Gwinn's Tucker Taylor breaks away with the ball while Mansitique's defender Tanner Gonzalezcomes up behind him during the first quarter of a game against Manistique Friday evening Sept. 9, 2016, in Gwinn. (Journal photo by Elizabeth Bailey)

There were many good storylines during the 2016 high school football season in the Upper Peninsula, but Gwinn was arguably the best one.

For the first time in 17 years, the Modeltowners made the playoffs behind the strength of a good backfield and a big offensive line.

Even though they were eliminated in the first round by fellow Mid-Peninsula Conference member Iron Mountain, it was still a year to remember and it ended up earning head coach Dion Brown the Large School Coach of the Year award from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

When asked about last year, Brown said the playoff appearance was something the team had been working toward for a long time and it was great to see it finally happen.

“It was a tremendous season and it was what we wished for,” he said. “I knew going in that we had a good team and we had more athletes than anyone in the M-PC. It was just about us putting it all together.

“We knew that it could happen and we took it one game at a time. For our seniors, making the playoffs was the ultimate thing. When I came in as coach, (last year’s) seniors said that they wanted to get there and they did it. They reached their goal and that was great to see.”

Gwinn had been struggling for quite awhile before Brown took over and it took some work to turn the Modeltowners into a postseason contender. Brown said it started by just stabilizing things and changing the mindset of the program.

“We needed to lay down a foundation and a structure,” he said. “We also needed kids to buy into what we do and leave out all of the negativity. There was a lot of that around here and people didn’t think we could win.

“Once we put that to the side and the kids believed in themselves, we started to turn things around.”

Last year’s quarterback, Kevin Roberts, graduated and has signed on to play at Northern Michigan University, so Gwinn will have a new guy at the helm this fall.

“Austin Forbes will be our guy this year and he played point guard on the basketball team,” Brown said. “He’ll be a junior and he commands the offense well. He knows how to run it and last year, he showed what he could do.”

Chris Bosworth was the Modeltowners’ backfield threat last season and finished runner-up in the UPSSA Large School Player of the Year competition. Those are big shoes to fill, but Brown thinks that Marlin Moten can do the job.

“Marlin was an all-conference defensive back and he got a little overlooked last year because we had Bosworth,” he said. “He’s a great athlete that works hard and is well put together. I think he’s actually a better athlete than Chris was. The question is if he will put in the effort.

“If he can do that, he’ll be one of the best in the M-PC.”

Gwinn won’t just have a running game, though, as it has Tucker Taylor at tight end who can snag balls well and plow over defensive backs.

“Tucker is our big target and he has been working out all summer,” Brown said. “He’s put on about 15 pounds of muscle and got his speed up. We also have a young receiver who played JV last year but has a lot of promise in Danny Holmes. Those two guys will be key and Seth Aho was our JV quarterback until he got injured so we’ll use him, too.”

Another strength for Gwinn last year was its offensive line, but unlike other teams, the Modeltowners return a good chunk of that group, including Logan Kruhlik, Daniel Johnson and Edward Chapman.

“I actually think the line we have this year is even better,” Brown said. “If you look at it last year, there were a few guys that went in and out. We return three of those five (starters) and there is also a kid named Mason Bockner who played some last year. He will come in and replace Carter Ghiringhelli and there is another kid who came in from Marquette who can play left tackle (Garrick King-Hill).”

When looking at the M-PC, Brown thinks that anybody can win it this year and that his team will be right in the thick of the race.

“I think (the M-PC) is wide open for like the first time in 10 years and I’m feeling really good,” he said. “We’re right there and we’re as good as any team in this conference.

“We just can’t turn the ball over. If we don’t turn it over, we’ll have a great chance to do well this year.”

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.