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Outbursts on offense: Westwood Patriots, Marquette Redmen, Negaunee Miners pile up points in high school football victories

Westwood running back Zach Carlson, center, breaks out on a run as Ishpeming defenders Luke Kostreva, left, and Hunter Smith defend during the second quarter of their high school football game played Friday night at the Ishpeming Playgrounds. (Journal photo by Justin Marietti)

ISHPEMING — Some prolific offenses of the past were known as “point a minute” teams.

They could score 60 points in a 60-minute pro or college game.

Westwood took it to a different level on Friday night, coming close to a touchdown-a-minute for one stretch against Ishpeming.

The Patriots used their big burst of offense to roll up a 42-0 victory over the Hematites and improve to 3-1.

Leading rusher Zach Carlson got the party started late in the first quarter, scoring on a 9-yard run. He tacked on Westwood’s next two TDs in the early and middle stages of the second quarter on a 14-yard run and 50-yard interception return while playing defense.

Ishpeming's Hunter Smith, center, looks for daylight to run while Westwood defender Bryce Markham, right, tries to catch him during their high school football game played Friday at the Ishpeming Playgrounds. (Journal photo by Justin Marietti)

By that time, the Patriots led 22-0 and the rout was on.

Quarterback Zach Beckman, who earlier accounted for a pair of 2-point conversions on a run and pass, threw a 54-yard TD strike to Jerzee Karki.

Then teammate Marcus Boase scored from 30 yards on a run before defensive lineman Max Wiljanen scooped up a fumble and rumbled 34 yards for his team’s final points, all before the halftime gun.

“We held our own in the first quarter, but we kept making mistakes, whether it was missing reads or missing the correct alignment,” Ishpeming head coach Cody Kugler said. “Carlson is a fantastic athlete. It just snowballed once they got going.”

The Patriots finished with a 318-116 advantage in yards, including 254-50 on the ground.

Carlson finished with 191 yards rushing in 16 attempts as Beckman completed all three of his pass attempts for 64 yards.

For Ishpeming (1-2), Logan Hurkmans caught all three Hematite completions from QBs Luke Kostreva and Hunter Smith for 66 yards. Teammate Dawson Delongchamp led his team’s rushers with 28 yards in three attempts.

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Marquette 55, Kingsford 34

On Friday at Marquette, the Redmen put up some major college or pro-like offensive numbers, but most of them were needed to fend off the challenge from the Upper Peninsula No. 1 11-player team after the first poll of the season was released last week by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Of course, MSHS is no slouch after getting the No. 3 position in that poll as now both teams stand at 3-1. Marquette also has a leg up in the Great Northern Conference as the first team to get to two wins there.

The Redmen rolled up 549 total yards, split quite evenly between 298 passing and 251 rushing.

Senior quarterback Austin Ridl was just 16 of 23 passing, but that accounted for the nearly 300 yards through the air, including four touchdowns.

Senior Owen Beauchamp caught two TD passes among his three receptions that totaled 76 yards, while senior David Eberhard and junior Nate Benninger each snared one TD catch.

Eberhard finished with five receptions for 77 yards and Benninger four catches for 81 yards.

Rounding out the receiving corps was senior Desmond Mullen with two receptions for 37 yards and senior Justin Jurmu with a 6-yard catch.

In the running game, Mullen led the way with 100 yards even on 16 carries, including a TD, though it was senior Dustin Lohfink who had two scores among his 10 carries that gained 46 yards.

In addition, Ridl rolled up 66 yards on seven carries with another TD, while Benninger had 34 yards on four attempts.

Kingsford finished with 406 yards, about 140 less than Marquette, and actually outgained the Redmen through the air with 316 yards.

But the Flivvers managed just 90 yards rushing.

Senior QB Michael Meneguzzo completed 17 of 26 passes for 316 yards, five TDs and an interception.

Two of his receivers each snagged a pair of scoring passes — Zach Person had seven catches for 130 yards and Nic Nora had three receptions for 104 yards.

Kingsford’s fifth TD catch was by Troy Watt.

The Flivvers’ leading rusher was Toby Wilcox with 44 yards on eight carries.

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Negaunee 55, Manistique 8

On Friday at Manistique, three Miners each scored two offensive touchdowns.

But the tiebreaker, if you could call it that, was when Negaunee’s Phil Nelson scored a third TD on an interception return in the first quarter.

Nelson’s score put his team ahead for the first time after Manistique opened the scoring when quarterback Parker Graphos hit the end zone on a 61-yard TD scamper. With a 2-point conversion run by Carsyn Hinkson, the Emeralds led 8-0.

That might’ve spurred the Miners, however, as they scored twice more later in the opening quarter and four more times in the second to take a 41-8 halftime advantage.

Easton Palomaki opened Negaunee’s scoring when he got the first of two rushing TDs, this one of 16 yards, but with a missed extra-point kick, Manistique still led 8-6.

Then Nelson made his interception and returned it “to the house.” Even with another missed PAT, NHS led 12-8.

Nelson scored both of his offensive TDs off passes from QB Gerald Johnson of 8 and 39 yards.

Meanwhile, Nico Lukkarinen also posted TD runs of 8 and 1 yards before the halftime buzzer.

Negaunee completed the scoring in the third quarter on a Palomaki 8-yard run and another scoring run of 13 yards by JV call-up Kai Lacar, who also kicked the extra point on this TD.

The Miners finished with a big 371-95 edge in yardage, NHS getting 246 and Manistique all 95 of its on the ground.

Johnson finished 3 of 3 passing for 125 yards, all three completions to Nelson, while Graphos was 0 of 2 with his pick-6.

Palomaki led Negaunee rushers with 132 yards in 11 attempts, while Lukkarinen had 56 in nine tries.

Alex Noble paced the Emeralds with 56 yards rushing in just one rush, while Graphos had 42 yards in 15 tries.

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Hancock 46, Gwinn 0

On Friday at Gwinn, the Modeltowners couldn’t get their offense untracked and left the visiting Bulldogs some short fields for their scores.

“We got beat on a couple plays and we couldn’t move the ball,” GHS head coach Tabb Lonergan said. “We just have to learn to deal with adversity and rise above it.

“We played better in the second half. One time we drove the field, then made a mistake with a penalty that turned the ball back over to them.”

Hancock actually went three-and-out on its opening possession, but after Gwinn did the same and with a short punt, the Bulldogs had a short field to open its scoring.

By halftime, it was 33-0, though Lonergan didn’t have details on the scoring or his team’s statistics.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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