Iron Mountain quarterback Joe Colavecchi (2) throws a pass intended for Mountaineers' receiver Luke Wolfe (11) while the QB is rushed by Negaunee's Ryan Reno (42) during Thursday’s varsity football clash at Miners Stadium in Negaunee. The host Miners topped Iron Mountain 19-14. (Travis Nelson/Mining Journal photo)

NEGAUNEE — Sure there were all the issues that come with the first football game of a season — penalties, dropped passes and turnovers to name a few.

But the Iron Mountain season-opener at Negaunee on Thursday night was quite captivating nonetheless, especially the final 12 minutes. The Mountaineers and the Miners engaged in a back-and-forth battle in the fourth quarter before Negaunee held on for a 19-14 West Pac/Mid Peninsula Conference victory.

The Miners led most of the way and built a 19-7 lead with less than five minutes to play, but Iron Mountain pulled to within five with two minutes left on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Joe Colavecchi to Matthew Colavecchi and then recovered the ensuing onside kick.

However, the Mountaineers were unable to advance the ball after the recovery and Negaunee ran out the clock for the victory.

“It was two quality football teams that just played their butts off,” IM coach Robin Marttila said. “Both teams played hard. At the end of the day they made a couple of more plays than we did.

Iron Mountain's Oskar Kangas (0) hauls in a pass while pursued by Negaunee defender Philip Nelson during the season-opening varsity football game for both teams Thursday in Negaunee. Kangas ended up with a 47-yard reception on the play and was tackled just short of the goal line. Norway defender Tyler Neuens (23) goes up against North Dickinson receiver Spencer Kramer (44) for a possible interception. But, in what turned out to be a crazy play, the ball ricochetted off both players before Kramer hauled in the ball for a catch and raced down the sideline for the Nordics’ only score of the game. For complete game coverage, see Monday’s edition of The Daily News. (Travis Nelson/Mining Journal photo)

“We had our opportunities, there’s no doubt about it, but we made a couple of mistakes, and you can’t make mistakes against a real good football team and that’s just the bottom line.”

The Miners took a 7-0 lead into halftime after quarterback Ty Jacobson hit wide receiver Kai Lacar on a 43-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 4:16 left before intermission. It was the most explosive play of a first half that was rather methodical. The teams combined for only 163 yards of total offense, Negaunee with 106 and Iron Mountain with just 57.

Both teams committed one turnover in the opening half.

The Mountaineers took the second-half kickoff and drove to the Negaunee 29 before they lost possession on a fumble. Negaunee moved the ball out to the Iron Mountain 46 but the Mountaineers held on fourth down to regain possession.

That’s when the Iron Mountain offense took off. On the second play of the drive, Joe Colavecchi connected with sophomore tight end Oskar Kangas for a 46-yard strike that ended on a shoe-string tackle at the Negaunee 1-yard line. Senior fullback Bradon Farragh plunged in on the next play and then kicked the extra point to knot the score at 7 with 4:27 remaining in the third quarter.

“At halftime, we just said we didn’t make a play in the first half,” Marttila said. “They had the one touchdown pass down their sideline. We thought we were in position to make a play and we didn’t and they did so give them credit. They’re a good football team and they’re allowed to make plays.

“Then we got that score in the third quarter there and it’s just a momentum game. That’s just it, you want the momentum going on your side and we had it there for a little bit.”

But it didn’t last long. Lacar returned the kickoff to the 45-yard line and gave the Miners’ sideline a big jolt. From there, Negaunee marched 55 yards on eight plays to retake the lead on a 24-yard touchdown from running back Easton Palomaki, operating out of the “Wildcat” formation, to tight end Ryan Reno.

The Miners missed the extra point, however, and the Mountaineers trailed 13-7.

Iron Mountain answered with another drive, this time from its own 16-yard line to the Negaunee 32. But an incomplete pass on fourth-and-12 turned the ball back over to the Miners.

However, on that drive, Mountaineer junior Luke Wolfe became a huge factor in the game. First, the 5-foot-11-inch, 200 pounder made a sensational 40-yard catch on a fine throw from Joe Colavecchi. Two plays later, Wolfe took off on a 24-yard run down to the Negaunee 30.

Nevertheless, a dropped pass and an illegal procedure call put Iron Mountain behind the chains and the drive ended shortly after.

The Miners then drove 68 yards, all on running plays, capped off by a 22-yard scamper by Nico Lukkarinen. The two-point try failed, leaving the hosts with a 19-7 advantage with 4:21 left.

While it looked like the Mountaineers were worn down on the Negaunee drive, they regained their energy quickly after. Wolfe ran for 20 yards on the first play and then caught a 21-yarder on the second play, pushing the ball quickly into Miners’ territory

“Yeah, he’s a really good football player,” Marttila said of Wolfe. “I think we’ve got a couple of good football players, it’s just everyone has to take a turn making a play against a quality team and we just fell short tonight.”

Joe Colavecchi took over from there, scrambling for 20 and hitting Farragh on an 18-yard connection. On the next play, the Mountaineer quarterback found Matthew Colavecchi in the back of the endzone for a 14-yard touchdown.

Though the Mountaineers got the football right back with a chance to win, they lost 5 yards on the first play and then threw two straight incompletions before Lacar intercepted a pass to put the game on ice.

“In the end, we had chances and that’s all you can ask for,” Marttila said. “We’ve got a lot of football left to play, and we’re going to go into next week (Thursday at Westwood) and try to improve.

“Whether you’re 1-0 or 0-1, you want to improve from week-to-week, so we’re going to try to improve next week.”

The Mountaineers finished with 262 yards of total offense — 152 through the air and 110 on the ground. Colavecchi completed 7 of 16 for all 152 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Wolfe caught three passes for 68 yards and Farragh finished with 62 yards on 17 carries.

Negaunee gained 255 yards overall. The Miners rushed for 168 yards on 36 carries and completed 4-7 passes for 77 yards.