PETOSKEY — One week previous, in a Division 8 regional final, the Iron Mountain Mountaineers trailed Evart 27-6 in the second quarter before storming back to win 34-33.

On Saturday, the Mountaineers found themselves in a similar situation in the semifinals, trailing Ubly 27-7 at halftime. But this time there would be no comeback as the unbeaten Bearcats battered Iron Mountain 41-14 in, at times, blizzard conditions at Northmen Field in Petoskey.

The Bearcats gave the Mountaineers a taste of what they’ve done to every team this season. But give credit to the Mountaineers; they came closer than any of Ubly’s opponents this season.

IM coach Robin Marttila said his crew simply lost to a better team.

“They took it to us,” said Marttila of the Bearcats, who entered the game having defeated their 12 opponents by an average of 42.75 points per game. “They’re really good in all aspects of the game and we didn’t have an answer.”

It didn’t take long for the Bearcats to show their strength. On Ubly’s first play from scrimmage, Mark Heiling ran off tackle to the left for a 65-yard touchdown.

“He’s scored several times early for us this year, so that was nothing new,” Ubly coach Eric Sweeney told the Huron Daily Tribune. “We knew we had to keep playing. Iron Mountain has made comebacks and we had to make sure to keep the pedal to the medal and keep moving forward.”

Well, his team did that. Ubly’s second drive may have taken a bit longer than the first, but the result was the same as Aiden Mackowiak scored on a 19-yard touchdown run to put his team up 14-0 about halfway through the first quarter.

Marttila said Ubly stayed true to itself, running its “Power T” formation, which showcased three running backs standing shoulder to shoulder out of a tight formation. The Bearcats never threw a pass all day.

“They’re fast off the ball,” Marttila said. “They ran their basic stuff and we didn’t have an answer for it.”

The Mountaineers got their offense cranked up on their second drive. Senior quarterback Joe Colavecchi hit sophomore receiver Oskar Kangas on a long pass, setting IM up deep in Ubly territory. Junior running back Luke Wolfe ran the ball closer before senior fullback Bradon Farragh recorded his first of two touchdown runs on the day. Farragh kicked the extra point and the Mountaineers trailed just 14-7 after one quarter.

But Ubly was not to be stopped on this day and on the snow-covered field at Petoskey High School. Heiling posted two more touchdowns in the second quarter on runs of 7 and 31 yards to put the Bearcats up 27-7 at halftime.

The Bearcats held Iron Mountain on fourth down to start the second half and then scored on a 7-yard scamper from Mackowiak to increase their lead to 34-7 with five minutes to play in the third quarter and basically put the game away.

The Mountaineers did score one more time, on Farragh’s second touchdown of the game to cut the gap to 20, but Ubly tacked on its sixth touchdown of the day with just over seven minutes to play in the game to account for the final score.

Iron Mountain did move the ball at times against the Bearcats, mainly through the air. Colavecchi completed 11 of 19 passes for 187 yards despite the poor conditions. Kangas caught five passes for 114 yards and Wolfe hauled in three for 47.

Farragh topped the Mountaineers on the ground with 34 yards on nine carries.

“We had a great year,” Marttila said. “We wanted to play a lot of football and stay healthy and we did that. The only teams we lost to were Negaunee and Ubly and they’re both in the state finals.

“Now we will say goodbye to eight seniors that we love.”

Seniors Colavecchi, Farragh, Marcus Verrette, Colin Schneider, Luke Decker, Andrew Newson, Austen Guldswog and Riley Gauthier played their final game in a Mountaineer jersey.

Ubly will play 13-0 Ottawa Lake Whiteford in the D8 state finals on Friday, Nov. 25 at Ford Field in Detroit.