The return was partially called back by a block in the back penalty, but no matter. There was plenty more of where that came from.

One play later, Nora hauled in a 54-yard pass from junior quarterback Eli Wallis that pushed the ball back down to the Green Bay East 1-yard line. Senior running back Cole Myllyla eased into the endzone from there and the Flivvers were off and running in their 56-0 trouncing of the Red Devils at Kingsford High School.

The Flivvers’ speed and athleticism were on display all evening as they finished with six rushing touchdowns, a punt return touchdown and an interception touchdown.

“That’s who we are,” Kingsford coach Mark Novara said. “We’ve got some athletic kids who are fast and there’s quite a few of them, and our job is to get the ball to them in space and let them do what they’re really good at.”

(Terry Raiche photo) Kingsford’s Elizen Rouse (20) plows up the middle for a touchdown during the Flivvers win over visiting Green Bay East on Friday night.

One of those athletes, junior running back/linebacker Josh Peterson, scored on a 35-yard interception return right before halftime to put his team up by six touchdowns at the break.

“We’re young, and for being that young and putting those numbers up, I think we did well,” Peterson said.

Those numbers included a three-touchdown night from Myllyla, a 28-yard punt return touchdown from Nora, a 56-yard touchdown burst from junior Connor Quick and a near-touchdown rumble from senior defensive end Jack Bartolac.

Bartolac picked up a Green Bay East fumble at his own 46 and huffed and puffed down to the Red Devil 5-yard line before he was eventually brought down. It was one of those linemen return plays that brings the fans and the sideline to their feet.

“I saw a wave of guys blocking for me — Josh Peterson, Nic Nora, Myllyla — and I just figured I’ve got to score, but I didn’t ,” said Bartolac who said he did score on a similar play as a freshman. “I tried to chuck the kid at the end but I was gassed.”

Myllyla ran in untouched on the next play, and after junior Nolan White kicked the extra point, Kingsford led 21-0 just eight minutes into the game.

White connected on all seven of his extra points and Peterson nailed the other after his interception return.

“(Defensive) Coach (Chris) Hofer called a play for me, put me on the outside,” Peterson began. “We struggled a few times in practice with that, so I knew I had to make something happen. It was a passing down, read the quarterback’s eyes. It ended up being a perfect ball and I jumped the route.

“I was like, ‘I might get caught, I’m gassed.'”

Kingsford’s other touchdowns were scored by junior Elizen Rouse on a 7-yard run and junior Alex Rittenhouse on a 3-yarder.

Meanwhile, Green Bay East never got untracked against the swarming Flivver defense. The Red Devils, who lost to Marinette 41-0 in their first game a week ago, were dominated on the line of scrimmage by the Flivvers and were held to only 132 yards on 46 plays (2.9 yards per play) in the game.

“I thought they played a fantastic game,” Novara said of his defense. “And for us being our first game, right now we just three guys that played a lot last year, and I was really happy in our overall performance.”

With the game in hand at halftime, Novara removed his starters to start the second half, leading to significant playing time for his reserves.

“The big thing is everyone got in the game,” he said. “Our kids practice hard and they play hard and it was great to get everyone in.”

The Flivvers take a big step up in competition this week when they travel to Gladstone on Thursday to face a Braves team that crushed Calumet 42-13 on the road in Week 1.

“We talked about it with our guys,” Novara said. “The next step is not going to be like this one, for sure. And it’s a quick turnaround. It’s a Thursday, so we (had to come in and practice on Sunday) and really get ready for a quality football team.”