Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Gladstone’s Ryan Polley (right) cuts inside to avoid Negaunee’s Matt Skewis (2) Friday at Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — The Gladstone Braves stood tall on defense at crunch time here Friday night as they opened with a 22-20 football triumph over the Negaunee Miners.

Junior lineman Brett Boudreau and senior defensive back Lucas Hughes forced fumbles in the final five minutes, and the senior linebacker sealed the verdict with a quarterback sack on the game’s final play.

“We knew our defense would have to create some opportunities and win the turnover battle,” said Braves’ coach Jeff Hansen. “Otherwise, Negaunee is going to grind you to death. Negaunee is going to try to run between tackles. You have to play good early-down defense to force them into third-and-long situations.”

The Miners (1-1) appeared to be in the midst of a promising drive in the fourth quarter. That drive, however, got stalled on the Braves’ 23-yard line by Boudreau’s fumble recovery.

Gladstone then began to march downfield, but with 1:56 left to play, that drive stalled on Philip Nelson’s interception at the Negaunee 20.

Negaunee’s final possession then lasted just 19 seconds as the Braves regained it on Hughes’ fumble recovery.

“Missed opportunities and mistakes were keys to this game,” said Negaunee coach Paul Jacobson. “We had way too many turnovers. You can’t do that against a good team.”

The Braves scored the game-winner with 9:55 remaining in the contest when senior running back Ryan Polley scored on a 14-yard run through the left side.

Negaunee opened the third quarter with a 14-play, 66-yard drive, which lasted more than seven minutes and ended on a one-yard touchdown run up the middle by senior running back Lukas Nelson for a 20-14 lead.

In the first quarter, the Miners marched 54 yards in 11 plays and grabbed a 7-0 lead on a three-yard run by Lukas Nelson at 3:28.

Negaunee scored again on its next possession when senior starting QB Will Luke heaved a 37-yard aerial to Philip Nelson for a 14-0 cushion with 38 seconds left in the opening frame.

“When it was 14-0, we knew we just had to stay together and overcome adversity,” said Hansen. “In the second quarter, we went to a more even front on defense. We wanted to get them into passing situations and keep them behind the sticks. We didn’t execute in the first quarter.”

Luke, however, was forced out of the contest a short time later when he broke his collarbone.

Junior Cam Kelly then trimmed Gladstone’s deficit to 14-6 just 12 seconds into the second stanza when he scampered 74 yards around the left end on a QB keeper.

“I thought we had a good start,” said Jacobson. “Gladstone didn’t have very many practices, and we wanted to take advantage of that. We put the ball into the hands of our two senior running backs. I thought they played pretty well, but their long touchdown run really gave them a spark. Losing our starting quarterback also didn’t help.”

The Braves then tied the score 33 seconds before halftime at 14 on Kelly’s 41-yard TD pass to senior split end Cam Ballard, set up on the previous play by an interception by junior defensive back Sasha Olsen.

Kelly ran five times for 92 yards and hit 3-of-9 passes for 74.

“This is a big one for us,” said Kelly. “They were good. No. 42 (senior Nash Hillier) is a good player. He can run. We’re happy we got the win and to just be playing. A month ago, it didn’t look good. It feels great to be back.”

Negaunee outgained Gladstone 303-234 in total offense. The Miners ran for 235, led by Lukas Nelson who had 155 on 29 carries. Hillier finished with 69 on 16 attempts. The Braves had 160 on the ground.

“Cam is a dynamic athlete and a real competitor and we try to utilize his ability,” said Hansen. “We just put our best 11 athletes on the field and let it run through our quarterback.”

The Braves travel to Sault Ste. Marie Friday. The Miners host L’Anse Friday.

Negaunee 14 0 6 0 — 20

Gladstone 0 14 0 8 — 22

Total offense — Gladstone 234, Negaunee 266

Rushing — Gladstone (Kelly 5-92, Polley 12-37, H. Potier 6-17, Servant 4-14); Negaunee (L. Nelson 29-155, Hillier 16-69, Luke 1-17, Johnson 6-minus-6).

Passing — Gladstone (Kelly 3-for-9, 69 yards, one touchdown, one interception); Negaunee (Luke 2-for-2, 53 yards, one touchdown, Johnson 1-for-4, 15 yards, one interception).

Receiving — Gladstone (Ballard 1-41, C. Potier 1-35, Polley 1-3); Negaunee (P. Nelson 1-37, Luokkala 1-16, L. Nelson 1-15).