Glen Lake Blazes Trail Back to Finals
November 23, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – Congratulatory messages streamed in Saturday after Maple City Glen Lake defeated Leroy Pine River 34-20 in a Division 6 football Semifinal at snow-covered Thirlby Field – a win that secured the Lakers’ first MHSAA Finals appearance in 20 years.
Head coach Jerry Angers’ phone was particularly active. Among those calling or texting: Former Traverse City West coach Matt Prisk, who Angers previously worked under as a defensive coordinator; retiring St. Ignace coach Marty Spencer, whose Saints fell to defending Division 8 champion Muskegon Catholic earlier in the day; and Eric Gordon, the former Michigan State linebacker, who played for Prisk and Angers at West.
Angers, who was still fielding calls and texts late into the night Saturday, was “touched” by the show of support for his Glen Lake program.
Most of all, he was proud of his players, who kept improving every week to make this moment possible.
“They have worked hard for this opportunity,” he said. “I told them (after Saturday’s game), ‘You’re going to Ford Field. You’re one of 16 teams still playing. A lot of people will be watching, but I want you to enjoy it.’
“It’s like the Alan Jackson song ‘Remember When.’ I said in 20 years when you come back to see me I want you to say, ‘Remember when.’”
Glen Lake, which faces Jackson Lumen Christi for the title Friday, won the Class DD championship in 1994 under coach Bill Hollenbeck. The Lakers lost in the Class DD Final in 1996. Now, 20 years later, Glen Lake’s back.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” all-state linebacker Duke Angers, the coach’s son, said a few hours after the game. “It seems surreal right now. Growing up as a kid, you dream about playing at Ford Field. Now we get that opportunity. We’ll enjoy this for 24 hours and then get to work for Jackson Lumen Christi.”
Junior quarterback Cade Peterson, who rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Pine River, is also a coach’s son. His father, Tim, was head coach at Lake City for 15 seasons. The family moved into the Glen Lake school system this year. Tim is the quarterbacks coach for the Lakers.
“I’ve been going down to the state finals since I was 12,” Cade said. “And I would always think, ‘I want to play in this (state finals).’ Now it’s happening. You can ask any team in the state, and their ultimate goal would be to go to Ford Field and play for a state title. Only a few teams can say they accomplished that – and we did. As soon as that moment set in (Saturday), it was ‘Hey, we achieved our goal. Now let’s go win a state championship.’”
For Tim Peterson, who led Lake City to nine playoff berths, including Regional appearances in 2012 and 2013, it was a moment to savor.
“You work your whole life as a coach to try to get to the apex – and this is it,” he said. “We’re there. I couldn’t be happier for the kids, the program and the community.”
Now the task for the 11-2 Lakers is to a win a 12th game. Glen Lake will be taking on a program steeped in tradition. This will be Lumen Christi’s eighth MHSAA Finals appearance since 2000. The Titans have won five crowns during that span under coach Herb Brogan.
“Our kids have been facing challenges all year, and people keep underestimating them,” Tim Peterson said. “They just keep doing what they do – and they do it very well.”
Glen Lake’s losses were to Traverse City St. Francis (21-13) and Frankfort (26-21), teams that finished 11-1. The Lakers came in second to Frankfort in the Northern Michigan Football League’s Leaders division. Jerry Angers, now in his eighth season at the helm, said his team learned valuable lessons from those defeats.
“Sometimes losses are good for you,” he said. “We, as coaches and fans, never want to believe that, but in our two losses we had 15 or so penalties in one and five turnovers in the other. So you go back and you work on it. You try to reduce the penalties, reduce the turnovers. That became a great focus for our kids. I think we’ve had eight penalties in four playoff games – total. And we’ve kept our turnovers to a minimum. If you focus on the task at hand, and what’s in front of you, those things are going to be eliminated.”
Cade Peterson said the setbacks brought the team closer together, too.
“People can start pointing fingers (in defeat),” he said. “That didn’t go on here. Everybody picked each other up and kept fighting, kept going.”
The 16 seniors on the team led the way.
“They set the tone,” Tim Peterson said. “The senior leadership has been phenomenal in keeping the focus.”
Glen Lake had to go on the road at Roscommon and Calumet to win two of its four playoff games. On Saturday, the Lakers, who were averaging 160 yards passing and 215 yards rushing per contest out of their spread offense, stuck to the ground to beat Pine River in blustery conditions that forced officials to clear snow off the artificial turf before and during the game.
Glen Lake rushed for 309 yards. In addition to Peterson’s 179 yards, Duke Angers picked up 59 and Nick Apsey 54. Apsey also hauled in two catches for 34 yards. The Laker backs – running behind a line that features tackles Jake Palmer and Brandon Tremble, guards Ryan Nadlicki and Zack Gushurst and center Tommy Kendall – averaged nearly five yards a carry. Nadlicki’s uncle, Mike, was a star on Traverse City’s state championship team in 1988.
“The weather forced us to be very one-dimensional (Saturday), but we’re real pleased with our ability to run the football as well as throw it,” Tim Peterson said. “That’s a good combination to have when you go deep into the playoffs because you never know what the weather will be.”
For the season, Cade Peterson’s completed 106 of 207 passes for 1,953 yards and 20 touchdowns. Jared Jackson, last year’s starting quarterback, has caught 30 passes, Apsey 23.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Peterson leads the team in rushing with 843 yards. Apsey, also a junior, has added 791 yards.
Defensively, Duke Angers, a four-year starter, is averaging 10 stops a game and Tony Duperon seven. Glen Lake is surrendering less than 200 yards in offense per game. Angers was the Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Defensive Player of the Year a year ago.
