Marine City football crushes Center Line for seventh straight double-digit victory

EAST CHINA — From Week 2 to Week 7, the Marine City football team won all six of its games by double digits.

Did you expect anything different in Week 8?

The Mariners clobbered Center Line, 58-12, at East China Stadium on Friday.

Lyncoln Osterland finished 10-of-17 passing for 125 yards and two touchdowns against one interception for the Mariners, who improved to 7-1 overall.

"We're a team that's continuing to get better each week," Marine City coach Daryn Letson said. "We sustained blocks much better on offense, our backs made some nice cuts and our quarterback made some nice plays in the passing game. And then I thought our defense did a nice job there, early on, just to help us maintain momentum."

The Mariners scored the first 37 points of the game.

Osterland opened the rout with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Parker Atkinson (four receptions, 74 yards) at the 9:18 mark of the first quarter.

Five minutes later, Paul Muscat (eight carries, 106 yards) took an inside handoff 27 yards for a score.

Osterland then found the end zone on a 9-yard keeper just 1:21 into the second quarter. During Marine City's next drive, he threw a 19-yard strike to Cooper Letson on fourth-and-8.

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A safety with 5:13 remaining in the second quarter gave the Mariners a 30-0 lead. They'd add seven more points before the half with a 14-yard touchdown run from Muscat and an extra point from Spencer Sanchez.

"Obviously, we're not a finished product," Daryn Letson said. "But I'm happy with where we're at. We just need to keep climbing and keep looking to improve."

Marine City is outscoring opponents 301-54 during its seven-game winning streak.

With that level of play, it's easy to forget the Mariners' season began with a 40-20 loss to Armada on Aug. 25. But it might've been a blessing in disguise.

"The key to our success has been our motivation after that game," Atkinson said. "We used the anger from it to fuel us for the rest of the year and we've just been rolling. We believe in our coaches and our coaches believe in us."

"(Immediately) after the Armada game, we had good leadership," Daryn Letson said. "We've made some good adjustments (since then) and the kids have bought in. We're just continuing to work and get better. Each week we try to go 1-0."

When it comes to improvement, look no further than Osterland, Marine City's sophomore quarterback. After playing sporadically in 2022, he's been reliable, consistent and efficient.

"The experience from last year helped," Osterland said. "Playmakers on the team like (Atkinson) and the defense (have also hekped)."

One of the leaders of that stout defense is senior linebacker Bodie Ramsey, who finished with five solo tackles Friday.

"Without the (defensive) line, I wouldn't able to get those holes and get the tackles or anything," Ramsey said. "They clog (the middle) up really good and they normally take on two (offensive) lineman."

The entire unit will need to be at its best next week, when the Mariners welcome Durand to close the regular season.

"Playing Durand is like playing the academies in college football," Letson said. "They run an offense that you just don't see a whole lot. So, that'll be good for us to test our discipline."

These two teams met in 2022, with Durand handing Marine City a 48-28 loss.

"If you didn't watch last year's game, it was pretty ugly," Ramsey said. "They ran all over us. It was not a good showing for the defense. So I think we need our get back."

A victory would give the Mariners their seventh consecutive season with at least eight wins.

"I think we're a pretty sound football team that's trending the right way," Daryn Letson said. "We're going to be a tough out (in the playoffs)."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Marine City football crushes Center Line for seventh straight win