By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Frankenmuth —Goodrich Martians Varsity Football team traveled to Frankenmuth on Aug. 29 to open the 2024 football season. The Eagles raced out to a 9-0 lead at halftime and scored 13 in the second half for the win shutting out the Martians. In 2023 the Martians topped the Eagles 14-8 at Michigan Stadium.
“Frankenmuth is a very good football team,” said Head Coach Tom Alward. “The game did not end as I expected, we were not as successful as we should have been. The kids will have a bad game, I had a bad game. We’ll bounce back.”
Both teams made it to the State Semifinals in 2023.
“Our defense played well enough to win the game,” said Alward. “Our offensive did not. We did not move the ball consistently, and fell behind on downs too many times. You have to tip your hat to Frankenmuth. This game was an eye opener for sure.”
“We tried to throw,” he said. “But we need time to throw. We have to clean up our mistakes, we’ll be fine.”
The Martians tallied just seven first downs to the Eagles 14. The Martians carried the ball 26 times for 71 yards, while the Eagles ran the ball 46 times for 167 yards averaging 3.6 yards per carry.

GHS Tanner Mazich was the leading rusher for the Martians with 11 carries for 27 yards followed by Chase Burnett with 10 carries for 24 yards. Eagle Hagen Wascher was the leading rusher with nine carries for 66 yards.
The Martians attempted 11 passes and completed six for 86 yards. The Eagles had five attempts with just two completions for 27 yards.