Ilsa Minor | Daily Press Gladstone’s Tyler Darmogray and Branden Sundquist tackle the Manistee ball carrier during Friday’s District 6 Championship game.

GLADSTONE — Fourteen years had passed since a Gladstone football team last hoisted a playoff championship trophy.

The Braves changed that on this rainy Friday night after defeating the Manistee Chippewas 36-14 in a Division 6 district final.

This marked Gladstone’s first district title since 2008 and the third in its program’s history.

The second-ranked Braves (9-2) host top-ranked Negaunee (10-1) in a regional final tentatively set for Saturday at 1 p.m. The Chippewas finished 7-4.

Gladstone trailed 14-8 early in the second quarter, then tied the score on senior Cole Potier’s 29-yard run around right end seven minutes, 53 seconds before halftime.

Manistee then started a drive on its own 26-yard line and drove into Braves’ territory before senior quarterback Jeff Huber was sacked on fourth down by junior Kaden Gibbs from the 35.

The Braves quickly reached the red zone before junior quarterback Nate Young tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to a sliding Gibbs in the end zone for a 22-14 lead 24.3 seconds before the intermission.

“We had one time-out and were trying to get the ball back and take advantage of field position and it worked out,” said Braves’ coach Craig Ness. “We saw a couple things we could take advantage of and went after it in the second half.”

Late in the third quarter, the Braves forced Manistee into a three-and-out situation.

The Chippewas’ punt, however, was successful, pinning the Braves on their own eight.

Early in the fourth, Potier began to chew up huge chunks of real estate before the drive stalled on the Manistee 19.

Manistee then got a first down, but senior Tyler Darmogray intercepted a pass and returned it to the Chippewas’ 25.

On the next play, Potier broke loose for a TD dash along the left sideline, giving the Braves a 30-14 cushion with 6:52 left to play.

Fifty-two seconds later, junior Mitch Cartwright swiped a pass and returned it to the Manistee 30.

The Braves concluded the scoring with 2:52 remaining when Young tossed an 17-yard TD pass to sophomore tight end Aaron Hughes.

“That was my first touchdown ever,” he said. “I was so happy to get that. It feels so good to win the district. This was a great game for our seniors.”

Manistee took a 6-0 lead on a three-yard run by junior Nick Hornkohl with 5:25 left in the opening frame.

Young gave the Braves an 8-6 lead on an eight-yard run through the left side at 3:03.

The Chippewas, however, regained the lead on an eight-yard pass from Huber to Hornkohl early in the second.

“Their score before halftime hurt us,” said Manistee coach Troy Bytwork. “We went for it on fourth down in the second quarter and not making it put us in a tough spot. They’re a real good team and they’re well coached. We wanted to contain number 26 (Potier) tonight, but he got away from us in the second half. They were better tonight. They played a real good game.”

Potier rushed for 157 yards on 21 carries and Young added 93 in eight attempts and was 4-of-11 passing for 45. The Braves finished with 316 yards in total offense.

“We just wanted it for the seniors and at halftime to coaches told us to go out and get it,” said sophomore return specialist Casey Alworden. “The score before halftime helped us a lot. That gave us momentum and our defense did a great job.”

Hornkohl ran 19 times for 119 yards. Kott added 45 on 12 carries and Hubert had 42 in 14 attempts.

“I think the wet field slowed them down a little,” said Ness. “We were flying around like wildmen. We’ve given up only 3-4 touchdown in the second half all year. This was a great effort by our team. We worked for this all year. We’re going to enjoy this.”