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Miners strike gold in big win over Iron Mountain

NEGAUNEE – In football, the momentum of a game can turn in a matter of seconds and that was the case Friday night for the Negaunee Miners.

After Iron Mountain tied the game 7-7 with under a minute remaining before halftime, Negaunee retook the lead just 35 seconds later and never looked back, defeating the Mountaineers 28-14.

“This was a classic battle between two good teams,” Negaunee head coach Paul Jacobson said. “Tonight was a good step for this team and I’m happy for them. They’ve worked hard and we’re going to enjoy this win.”

Iron Mountain looked deflated going into the locker room after the touchdown, but Mountaineers head coach Robin Marttila said that one play wasn’t what cost his team the game.

“We just couldn’t sustain a drive for most of the night,” he said. “We didn’t make enough plays to get the ball into the end zone consistently. Obviously, that one before the half hurt. It’s 7-7 and we get the ball to start the second half and then we give up a score. Bottom line is we didn’t make enough plays to win the ball game.

“We’re disappointed about the loss, but we’ve still got a lot of football left to play.”

After a scoreless opening quarter, the Miners struck gold first midway through the second. After a 17-yard run by George Johnson, Negaunee moved into Iron Mountain territory. A few plays later, quarterback Brock Aho found Jeffrey Matthews over the middle for a 35-yard touchdown. Aho finished with 107 yards through the air.

Late in the first half, it was the Mountaineers’ time to celebrate. After Iron Mountain starting QB Tanner Huotari went down with a leg injury, backup Aaron Bolo got the Mountaineers on the board with a 33-yard scoring strike to Ryan Michaud, who was covered well by the Negaunee secondary. Still, he managed to haul in the pass just across the goal line.

“I thought Aaron did a nice job,” Marttila said. “He’s more than capable of being the quarterback of our football team and he’s our guy right now.”

On Negaunee’s next series, Aho took off for a 22-yard gain, which was then followed by a 41-yard run by Johnson. Johnson finished with 13 carries for 108 yards.

“George has really come into his own,” Jacobson said. “Both he and Shane (Ring) carried the ball low and Brock knew what he needed to do and threw the ball well for us.

“However, they weren’t able to do all that without the guys up front blocking hard. They made some nice seams for these guys.”

Two plays later, Aho threw his second TD pass, this time a 5-yarder to Parker Bowman in the back of the end zone for a 14-7 lead at the break.

After forcing an Iron Mountain punt in the first series of the second half, Negaunee continued to move the ball effectively on the ground. Johnson and Ring both rushed for long first downs and Aho capped off the drive with his third scoring pass.

The junior found Johnson for a short gain, but Johnson broke two tackles and strolled into the end zone for a 24-yard score. Iron Mountain blocked the extra point, so Negaunee held a 20-7 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Midway through the fourth, the Miners found the end zone for the fourth and final time as Ring broke free down the left sideline for a 30-yard TD run, putting Negaunee up 28-7.

Iron Mountain got on the board one more time in the game, converting on two fourth downs before Bolo hit Josh Tucker for a 19-yard TD with 1:36 left in the game. Tucker finished with 59 yards on the ground.

Negaunee plays at Gwinn next Friday, while Iron Mountain hosts Westwood.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.

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