MUNISING – If might sound nearly impossible, but Munising is already ahead of last year’s pace that saw the Mustangs reach the MHSAA Division 8 state championship game in Detroit.

Munising defeated West Iron County 12-6 at home on Friday night for its first-ever win over the Wykons. It avenged season-opening losses to WIC in each of the past two years, including last year’s run that featured 12 consecutive wins between the West Iron game and state finals against Muskegon Catholic Central at the Detroit Lions’ Ford Field.

“This was a nice win, beating a team that’s beaten us the last two years,” MHS coach Jeff Seaberg said. “We left some points out there, not capitalizing on a few drives.

“But West Iron is a solid ball club. It’s always a good thing when you can say that you have a few things to work on but still come out with a win.”

The Mustangs had to come from behind to open with this nonconference win, stalling out on a couple of deep first-half drives and having to watch the Wykons score the only points before the break on a 3-yard touchdown run by Jake Kolich with 1:09 remaining.

But Munising up-man Colin Murdock took the second-half kickoff and nearly broke free for a TD, getting down to about the Wykons’ 40 to set up Corey Cotey’s 5-yard run with 7:19 to go. The PAT run failed to leave the score tied 6-6.

Munising then generated the winning drive starting near the end of the third quarter, culminating in quarterback Willie Seymour’s 3-yard scoring run with 9:27 to go. The PAT pass failed, leaving the Mustangs with a tenuous lead they still were able to protect.

MHS outgained WIC, 285-142, with only 29 yards passing between the two teams. Munising’s Thomas Hyde led all rushers with 193 yards in 30 carries, while Cotey had 60 and Seymour 22 in Munising’s 277-yard ground game.

Kolich led the Wykons with 64 yards in 18 tries as WIC totaled 121 on the ground. QB Riley Thompson completed 4 of 9 passes, but only for 21 yards as he was also intercepted.

Gladstone 21, Gwinn 14

At Gwinn, Gladstone tied the game late in the third quarter and took its only lead of the night early in the fourth quarter of this nonconference game.

The Modeltowners’ Devin Dachs rushed for 140 yards on just 10 carries in the first half before going down with a leg injury not long before halftime. He led Gwinn to a 258-yard effort on the ground as the Braves’ managed just 141 yards. Overall, the Modeltowners held a 263-239 edge in yardage.

Gwinn’s Hunter Bachman opened the scoring less than 2 1/2 minutes into the game on a 15-yard run as Dachs ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Gladstone answered late in the first half on Ross Miron’s 1-yard scamper, but after the PAT kick failed, GHS still led 8-6 at the break.

Gwinn upped its advantage to 14-6 near the midpoint of the third quarter on a 22-yard run by Chris Bosworth, but the Braves tied it in the final minute of the period on a five-yard pass from QB Ben Schwalbach to Jake Greenfield. With Miron’s two-point conversion the score was tied 14-14.

Schwalbach salted away the result by scoring on a 10-yard run with 8:42 to go as James Bruce kicked the extra point.

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