Iron Mountain's Luke Wolfe (18) looks for yardage against Frankfort. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — A quick score in the opening moments set the tone as Iron Mountain cruised to a 35-7 win over Frankfort in an MHSAA Division 8 first-round playoff game Saturday at Mountaineer Stadium.

The first of sophomore Luke Wolfe’s three touchdowns came on the first play from scrimmage — a 10-yard run after a fumble by Frankfort on the opening kickoff. The fumble was caused by Fulton Stroud and scooped up by Hunter Fortner.

“Huge play of the game, it gave us momentum early,” said Iron Mountain head coach Robin Marttila. “We were able to go up seven to nothing right away at home, two kids making a play on special teams, it was huge.”

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Mountaineers junior quarterback Joe Colavecchi found Wolfe for his second score on a 5-yard touchdown pass.

“For the game to start the way it did was obviously not ideal for us,” said third-year Frankfort coach and alumnus Ed Schindler. “Then we lost our most valuable player of both sides of the ball (Adam Mills). It was tough to have that happen. He’s our team leader, we all felt badly for him.”

Midway through the second stanza, after a 3-and-out by the Panthers, Wolfe found paydirt for the final time, from 11 yards out, as the Mountaineers took a 21-0 lead. The score came on the sixth play of a slow but productive drive,

“We started off the game in the right way. Taking an early lead and continuing from there,” Marttila said. “Our defense played a great game, and our offense moved the ball well.”

Coming out of halftime, Iron Mountain went on a very business-like drive to open the third quarter. Twelve plays and over seven minutes later, junior Bradon Farragh, who booted five successful extra points, plunged into the end zone for his first of two 1-yard touchdown runs on the day.

After the teams exchanged punts, Frankfort got on the scoreboard for the only time. On fourth-and-goal, Panthers quarterback Nick Stevenson scrambled 10 yards for the touchdown.

On the Mountaineers’ ensuing drive, it took seven plays to reach paydirt as Farragh scored his second 1-yard touchdown to seal the win.

“Our offensive line did a really good job. The kids executed the game plan well and I am proud of them,” Marttila said. “Bradon Farragh ground out some tough yards, and Luke Wolfe and Gabe Richtig ran the ball well also.”

Iron Mountain will advance to the second round of the Division 8 11-player tournament, as they’ll travel across the Mackinac Bridge to take on 9-1 Beal City, who defeated 2021 West PAC Iron Division champion Bark River-Harris 36-0 on Saturday afternoon at Clare High School.

“Being able to come up here and play against a program like Iron Mountain, who has rich history and so forth, is a privilege for the kids and myself,” said Schindler. “This field is in great shape and the facility is great, the kids were excited to play here. To travel up here is a good experience for our kids. We had a good time the last two days, despite the outcome of the game.”

Iron Mountain came at us with what we expected for the most part, but they executed so well and are a solid team,” Schindler added. “Robin (Marttila) does a great job with this program and it shows.”

Iron Mountain will play at Beal City at 5 p.m. Central time Friday.

Frankfort 0 0 0 7 — 7

Iron Mtn 7 14 7 7 — 35

1st Quarter

IM – Luke Wolfe 1- yard run, (Bradon Farragh kick), 11:45

2nd Quarter

IM – Joe Colavecchi 5-yard pass to Wolfe, (Farragh kick), 10:20

IM – Wolfe 11 yard run, (Farragh kick), 6:10

3rd Quarter

IM – Farragh 1-yard run, (Farragh kick), 4:33

4th Quarter

F – Nick Stevenson 10 yard run, (Simon Kramer kick), 11:01

IM – Farragh 1-yard run, (Farragh kick), 6:58

STATS

First Downs: IM 16, F 8.

Total Yards: IM 306, F 198.

Rushing Yards: IM 218, F 150.

Passing Yards: IM 88, F 48.

IM Defense Stats: Tackles: M. Talerico- 6; Hunter Fortner- 5; Lucas Maxon 1 sack, 5 tackles; Bradon Farragh-4.