Theresa Proudfit/The Daily News Photo Iron Mountain’s Marcus Johnson (14) moves past Traverse City St. Francis’s Patrick Byrne (22) in Saturday’s MHSAA Division 7 regional final at Mountaineer Stadium. The Mountaineers and Pewamo-Westphalia will match unbeaten records in the state semifinals Friday in the Superior Dome.

IRON MOUNTAIN — The Iron Mountain Mountaineers reaped the benefits of an opportunistic offense and a stout defense here Saturday, earning a 21-7 football triumph over the Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators in a Division 7 regional final.

Iron Mountain (12-0), which cashed in on two turnovers Saturday, faces Pewamo-Westphalia (12-0) in a state semifinal contest Friday at 6 p.m. Central time at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome. The Gladiators finished 8-4.

St. Francis managed just 141 yards in total offense, including 76 during their final possession in Saturday’s match-up at Mountaineer Stadium.

“Our kids played great today,” said Mountaineers coach Robin Marttila. “We knew they wanted to go downhill and the key was we were able to stop their power game early in the game. We were also able to put pressure on their quarterback and our offense did what we needed it to do.”

Following a short punt, the Mountaineers gained possession on the Gladiators’ 29-yard line late in the first quarter.

Matt McCarthy/The Daily News Photo Iron Mountain’s Gio Colavecchi (56) battles Traverse City St. Francis’ Joey Donahue (31) in Saturday’s MHSAA Division 7 regional final.

Iron Mountain found the end zone three players later on senior quarterback Marcus Johnson’s 30-yard pass to junior running back Caleb Evosevich-Hynes.

The Mountaineers raised the count to 13-0 midway through the second stanza following an exchange of turnovers, giving them possession on the St. Francis 18. Johnson then scored on a keeper around left end for their second score.

“Marcus had a great throw and Caleb made a great play on the first touchdown, and Marcus’s patience was excellent on the second touchdown,” said Marttila.

St. Francis gained possession at their own 36 on an interception by sophomore linebacker Gabe Olivier, just one play prior to junior defensive back Dante Basanese’s fumble recovery on its 18.

Iron Mountain’s advantage grew to 21-0 on a one-yard run up the middle by junior running back Bryce Pietrantonio and senior Colin Visintainer’s conversion pass to Johnson on a flea-flicker with 8:28 left in the contest.

“We gained a lot of momentum after those fumbles in the second quarter,” said Johnson, who ran 16 times for 92 yards and hit 3-of-4 passes for 50 yards and an interception. “That touchdown was huge for sure. First we made a mistake, then they made one and we were able to capitalize on it. The field was hard as a rock which made it hard to get your footing. They’re a good football team, but we were ready to play. We took advantage of our aggressiveness and played hard.”

The Gladiators scored in the final 3.4 seconds on a 12-yard pass from senior QB Kolin Endres to senior tight end Noah Kedlec on this sunny and mild afternoon.

“We went into a prevent defense,” said Marttila. “You don’t want to give up big plays when you’re up by three scores.”

Iron Mountain collected 239 yards in total offense with Evosevich adding 85 on the ground on 23 carries.

“Our defense was tough,” said Johnson. “We always preach about sending 11 guys after the ball. They definitely had speed, but we matched it well and took care of business.”

Junior lineman Jon Carrion was Iron Mountain’s defensive leader with 10 tackles. Junior linebacker Joe Dumais added nine and Pietrantonio had eight.

The Gladiators had seven penalties for 118 yards and the Mountaineers finished with six infractions for 60.

Senior running back Andy Simaz led the Gladiators on the ground with 80 yards on 16 carries. Endres was 3-of-13 passing for 17 yards and two interceptions.

“We couldn’t get anything going on offense,” said St. Francis coach Josh Sellers. “They played aggressively and that had a lot to with it. We didn’t execute well because of their aggressiveness. They put eight in the box and we could never get ahead of the stick. Every time we did something good, we shot ourselves in the foot. We had too many penalties.”

TC St. Francis 0 0 0 7 — 7

Iron Mountain 7 6 0 8 — 21

First quarter

IM — Johnson, 30-yard pass to Evosevich-Hynes (kick good), 0:52.5

Second quarter

IM — Johnson, 18-yard run (kick failed), 6:43

Fourth quarter

IM — Pietrantonio, one-yard run (Visintainer pass to Johnson), 8:28

TCSF — Endres, 12-yard pass to Kadlec (kick good), 0:03.4.

Total offense — Iron Mountain 239 yards (189 rushing, 50 passing); Traverse City St. Francis 141 yards (124 rushing, 17 passing).

Rushing — Iron Mountain (Johnson 16-97, Evosevich-Hynes 23-97, Pietrantonio 7-13, Burklund 1-minus-1); Traverse City St. Francis (Simaz 16-80, Holcomb 2-14, Olivier 5-14, Schmuckal 2-10).

Passing — Iron Mountain (Johnson, 3-4, one TD, one int.); Traverse City St. Francis (Endres 3-13, one TD, two int.).

Receiving — Iron Mountain (Evosevich-Hynes 1-30, D. Basanese 1-13, Visintainer 1-7); Traverse City St. Francis (Olivier 1-12, Kadlec 2-5).