Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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By JASON JUNO [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic Miners dispatched Lake Linden-Hubbell for the first time as an 8-player team, 29-12 Friday night. Gogebic last beat the Lakes in 2012, in a 39-12 win when both teams were 11-player teams. “It’s been a minute since Bessemer, Wakefield has beat Lake Linden, so definitely a big win for us,” Gogebic coach Nick Heikkila said. Miners’ quarterback Bode Lynott accounted for four touchdowns. He threw two long passes to Patrick Perron, a 67-yard pass to start the scoring midway through t...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] PHILLIPS, Wis. — The playoffs are starting a week early in Hurley. The Northstars likely need to win their regular-season finale against Rib Lake at Veterans Memorial Field Friday night to ensure a spot in the WIAA 8-player postseason field. Hurley won their first six games and then fell 48-32 at Phillips Friday night in a battle for first place in the Northwoods East Conference. It seems a bit cruel to be fighting for your playoff life with a 6-1 record, but that’s the reality. “That’s the way it is w...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — Ironwood lost to the top-ranked team in the Upper Peninsula, Crystal Falls Forest Park, 58-8, Friday night. They’re back home this week with Lake Linden-Hubbell coming to town for a 6 p.m. game Friday night. The Red Devils are hoping to have Nick Miskovich back from injury that has kept him out for much of the season. Forest Park proved to be as formidable foe as they’ve faced this year, worthy of their top ranking. “Very tough, quick team off the ball and then getting into space makes it very...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — Four Ewen-Trout Creek girls placed in the top 10 at the final Copper Mountain Conference meet of the season Thursday at Gogebic Country Club in Ironwood, giving them their sixth straight meet victory of the season. Their success throughout the season earned them the league’s Team of the Year award. Ironwood’s Aubrey Smith has been the best individual runner throughout the season; she won her home meet Thursday and earned the league’s Most Valuable Runner award. The Panthers are hoping to wrap...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — Mercer will enter the WIAA postseason as a No. 1 seed once again. Coaches voted the Tigers the top seed at Sunday’s seeding meeting ahead of the Oct. 22 start to the playoffs. The powerhouse program has been the No. 1 seed for six straight years and in eight of the last nine. They’ve won the regional championship the past eight seasons, including as a 2 seed in 2018, the only time since their regional title streak started in 2016 that they weren’t the 1 seed. All of those seasons were pl...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — Ontonagon got back on track, ending a two-game skid with a 32-20 victory over Ironwood Friday night. “That was a must-win for us there,” Ontonagon coach Kadin Mustafa said. “We’ve got a tough schedule the rest of the way and this was a pretty good team.” It proved to be a frustrating loss for the shorthanded Red Devils, who kept Ontonagon’s big-play offense from putting up crazy numbers but also committing costly penalties and giving up a key fumble. “It stings looking back, for sure,” Iron...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] HURLEY — Hurley has navigated its first season as an 8-player team without a loss through the first six games. The Northstars now need to beat the other two top teams in the Northwoods East Conference to stay undefeated entering the playoffs. Hurley goes to Phillips in a battle of league unbeatens for a 7 p.m. Friday night matchup, followed by a home matchup against Rib Lake, which has just one league loss — to Phillips — on Oct. 18. The Northstars are worrying about the Loggers first, a game they figured...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] WAKEFIELD — Gogebic was hoping to build some momentum off of a huge win against Ontonagon the week before. But that was a tall task against the No. 3-ranked team in the entire state. Gogebic moved the ball early and late, but Crystal Falls Forest Park was just too much to handle as they spoiled the Miners’ homecoming game with a 33-13 victory Saturday afternoon. “They’re tough, they’re a tough team,” Gogebic coach Nick Heikkila said. Through the switch to 8-player football, and the constant roster turnove...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] EWEN — Gogebic rushed for 124 yards, scored three touchdowns, intercepted Ontonagon twice and stopped them another two times on downs. Then the first quarter ended. The Miners did it again in the second quarter, putting up another 21 points before Ontonagon got in the end zone for the first time. They rode that fast start that saw them lead 42-0 to a 56-21 Great Lakes Eight West win Friday night at Ewen-Trout Creek. The Miners kept Ontonagon’s big-play offense in check and countered with a rushing att...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] HURLEY — Hurley improved to 5-0 with a dominating 46-0 victory over Washburn Friday night. The Northstars haven’t run the ball the way they would like to this season, but they rushed for 313 yards on 34 carries last week, their first time clearing the 300-yard mark this season. “The bottom line is we found some running game and that’s what we have to get to,” Hurley coach Scott Erickson said. “And, again, the defense was really good, giving up 40 yards for the whole game.” Hurley has given up just 26 po...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] BESSEMER — The Gogebic Miners put a stop to their two-game losing streak with an 84-6 victory over Carney-Nadeau Friday night. “It’s good to see have the kids have success,” Gogebic coach Nick Heikkila said. The Miners jumped ahead quickly with six first-quarter touchdowns by five different players. Jayden Verrett scored twice, on a fumble recovery and an 18-yard run, and Aiden Partanen, Mark Switzer, Cory Aspinwall and Jace Symons also ran in scores. Verrett added his third touchdown in the second...