IRON MOUNTAIN — The 5-0 Iron Mountain Mountaineers, ranked No. 1 in the UPSSA Small School Poll, and No. 8 in Division 7 of the Associated Press Michigan High School Football Poll hit the road Friday night for their biggest test to date, when they take on 5-0 Calumet. The Copper Kings, ranked No. 1 in the Big School UPSSA Poll, are also an Honorable Mention in the Division 6 Associated Press Poll.

IM head coach Robin Marttila expressed excitement when asked about facing Calumet.

“They are the defending West PAC Copper Division Champions and are a fast and physical team,” he said. “It should be a great high school football game.”

Iron Mountain would also like to avenge the 24-0 home loss Calumet handed them last season.

Calumet had a close game with Westwood, while the Mountaineers pulled away from the Patriots in the second half. Iron Mountain had a competitive game Week 1 with Negaunee, while Calumet defeated the Miners by three touchdowns. With all that being said, this will be a battle at the newly surfaced field in Calumet. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Central time.

Bark River-Harris (3-2, 2-1) at Norway (1-4, 1-2) Friday 6 p.m. – West PAC Iron Division

It’s homecoming week at Norway. Coach Scott Popp and his Knights welcome the Bark River-Harris Broncos to Ronberg Field. This will be the sixth all-time meeting between these teams, with the Knights sporting a perfect record against Bark River.

Prior to facing one another the last three seasons, the other two matchups were in 1954 and 1955.

Norway’s lone win on the season was week 2 at Munising. The Broncos also defeated Munising, as well as Gogebic and Gwinn. Both teams come off of losses to the two top teams in the Copper Division of the conference.

Calumet defeated Norway last week, while BR-H was blanked by Iron Mountain.

“The kids are excited for Homecoming, also to have a very tough portion of our schedule behind us. They’re hungry for a win and have a chip on their shoulders from getting thrown around the last couple of games,” said Popp.

Wausau East (3-3) at Kingsford (2-3) Friday 7 p.m. – non-conference

Homecoming festivities are also underway at Kingsford this week. Head coach Mark Novara and his team welcome independent Wausau East (Wis.) to Flivver Field.

East started off its season 3-0, since then dropping three straight games and falling to .500. They are mainly a running team, averaging 231 yards per game on the ground. Their featured back has gained nearly 950 yards in six games, with 11 touchdowns.

“This is a critical game for us for a potential playoff berth,” said Novara. “East will pose a challenge for us with their overall size and athleticism, we need to play well,” said Novara.

Northern Elite (1-3) at Northland Pines (2-4) Friday 7 p. m. – non Conference

After falling to Crivitz at Niagara in shootout last week 44-41, Northern Elite hits the road again to Eagle River to play Northland Pines, an independent team. Head coach Ben Laarman’s Predators must deal with NP running back Ryan Peterson who averages nearly 100 yards rushing per game.

Northern Elite’s annual home game at Goodman follows on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 1 p.m., where they’ll take on Marinette-Oconto-Northern Lakes-Packerland Conference foe Coleman.

Suring (5-1) at Florence (5-1, 4-1) Friday 7 p.m. – Marinette-Oconto-Northern Lakes-Packerland 8 Conference

After a 5-0 start, the Florence Bobcats and head coach Kent Walstrom suffered their first loss of the season at Laona-Wabeno 20-12. Starting quarterback and linebacker Toby Wheeler went down with an injury and his status moving forward is unknown. Walstrom said that the Bobcats will be faced with revamping their offense with the loss of Wheeler.

The Suring Eagles come to town this week. Their lone loss of the season was suffered week 3 to conference foe Gibraltar 43-24. Gibraltar was defeated by the Bobcats 54-6 to open the season at Robert Landry Field.

The Eagles come equipped with a productive running back in Logan Staurt, who has amassed 1,445 yards on 157 carries and 17 touchdowns — averaging an incredible 241 yards per game.

(The area’s three Saturday afternoon prep football games will be previewed in Friday’s edition.)