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Mountaineers pound out 46-32 win over Gwinn

IRON MOUNTAIN – Iron Mountain rolled up nearly 450 yards of offense almost equally divided on the ground and through the air to upend Gwinn 46-32 in an MHSAA Division 7 first-round playoff game on Friday night at Mountaineer Stadium.

IM’s 449 yards included 236 rushing and 213 passing. Mountaineers quarterback Aaron Bolo threw four touchdown passes.

Bolo’s stellar performance was just three weeks removed from a 35-0 loss to Kingsford when he left the game in an ambulance with a concussion.

One of Bolo’s best throws came in the first quarter after Iron Mountain overcame a first-and-20 situation. Bolo dropped back and floated a pass into the outstretched hands of running back Josh Tucker for a 34-yard score to put Iron Mountain ahead for good with 10:51 left in the second quarter.

“You got to give credit to Iron Mountain. We knew coming in that you gotta stop (Carson) Wonders and (Josh) Tucker,” Gwinn coach Dion Brown said. “My guys, the seniors lead the team. We got a lot of seniors with pride.

“We’ve been wanting this game, a rematch with these guys. I told them that if we make the playoffs, Iron Mountain will be there.

“We had our chance, we just couldn’t come up with no defensive stops.”

The teams went neck and neck until IM started pulling away in the final minute of the first half.

The Modeltowners’ Chris Bosworth opened the scoring with a 51-yard scamper near the midpoint of the first quarter. When IM answered barely two minutes later with a Bolo TD toss to Tucker for 14 yards, the teams were tied 6-6.

Tucker then hauled in the 34-yard floater about a minute into the second quarter and with a Bolo 2-point PAT, IM led 14-6.

Gwinn answered with a Tucker Taylor 5-yard scoring catch from QB Kevin Roberts about 4 1/2 minutes before halftime. But another missed 2-pointer left the Modeltowners trailing 14-12.

Then Tucker hauled in his third scoring catch of the half, this one from 36 yards out with 55 seconds to go, making it 20-12 at the break.

Even after three more IM scores in the first 15 minutes of the second half, Gwinn (6-4) didn’t throw in the towel.

IM had built a 40-18 lead early in the fourth before Gwinn responded with a 7-yard touchdown run by Bosworth, his second of three TDs on the night.

His final score, a 65-yarder with 2:13 to go, pulled the Modeltowners within the final 14-point margin, but no last gasp was able to get Gwinn closer.

Gwinn totaled 335 total yards, 298 of them rushing and 37 through the air.

IM coach Robin Marttila said he liked the way both teams carried intensity on the field.

“Playoff atmosphere – both teams are going to leave it all out on the field and that’s great,” Marttila said. “We’re happy with the win. It was a physical football game. It was a great game to be a part of. Coach Brown has done a great job with that program, and I told him that. That’s great for him.”

The Mountaineers (8-2) face either Traverse City St. Francis (9-0) or Harbor Springs (5-4) next as they play this afternoon.

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