NEGAUNEE – They combined for 98 points last week, Negaunee scoring 54 and Calumet 44 in lopsided season-opening high school football victories.

Thursday night was a different story, however.

The Miners overcame a 14-7 deficit with two late touchdowns against a physical Calumet defense to take a 21-14 non-conference home win.

“Calumet did a good job offensively and defensively with a good game plan,” Negaunee head coach Paul Jacobson said. “They packed the box (defensively) and made it hard to run in the middle.

“They wanted to make you run outside.”

That’s what the Miners (2-0) did on the winning touchdown. Quarterback Brock Aho ran along the left sideline on a keeper play for 45 yards to set up running back George Johnson’s second touchdown of the game with 6:31 left – a 41-yard jaunt that angled to the right flag.

“Brock got on the edge a little there,” Jacobson said of the long run.

Said the QB: “It was an option play, but I kept (the ball). It was just another great hole by the line.”

A key seven-yard run on third down by Aho, who finished with a team-high 125 yards rushing in 16 carries, enabled the Miners to run out the clock following a lost Calumet fumble.

“We expected it to be a dogfight with two good teams,” Copper Kings head coach John Croze said. “It was just whichever team executed would win.

“Negaunee did a better job executing.”

Calumet (1-1) took a 6-0 advantage in the first quarter on a 22-yard scoring burst by QB Russ Bjorn.

“Bjorn’s a load and runs well … but the kids responded (on defense) and continued to battle,” Jacobson said. “Some players stepped up along the front.

“Some kids came into their own as leaders, too.”

The Miners took a 7-6 halftime lead, however, when Johnson punched the ball over from the 3-yard line with 3:49 left.

That came on a 70-yard Negaunee drive that featured a 17-yard run by Aho and an 18-yard pass from Aho to wide receiver Jeffrey Matthews.

But the Copper Kings took a 14-7 advantage when Bjorn took it in from seven yards out and Robert Erkkila – who paced Calumet with 94 yards rushing on 10 carries – recorded a two-point conversion run.

That set up Negaunee’s late rally.

“We got a little more blocking (in the second half),” Jacobson said. “We tweaked a few things.”

The Copper Kings finished with 182 yards rushing, the Miners 230.

Next Friday night, Calumet hosts Ishpeming while Negaunee travels to Gladstone.

Craig Remsburg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251. His email address is cremsburg@miningjournal.net.