pointer. On top of all that, he also had a defensive interception. Wee...