After six years of gut punches, Glenn shows new fight in rivalry with Garber

BANGOR TOWNSHIP, MI – They took body blows, a sock in the nose and more than one on the chin.

After taking six years of hits in its cross-river rivalry with Essexville Garber, the John Glenn football team finally fought back. The Bobcats unleashed all those years of frustration to score an overwhelming 39-8 decision over Garber, walking off with their arms raised in triumph and feeling like the heavyweight champion of the world.

"I've waited a long time for this game," Glenn senior Colten Beson said. "We've gone to all the camps, we've been in the weight room every day, we've done everything it takes - and we finally got to show it."

In its quest to turn the corner as a program under fourth-year head coach Jon Horton, Glenn absolutely had to get past its archrival. But year after year, Garber refused to let the Bobcats land a single punch.

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Since the rivalry resumed in 2018, Garber (1-2, 0-1) had not only won all six meetings but outscored Glenn 166-16 and hadn't allowed a single offensive point in four straight matchups.

So when Glenn (2-1, 2-0) scored two touchdowns in the first 6:18 of this year's Tri-Valley Conference Red clash on John Loop Field, it was pretty evident that the Bobcats had brought a new kind of fight.

"Last year (against Garber) was the worst feeling I ever had because we thought we had the team to win," said Beson, a fourth-year varsity performer. "But we didn't have the right mentality back then. This year, everybody has the right mindset.

"I know people are still going to doubt us. But this is the new Glenn. Nobody knows us yet."

With a new-fangled offense and 20 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, the Bobcats certainly look new. But the spunk they brought the field is what truly set them apart. Since falling in a 30-0 halftime deficit to Ortonville Brandon in the season opener, Glenn has been on a tear, nearly pulling off the come-from-behind in that contest, blanking Alma in the Tri-Valley Conference Red opener and now exorcising its Garber demons.

"And guess what? This is the worst we're going to be," said Horton after watching his players emphatically sound the victory bell. "This team is going to be better every week. The work ethic is great and the follow-through is incredible.

"With such a young team, we had no idea how fast they would mature. They're progressing faster than we ever expected."

Garrett Hilborn's interception on the opening drive set the tone for the Bobcats, who had three interceptions and a fumble recovery in the contest. Hilborn punched in a 6-yard touchdown run to start the scoring and added a 3-yard TD moments later to stake the Bobcats to a 15-0 advantage.

Quarterback Garrett Buzzard added a 6-yard scoring run just 23 second before halftime to make it 22-0 and the Dukes started envisioning pitching a shutout of their own in the series that was getting one-sided.

"We took it personal when they said they were going to be the most physical team in the TVC," Horton said. "The days of talking like that with us next door are over.

"We're working on getting the standard back to the old John Glenn standard and to the John Loop standard. Our expectation is to be a great football program."

Garber got on the board on a 2-yard TD toss from Ethan Pett to Cade Wallaker to make it 22-8, but just 52 seconds later, Buzzard hit Che Arocha for a 28-yard touchdown bump the margin back to 29-8.

Glenn tacked on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Buzzard to Blake Francis with 9:13 to play and a 37-yard Landon Kogelman field goal with 3:05 on the clock for the final tally.

"I didn't see that coming," first-year Garber coach Dave Matthews said. "We had dropped passes, a muffed punt... way too many mistakes to win the game. Give Glenn credit, they beat us and we've got to get better."

Garber finished with 212 yards of total offense, with Pett completing 12 of 23 passes for 80 yards and rushing for 52 yards on 16 carries. Freshman Dominick Knezek rushed for 61 yards on 13 carries for the Dukes.

Buzzard was 6 of 19 passing for 157 yards and ran for 83 yards on nine carries. Hilborn finished with 39 yards on eight carries and Jonny Ford 32 yards on eight carries. Hilborn, Isaiah Hankinson and Lukas Gies each snared an interception to front the defense while Izaak Kukulski recovered a fumble on a punt and Marcus Joshua notched three tackles for loss.

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