MARQUETTE — Marquette broke a nearly decade-long losing streak to Menominee with a rousing comeback in a high school football game played Friday night.

The Redmen spotted Menominee a 21-0 lead before starting their comeback in the second quarter and eventually winning 28-21.

Marquette (3-4, 2-0 Great Northern Conference) kept its playoff hopes alive and will need wins in its final two games over GNC foes Gladstone and Kingsford to have a chance to qualify as a “wild card” after all the six-and-more-win teams have been determined.

After tying the game 21-21 a few minutes earlier, MSHS took its first lead with about a minute elapsed in the fourth quarter.

That’s when junior receiver Kameron Karp caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Austin Ridl.

“It felt really good,” Marquette head coach Eric Mason said. “Last time we beat Menominee was 2011, so it was really nice to beat them and improve to 2-0 in the GNC, especially against two of the premier teams (Escanaba and Menominee).

“That’s something I stressed to the players throughout the week. It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten them and it’s been a long time since we’ve won the conference outright. The last time was 1976, I believe.

“The biggest thing I want to stress is how impressed and proud I was of our kids. Down 21-0 at one point, we legitimately could have packed it in and gone home.

“The kids continued to work hard and never gave up.”

After Menominee scored three times in the first quarter to take a three-score lead, Marquette began its comeback when sophomore receiver Justin Jurmu caught an 18-yard TD pass from Ridl with 7:10 left in the second quarter, cutting its deficit to 21-7.

The score remained that way until the middle of the third quarter, when junior back Brady Wright ran in from 3 yards out with 5:02 left in the period, making it 21-14.

Then came the game’s key play when senior linebacker Robert Apple scooped up a Maroons’ fumble and ran 40 yards for a TD late in the third.

It was one of three lost fumbles by Menominee (4-3, 1-2) in the second half.

Ridl finished by completing 9 of 21 passes for two TDs and two interceptions. Senior receiver Collin Hicks caught four passes for 40 yards while Karp and Jurmu each made two receptions, Karp’s covering 36 yards and Jurmu’s 27.

Wright rushed 18 times for 74 yards.

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Ishpeming 28, West Iron County 0

At Ishpeming on Friday, Hematites quarterback John Corkin scored an early touchdown to put the Hematites up 6-0, which was the score that held up at halftime before the home team tacked on three more TDs in the second half to pull away.

The second and third TDs for Ishpeming (5-2, 5-0 West PAC Iron Division) came from Ben Pruett, both in the third quarter. The two-point conversion was successful on the second score, making it 20-0 Hematites after three quarters.

Pruett added salt to the wound, adding one final TD in the fourth quarter to make it 28-0 while the Ishpeming defense did its job to preserve the shutout.

Ishpeming travels to Munising (0-7) on Friday.

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Norway 28, Gwinn 20

At Gwinn on Friday, the Modeltowners lost their fourth one-score game of the season to drop to 0-7. In its past three games, Gwinn has lost by four at Houghton, six at Ishpeming and now eight to Norway.

“You can say you’re encouraged a little bit,” GHS head coach Dion Brown said. “But we keep making the same dumb mistakes.

“We’ve had a lot of leads, then find a way to lose. We seem to have consistent play in the first half, then it becomes inconsistent in the second half. That’s why we’re 0-7.”

This time around, the Modeltowners (0-5 West PAC Iron) built a 14-point lead in the middle of the second quarter before a collapse just before halftime erased that lead as it stood 20-20 at intermission.

With the game scoreless late in the first quarter, Gwinn junior ToQuan Starnes ran in a 6-yard TD for a 6-0 edge.

Norway tied it early in the second when Gannon Bray ran in on a quarterback sneak from 1 yard out.

The Modeltowners re-established their lead over the next five minutes or so, first on a Caleb Anderson 25-yard run, which included his 2-point conversion run, and the senior QB’s 10-yard scoring pass to sophomore Shafaar Evans to make it 20-6.

Then the Knights (1-5, 1-3) scored twice in the last 75 seconds of the first half. Bray connected with Ethan Sabotta on a 39-yard TD pass, then following a Gwinn fumble on the first play of its ensuing possession, Norway punched it in again when Bray hooked up with Zachary Seat on a 25-yard scoring toss at the buzzer.

Finally, Norway scored the only points of the second half when Josh Gendron scored on a 7-yard run with about a minute and a half remaining.

Anderson finished 13 of 21 for 158 yards and one interception, while junior James Harnick caught five passes for about 100 yards. Anderson also led Gwinn in rushing with 10 carries for 98 yards.

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Lake Linden-Hubbell 56, Munising 6

At Munising on Friday, the Mustangs’ bright spot was a 74-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Bryce Bowerman early in the second quarter, which cut the Lakes’ lead to 22-6.

“Lake Linden jumped out on us, then we went to the passing game, but that wasn’t too successful,” MHS head coach Matt Mattson said. “They just beat us up front.”

By halftime, LL-H (4-3, 3-2 West PAC Iron) led 50-6.

“We had 31 total plays and we only gained 88 yards,” Mattson said, adding that a couple Lakes’ TDs were interception returns for pick-6s.

Josh Huotari led Munising rusher with five carries for 34 yards.

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North Central 54, Newberry 0

At Powers on Saturday, U.P. top-ranked North Central had an answer for nearly everything Newberry tried to do in this eight-player game.

The Jets defense limited the Indians to just 73 total yards.

“Our team is built to score points, but people are starting to realize how good our defense is,” NC coach Leo Gorzinski said.

The Jets led 40-0 at halftime and coasted from there.

“We knew they were going to be tough,” Newberry coach Joe Austin said. “They were as good as advertised. We weren’t able to sustain any drives.

“We felt we would be able to throw the ball a little more, but we couldn’t protect our quarterback (sophomore Connor Rintamaki).”

Rintamaki completed 2 of 11 passes for 13 yards and three interceptions, while senior teammate Lance Bowler gained 19 yards in 10 rushes.

Newberry travels to Brimley on Thursday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Spitza and Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee, with contributions from the Iron Mountain Daily News and Escanaba Daily Press. Email Spitza and Brownlee at sports@miningjournal.net.