(Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photos) Iron Mountain’s Caleb Burklund (33) finds a gap after taking a handoff from quarterback Eli Lofholm (4) as Gwinn’s Levi Dupras (54) looks to defend in an MHSAA Division 8 playoff game Friday night at Mountaineer Stadium.

IRON MOUNTAIN — In their first game in 42 days, Iron Mountain cruised past Gwinn, 56-8, in an MHSAA Division 8 football playoff matchup Friday night at Mountaineer Stadium.

In what was the Modeltowners’ first second-round playoff game in 21 years, the Mountaineers scored on the third play of their second possession. Senior Caleb Burklund powered for a 48-yard touchdown to put IM ahead 7-0.

After Gwinn turned the ball over on downs, Burklund found the end zone once again, this time from 13 yards out.

“We played well tonight, in all areas. We’re happy to get a home playoff win,” said Mountaineers head coach Robin Marttila. “We had several different playmakers make plays tonight.”

He alluded to the fact that Friday night’s contest was basically a Week 1 game all over again. “Our offense got off to a bit of a slow start, but we shook it off and went from there,” Marttila said.

Gabe Richtig, who rushed for 118 yards, gets a block from the Mountaineers’ Lucas Maxon (52).

Early in the second quarter, the Mountaineers extended their lead to 21-0 on a halfback option pass from Caleb Evosevich-Hynes to Bryce Pietrantonio for a 46-yard touchdown. Pietrantonio added a successful 2-point conversion run.

The Mountaineers’ next possession, after a Gwinn punt, saw Burklund race for 37 more yards, setting up an Eli Lofhom 21-yard touchdown pass to Joey Dumais to extend Iron Mountain’s lead to 28-0 at halftime.

On Iron Mountain’s first play from scrimmage in the second half, junior running back Gabe Richtig exploded down the home sideline for 59-yard touchdown. That TD put the contest into a running clock mode.

“Gabe Richtig ran the ball well tonight,” Marttila said. Richtig, who rushed for 118 yards to lead the Mountaineers, added a second touchdown run less than four minuets later, this time from 38 yards out.

“Kudos to our defensive secondary, they played a great game, especially considering how much Gwinn passed the ball tonight. We didn’t give away any big plays,” Marttila said. “Our offensive and defensive lines did a great job tonight as well.”

(ThereBryce Petrantonio (25) finds daylight for the Mountaineers, pursued by Gwinn’s Carl Peterson (3).

Pietrantonio picked off a Mastin Love pass late in the third quarter and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown.

Burklund, who rushed for 111 yards, added an extra element to the Mountaineers’ already explosive offense by gaining yardage running between the tackles.

“We knew Gwinn was going to take away the edge tonight, keeping Evo (Evosevich-Hynes) in check. Caleb Burklund, when he gets a full head of steam, good luck tackling him,” Marttila said.

Gwinn, who kept playing hard throughout the game, notched a late touchdown on a Carl Peterson 39-yard run. The Modeltowners defeated East Jordan last Friday night — the team’s first playoff win since defeating Whittemore-Prescott in a Division 6 regional final in 1999.

“We came out in a spread offense to try to throw something at them, that they have never seen from us before, in hopes to catch them off guard,” said first-year Gwinn head coach Ben Olsen. “We knew how good they could be, and hoped to stay with them. But they ran up and down the field on us tonight.”

Olsen noted that the 200-plus combined yards from Burklund and Richtig were frustrating, because his team’s game plan was to take away Evosevich-Hynes.

“They have so many playmakers, take one away, and another one steps up,” he said.

The Modeltowners finished 4-4. Olsen, an Iron Mountain native, took the helm after the unexpected death of former head coach Dion Brown in late January.

“Our seniors, who we’ll miss tremendously, pushed our younger guys, and showed them what they needed to do to become good football players,” Olsen said. “Hopefully with our success this year, having won a playoff game, we keep things in our program moving forward.”

Iron Mountain, who improves to 7-1 on the season, will host the winner of today’s Bark River-Harris at West Iron game, with the date and time to be determined.

The Broncos and Wykons kick off at 1 p.m. at Nelson Field in Stambaugh.

Gwinn 0 0 0 8 — 8

Iron Mountain 13 15 21 7 — 56

1st Quarter

IM- Caleb Burklund 48 yard run (Caleb Evosevich-Hynes Kick) 6:57, 7-0

IM- Burklund 13 yard run, (Kick failed) 2:17, 13-0

2nd Quarter

IM- Bryce Pietrantonio 46 yard reception from Evosevich-Hynes (Pietrantonio run) 11:17, 21-0

IM- Joey Dumais 21 yard reception from Eli Lofholm (Evosevich-Hynes Kick) 5:17, 28-0

3rd Quarter

IM- Gabe Richtig 59 yard run (Evosevich-Hynes Kick) 11:43, 35-0

IM- Richtig 38 yard run (Evosevich-Hynes Kick) 7:54, 42-0

IM- Pietrantonio 68 yard interception return (Brandon Farragh kick) 2:57, 49-0

4th Quarter

IM-Luke Wolfe 5 yard run (Farragh kick) 9:20, 56-0

G- Carl Peterson 39 yard run (Reid Hill Run) 6:17, 56-8

Iron Mountain stats

Total Yards- 353

Rushing: 26-286

Gabe Richtig, 4-118, 2 TD

Caleb Burklund, 7-111, 2 TD

Passing: 2-7, 67 yards

Defensive

Evosevich-Hynes- 6 tackles

Jon Carrion- 8 total tackles, 2 assists

Dumais- 5 total tackles, 1 sack

Pietrantonio- 4 total tackles, 1 INT

Brendan LaPoint- 5 tackles

Burklund- 2 sacks

Lucas Maxon-4 total tackles, 1 sack

Gwinn stats

Total yards- 176

Passing-102

Rushing: 24-74

7 total first downs