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Westwood rolls past Gwinn, 42-0

By Journal Sports Staff

ISHPEMING — Westwood took advantage of a shorthanded Gwinn team and rolled to a 42-0 Mid-Peninsula Conference football victory on Friday night.

The Patriots celebrated as it was Homecoming and Pink Party night to open Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“We struggled a little bit early on,” Westwood head coach Scott Syrjala said. “There were a lot of distractions, but the guys were all business tonight. We’re starting to mature as a team.

“Gwinn was a bit shorthanded, but we took what they gave us.”

He was pleased with his team’s rushing attack as the Pats rolled up 224 yards in 36 carries. Adam Hyttinen led the way with 93 yards in 13 rushes, while teammate Erik Anderson added 82 in just five attempts.

Quarterback Nathan Beckman didn’t have to throw much, but he was effective when he did, completing 4 of 8 passes for 119 yards and no interceptions.

That included a trio of touchdown passes — a 47-yarder to Ashton Bergman to open the scoring in the first quarter, a 29-yarder to Jacob Adriano that made it 14-0 later in the period, and a 10-yarder to David Delarye for the final score of the first half that made it 36-0 at halftime.

Anderson on a 70-yard run, Beckman on a 1-yard QB sneak and Hyttinen on a 53-yard run accounted for the other scores for Westwood, which improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Mid-Peninsula Conference.

The Patriots are just one game from what has been considered an automatic bid to the MHSAA playoffs.

Gwinn (2-4, 2-3) managaed just 102 yards offense, 87 on the ground in 36 carries. Leading rushers weren’t available. QB Austin Forbes was 2 of 5 for 15 yards as Adriano picked off one of his second-half passes.

On Friday, Westwood goes to Ishpeming and Gwinn hosts Hancock.

Norway 31, Munising 0

At Munising, the Mustangs didn’t have an answer on offense nor defense for the Upper Peninsula’s No. 1 ranked team in the Little Five.

Norway (6-0, 2-0 Mid-Eastern Football Conference) rolled up 282 yards on the ground with a balanced attack while also completing 4 of 5 passes for 81 yards.

Munising (3-3, 1-2) managed just 133 total yards and was able to run only 36 plays to Norway’s 58.

“Their offense kept our offense off the field,” Mustangs head coach Jeff Seaberg said.

Christian Cole led Munising runners with 28 yards in six carries, while teammate Mason Schieding had 26 yards in three attempts. Quarterback Alec Blank completed 6 of 14 passes for 74 yards and an interception.

Norway’s top rusher was Micah Wilson, who gained 67 yards in 10 tries and scored both of his team’s first-quarter touchdowns on runs of 4 and 24 yards.

Teammate Jake Dolfurd added 66 yards in 13 tries and had the Knights’ third TD that came about two minutes into the second quarter.

QB Josh Plante was efficient through the air while also taking care of placekicking duties, which included a 4-for-4 night on extra points and a 25-yards field goal near the midpoint of the second period.

Just to boot, Plante ran in the only TD of the second half, a 16-yarder a little over four minutes after the kickoff to start the third quarter.

Munising hosts Charlevoix on Friday.

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

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