Ishpeming’s Ben Pruett, center, runs against the Bark River-Harris defense in their high school football game played Thursday at the Ishpeming Playgrounds. (Journal photo by Amy Grigas)

“(Bark River-Harris) came out in a formation that we haven’t seen before and we were able to adjust on the fly.” — George NIEMI, Ishpeming football head coach, on the Broncos scoring early

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ISHPEMING — The Ishpeming football team was solid as iron Thursday night on its home field.

Not only did the Hematites rack up more than 400 yards rushing, they also held Bark River-Harris scoreless after the first quarter and emerged with a 54-8 victory. The win also clinched the Iron Division title in the West PAC for Ishpeming and solidified its claim for a first-round playoff game, likely in Division 8.

“Them scoring right way, we were kind of back on our heels a little bit,” Hematites head coach George Niemi said. “The saving grace was Otto (Swanson) getting that big run. Running our ISO play up the middle and Otto getting that run, we were able to even it up. It put a little air back into the balloon.

“We were able to settle in and make some adjustments to their passing game. They came out in a formation that we haven’t seen before and we were able to adjust on the fly and our kids were able to get the job done.”

The Broncos started off hot and put together a long drive with quarterback Nick Javurek spreading the ball around to Riley Bray, Emmanuel Peterson and Aidan Johnson. With the ball on the Hematites’ 3-yard line, Javurek capped off the drive with a pass in the corner to Bray. Javurek also picked up the 2-point conversion as BR-H quickly led 8-0.

The Hematites answered back even more quickly. On Ishpeming’s first play from scrimmage, Swanson broke free up the middle and sprinted 67 yards for a touchdown. With the conversion, the Hematites tied it 8-8.

“The first drive was executed well,” Broncos head coach Al Stenberg said. “We made some catches when we had to, to keep it alive. And we got eight points, which was really nice. However, the ensuing play, when they go the distance right up the gut on us, was indicative of the weight differential. Running around him (Swanson), we’ve got a shot, but running at him, we’re giving up like 50 pounds (on) a kid up front.

“That and we made some mistakes. We left some balls in the air that I think, had we made a few more catches, we could’ve put up more points. In all, we were outmanned tonight for sure.”

On the Hematites’ next possession, they used their rushing attack to bring the ball deep into BR-H territory and five seconds into the second quarter, quarterback John Corkin scored from four yards out. On the Broncos’ next possession, Corkin picked off a Javurek pass and two plays later, found Jake Kugler in the end zone with a 24-yard pass. Shortly after that, Ishpeming got another takeaway as Chase Jensen intercepted Javurek and that lead to yet another Hematites TD.

After a short scoring run by Swanson, the Broncos trailed 38-8 with 5:30 left in the half. However, a big 50-yard pass play from Javurek to Joseph Stein got the ball down to the Hematites’ 10-yard line and BR-H had a chance to put some points on the board and maybe go into the break with a little momentum. But the Broncos fumbled on the next play as the Hematites recovered.

Ishpeming then marched downfield and closed out the half with a 6-yard TD run by Ben Pruett. The Hematites led 46-8 at the half and the running clock went into effect.

The Hematites may not know who they’re going to host next week in the first round of the playoffs, but Niemi feels positive about his team’s chances in the postseason.

“We’re feeling good,” he said. “We’ve got to get healthy. We’ve got a couple kids banged up and we played without one of our safeties tonight, Tommy Sjoholm. He’s a little bit banged up in the ankle area, but hopefully this week, we’ll be able to get him back.

“Our kids are just getting smarter and smarter as we go along, so now, we’ve got to make this playoff run.”

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