“As a football coach, he’s one of the best leaders and overall players that I’ve ever been associated with,” Jerry Angers said.
Jerry Angers led Glen Lake to back-to-back 9-2 seasons in 2012-13. The Lakers reached the District Finals those years.
Glen Lake qualified for the playoffs a year ago, finishing 5-5. This season, with a number of experienced players returning, coupled with the addition of Cade and Drew Peterson, the team has flourished. Drew is a sophomore defensive end and receiver. He had an interception Saturday.
Cade Peterson was a two-year starter at Lake City, throwing for 1,753 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore.
“I feel a big part of why I’ve been successful (at Glen Lake) is because of how welcoming everybody was – not only the team and coaches, but the school and community,” he said.
“When those two (Peterson) boys walked in, our kids just grabbed them and said, ‘Hey, let’s go. You’re part of us now,’” Jerry Angers added.
Tim Peterson retired as a principal in June of 2015. He coached the Trojans that fall, but after the school year the family decided to make a move. Peterson was familiar with the Glen Lake area, since he worked camps with Hollenbeck. He was also good friends with Angers.
“It was time for a change,” Peterson explained. “We came up and looked at the academic piece of it, which is most important to us, and we said this is where we want to go.
“We’ve always said, at some point, we’d like to get here. This community is so supportive of their kids and of their school and that’s what you look for as a parent.”
Now the Lakers are one win away from a second MHSAA title. Regardless of what happens, though, Duke Angers said he believes his senior class has made an impact.
“We raised the bar a little,” he said. “We wanted to leave a trail to follow – and I think we have.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Maple City Glen Lake’s Nick Apsey (5) follows his blockers on the way to the end zone during Saturday’s Semifinal win over Leroy Pine River. (Middle) Wes Peplinski (68) drops the Pine River quarterback in the 34-20 victory. (Photos by Kim Jackson.)
Generations of Jonesville Reunite to Say Good-Bye to Old Field, Await New
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
November 11, 2025
As the old saying, and more recent song lyric goes, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
A new era of Jonesville football will begin next fall when the Comets begin playing on a new field at a new sports complex on the high school campus.
It’s a new beginning. But, before that new era was launched, the Comets had one final game on its old football field this fall – a nearly 75-year-old relic that sits just outside Jonesville Middle School.
“I have a lot of memories of playing on that field,” said Comets football coach Frank Keller. “It’s been home to a lot of big games, good times.”
The final home game on the field was Week 8 against Vandercook Lake. Keller temporarily relinquished his play-calling duties when his former head coach – and recent Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee – Greg Morrison came to the sidelines for a series after some convincing from his former player.
Morrison showed he hadn’t lost his touch. The third and final play he called – “tight end delay” – went for a touchdown.
“It was one of his favorite plays,” Keller said. “He called it, and we scored. It couldn’t have gone any better. He got to call the last touchdown on the old field.”
About a year ago, an anonymous donor gave a $4 million donation to the school to build a new track and football field, along with an accompanying concession stand and restrooms. The field is in a picturesque spot, tucked among trees.
The donation came from a Jonesville family that has had four generations of athletes play sports for the Comets. Athletic director Jeff Turner said the family stepped forward when it became apparent it would be difficult for the district to pass a bond issue or a new tax to fund such a large-scale project.
"We are certainly grateful for them coming forward," Turner said. "We couldn't have done this without them. They wanted to help the school district and the community, and we are fortunate that we are able to build such a nice facility."
The track will be ready for events this spring. Sod was laid on the football field, inside the track, this fall and has been mowed a few times. New bleachers were constructed on both sides of the field recently, and the concession building is almost ready for business.
It’s a dramatic change for the district.
The current football field has been in use for decades and was home to league championship teams, playoff games and more great Jonesville memories.
“Growing up as a kid I always watched football games, there and I played there,” Keller said. “I have mixed feelings about it. It’s great to get a new facility, but sad to see the old one go.”
Morrison recalled a game during his coaching tenure when the opposing team hid in the nearby woods, and then just before kickoff came running onto the field.
Jonesville won by several touchdowns. Clearly the ploy didn’t exactly work out as intended.
“It was a great field to play,” Morrison said. “It was unique.”
These days, Jonesville is a Division 7 football school with an enrollment of 299 students. The Comets play in the Cascades Conference West and went 6-4 this season, falling in the first round of the playoffs.
The football team has been in the playoffs four of the past seven seasons, went 9-0 during the regular season in 2019 and has 16 playoff appearances.
Keller graduated from Jonesville in 1999. He was on the Comets varsity for three seasons, from 1996-1998. Turner is a Jonesville graduate as well. He said several past players, cheerleaders and band members returned to the field for its final game, stirring a lot of memories.
“I don’t know how much of the game I got to watch that night,” Turner said. “It was great to catch up with a lot of people I may not have seen in quite a while. It was great.”
Turner said the athletic complex will be great for the district.
“It looks wonderful,” he said. “Our kids are excited about running track this spring and playing on the new field. Everyone is excited about it.”
As with any new facility, the complex is creating a buzz around athletics at Jonesville.
“We’re hoping we get more kids out just because they want to play on the new field, maybe even get new kids to the school,” Keller said. “We’re hoping it helps bring in more kids. Track looks awesome. The whole facility looks great.
“For us to get a new facility like that is unbelievable.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Jonesville players take the field for their final home game last month at their now former field. (Middle) Past Jonesville players line up with retired coach Greg Morrison during the final game. (Below) Jonesville’s new stadium sits under the lights and will be ready for the spring track & field season. (Photos courtesy of the Jonesville football program.)