The 6-foot, 200-pound running back ran for 330 yards and five touchdowns in an MHSAA Division 6 state semifinal win over Clinton. He had 241 yards rushing and four more scores in the Falcons’ 59-14 win over Negaunee in the championship game.

“His determination and focus the second we went to playoff mode was something I’ve never seen before,” Grand Rapids West Catholic coach Landon Grove said. “The way he ran was physical and with purpose. You saw it in the Clinton game when he ran for 330 plus and in the state finals, too.

“It was like he was willing his way to say that we are not going to fall short, we are going to win the state final. It was really special.”

Take what Kloska did in the playoffs and combine it with his regular-season achievements, and it’s easy to see why a panel of Michigan Associated Press sports reporters voted Kloska the Division 5-6 Player of the Year.

Negaunee defensive back Philip Nelson, center right, leaps high just behind a Gladstone receiver to get his fingertips on the ball attempting to make an interception during their high school football game played in Gladstone on Oct. 7. While Nelson didn't make the pickoff, Miners' teammate James Thomson, No. 4 at right, did to give Negaunee possession of the ball. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Ilsa Minor)

Kloska finished the season with 2,425 yards on 283 carries and 39 touchdowns. His efforts led the Falcons to a 13-1 record and their seventh state championship in the past 13 seasons. He will continue his education and football career at the Air Force Academy.

“He means so much to this program and me personally,” Grove said. “He deserves everything that he gets. It is all earned, not given. He works harder than anybody I have ever been around, in the weight room, on the practice field. All of those things add up to why that is an award that he would get.

“No one had more pride for playing at West Catholic than that young man did. He is going to go play Division I football, but his biggest mindset was winning a state championship. His drive and determination are ultimately what helped propel us to that moment.”

Four Negaunee seniors who faced Kloska and West Catholic in the state finals also earned AP Divisions 5-6 all-state honors. Each was also an All-Upper Peninsula selection when the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association met in mid-November.

Two Miners made the First Team — Philip Nelson and Eli VanBuren.

Negaunee's Philip Nelson, right, stiff arms Westwood defender Talan Peterson after Nelson caught a pass from Ty Jacobson in the third quarter of their high school football game played at William R. Hart Stadium in Marquette on Oct. 20. The game was moved to Marquette due to heavy snow that fell in the Negaunee area earlier in the week. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Nelson was named as a defensive back, though he probably could’ve just as easily made the list on offense or special teams, too.

At DB, he was All-U.P. Dream Team and All-West PAC Copper Division at the position the past two seasons.

But he also scored both TDs for Negaunee in the finals on back-to-back plays — a pass catch to end the first half and kickoff return to open the second half.

The return was his sixth for a TD this season between kickoffs and punts as he also handled most of the Miners’ kicking and punting chores, too, along with being their main pass receiver.

VanBuren was an All-U.P. First Team linebacker the last two years, also earning similar honors in the West PAC as he made 128 tackles and two quarterback sacks in nine games this season and 278 tackles over the past two seasons.

Negaunee's Nico Lukkarinen, top center, forces his way into the end zone as he follows the block of teammate Drake Spickerman, No. 58 at center, in an MHSAA Division 6 playoff game played at Miners Field in Negaunee on Nov. 5. Spickerman knocked Menominee's Lucas Thoune, No. 75 at bottom, to the ground at the goal line to allow Lukkarinen to score in the third quarter. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Nico Lukkarinen and Drake Spickerman made the all-state Second Team.

Lukkarinen was named as a running back and was Negaunee’s No. 1 ball carrier in coach Paul Jacobson’s run-heavy offense. Not only was he All-U.P. Dream Team, but also Offensive Player of the Year in the West PAC Copper Division.

He averaged around 100 yards per game despite nine of the Miners’ 11 games going to a running clock and Lukkarinen not being on the field in the fourth quarter for most of them.

He averaged 9.2 yards per carry with over 1,000 yards, adding in 18 TDs and a half-dozen 2-point conversions.

Spickerman made all-state as a lineman after his unanimous vote for the All-U.P. Dream Team at guard. He was also runner-up in voting as U.P. Lineman of the Year.

A two-year starter on the line on both sides of the ball, he was named West PAC Copper Division Lineman of the Year and was lauded by Jacobson for his “tremendous work ethic as he was voted team captain by his peers” and the “best all-around lineman that I have coached in a long time.”

For West Catholic coach Grove, the 2022 season was his first with the Falcons after coaching Gibraltar Carlson a year ago.

He was well aware that Kloska was a special player before he walked on campus. Kloska already set West Catholic’s career rushing record during his junior season. And by the time he completed his career this year, he had 5,914 total rushing yards and 81 touchdowns.

Grove predicted that Kloska will have success at Air Force, too.

“His style fits them very well,” Grove said. “When people look at him, they see a big bruiser of a running back. But he’s also fast and can make all sorts of cuts. He is not one-dimensional.

“He is going to be really good at a lot of different things at Air Force, and I think Air Force is getting a gem.”

Information contributed to this story by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.