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ATHENS, Wis. - Hurley has given up just 26 points in three Northwoods East Conference games this season. All of the other top teams in the league have given up more than double that. They're still undefeated because of it. The Northstars used another stellar defensive effort to hold off an upset bid by winless Athens and go home with a 12-6 victory Friday night. They needed their defense to stand tall because of their problem with penalties and while they...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — Norway ended Ironwood’s two-game winning streak with a 60-14 victory Friday night. The Knights entered the U.P. poll in fourth this week after the win. They’re 3-1 with their only loss coming to No. 2 Crystal Falls Forest Park. Norway quarterback Cole Baij was 9 of 12 for 326 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for a score. Bryce Adams scored twice and had 154 receiving yards and Owen Baij had one touchdown and 101 receiving yards. “We expected them to throw the ball quite a bit and they su...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] CHASSELL — Aubrey Smith has been the one runner preventing Division 1 Houghton from sweeping the top four individual finishes at most of Ironwood’s cross country meets this year. It’s been pretty much the same for the Ewen-Trout Creek girls except the Panthers have been finishing behind both Houghton and Hancock in their first season with a full team. Smith scanned the field at the starting line at Thursday’s BlueBolts Panther Invite and didn’t see any of the Houghton runners. Smith and the Panthers...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] HURLEY — Hurley’s offense has looked strikingly different the last two weeks than the lethal rushing attack its 26-year playoff streak was built on. In Friday night’s 26-12 win over Flambeau, the Northstars threw for 267 yards, which was more than the 238 yards they passed for in the last two seasons — combined. And so far, it’s helped them win games. When Prentice loaded up against the run last week, Hurley went to the air and discovered their passing game looked pretty dynamic in the new-to-them 8-playe...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ONTONAGON — After two blowout wins to start the season, Ontonagon won a close one 46-40 at Newberry last week. “It was a heartstopper for sure,” Ontonagon coach Kadin Mustafa said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a few times, but we held it together. It was a good test for us.” The Gladiators were voted No. 4 in the first U.P. poll after the big win and the strong first third of the season. Caden Besonen finished with 430 all-purpose yards and he accounted for five of Ontonagon’s touchdowns. He caught t...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] BESSEMER — To say the Gogebic Miners are bit by the injury bug would be an understatement. “More like ripped apart,” Gogebic coach Nick Heikkila said. “Less of a bite, more of a mauling.” The Miners lost 38-18 at Munising Friday night. While the Mustangs are a good team, ranked third in the U.P., Gogebic has been dealing with many injuries. “Well-coached team; the kids, they play tough, they’ve got two big guys and then about seven other athletes out there that round out their 8-man team,” Heikki...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — Ironwood returns home this week with a winning record after beating Rapid River 60-28 Friday night. The Red Devils have won two straight after dropping the season opener to Munising. Rapid River provided more of a test than they received in a 70-0 win over Carney-Nadeau the week before, but Ironwood was up to the challenge. “We’re playing pretty confident right now,” Ironwood coach Kevin Lane said. “Not worrying too much about mistakes, those are going to happen. As long as we’re playing 100...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] MERCER, Wis. — Mercer has improved a lot before their rather late home opener thanks to some tough competition at tournaments across the state. The home crowd saw them sweep South Shore Tuesday on a special night for senior hitter Eiley Schoeneman, who tallied her 1,000th career kill. Mercer is up to sixth in the Division 5 coaches poll and they’re a tough matchup for a lot of teams. “I think we’re doing well, I feel like our last tournament in the Dells definitely helped,” Schoeneman said. “We got s...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — Ironwood put a tough opening-week loss in the rear-view mirror with a 70-0 bounceback win over Carney-Nadeau Friday. “That’s good for our kids, get back on a positive note,” Ironwood coach Kevin Lane said. The Wolves didn’t have an answer for Ironwood power running back Ethan Gallo. The 5-7, 190-pound back rushed for 152 yards on just four carries. Touchdown runs of 57, 37 and 50 yards accounted for Ironwood’s first three touchdowns....
By JASON JUNO [email protected] BESSEMER — Shorthanded Gogebic suffered their first loss of the season 54-22 at Norway Friday night. The Miners were without Gabe Harju, Cayden Harju, Owen Miljevich and Wyatt Aspinwall. Cayden Harju sustained a leg injury in the first game of the season, Gogebic is waiting to find out how serious Gabe Harju’s foot injury is, Miljevich went down with a non-football injury the day before the game and they’re hoping Aspinwall starts his season this week at Munising. “It makes a little bit of a differe...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ONTONAGON — Austin Gordon and Caden Besonen lit up the scoreboard in Rapid River as the Gladiators breezed to a 72-22 win Friday night. Gordon threw four touchdowns to Besonen and Besonen threw a 51-yard TD to him. Gordon added TD passes to Jack Nelson and Brody Bobula, he ran for two scores and Besonen rushed for one in a dominating performance by the two playmakers from Ewen-Trout Creek. “It wasn’t how I thought it was going to go at all, but we had a couple athletes that decided to take the game over f...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] PRENTICE, Wis. — Prentice sold out on stopping Hurley’s vaunted rushing attack. So the Northstars went to the air and passed for almost as many yards as they ran for in a 36-8 victory Saturday afternoon. After Devin Soltis ran 55 yards for a touchdown on Hurley’s first offensive play, the Northstars had to vary their attack to move the football and it worked. They ended with three passing touchdowns and 144 yards through the air compared to 154 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. It gives Hurle...
