On Friday at Mountaineer Stadium, power won out as the Broncos edged the Mountaineers 30-22 in overtime. Gionni McDonough ran in from the 10-yard line on the first play of overtime and then the Broncos stopped the Mountaineers on fourth down on the 5-yard line to secure the win.

The overtime sequence put an end to a spirited comeback by the Mountaineers. They had rallied from a 22-8 deficit with two touchdowns in two minutes, 17 seconds.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with the outcome of the game, but I think everyone should be proud of how our guys fought back and didn’t surrender being down two scores late in the fourth quarter,” IM coach Kyle Johnson said. “That showed our players care and we can build off of that.”

The game’s dynamics were set early. The Broncos executed their Wing-T offense impressively with their lineman knocking IM’s off the line consistently.

Iron Mountain's Brayden Kassin (2) runs outside trying to get the edge as Gionni McDonough (9) of Bark River-Harris moves in to make a tackle.

On the other hand, the Mountaineers gained yardage with Kassin running the ball and looking for his prime receiving targets, sophomore Ethan Davis and freshman Quinton Doty.

BR-H (2-0) opened the scoring on its third drive of the game when Andrew Johnson ran in from 12 yards with 3:01 left in the first quarter. The Broncos tacked on the 2-point conversion to go up 8-0.

Iron Mountain (1-1) responded on its next possession, keyed by a remarkable catch by Davis, who hauled in a 16-yard pass down to the BR-H 5-yard line while lying on his back.

Kassin then rushed for the TD and connected with tight end Charles Baldridge for the 2-point conversion to knot the score at 8-all with 13.6 left in the quarter.

Neither team could dent the scoreboard in the second quarter. Then in the third, the Broncos seemed to take control of the game. Ben Knauf broke the tie when he ran in a double handoff from the 11-yard line to put the visitors up 14-8 with 22.7 seconds remaining in the third.

“Give Bark River credit, they are big and physical and can run the football,” Johnson said. “In high school football, you have to be able to run the ball effectively and they do, no doubt.”

On the ensuing kickoff, the Broncos caught a break. Their onside kick (they used that repeatedly during the game) bounced off a Mountaineer player and BR-H recovered at the IM 49.

The Broncos then drove against a tired IM defense and put some distance between them and the Mountaineers on a 9-yard sweep by McDonough. The Broncos added the 2-point conversion and led 22-8 with 8:06 to play.

But at that point, the Mountaineers began to fight back. They recovered the Broncos’ onside kick and started their possession on their own 48. Kassin then threw a 26-yard strike to Doty to set IM up on the BR-H 34-yard line.

Kassin then found Davis open behind the Broncos’ pass defense for a 22-yard TD to cut the deficit to 22-14 with 4:53 remaining in the game. IM failed on the 2-point conversion attempt.

On the next play, the Mountaineers turned the table on the Broncos. Davis lined up to boot an onside kick, which was recovered by Kassin on the Bark River-Harris 49.

Kassin connected with Davis on a 33-yard pass down to the Broncos’ 16. Then on fourth down from the 13, Kassin appeared to overshoot tight end Charles Anderson but the ball flew right to Davis in the end zone for a TD.

Kassin recorded the 2-point conversion run and suddenly the game was tied at 22-all with 2:35 left, setting up the overtime.

Offensively, Kassin led the way with 158 yards passing on 11 of 25 attempts and 99 yards rushing on 22 carries. Davis caught four passes for 83 yards and Doty hauled in four passes for 58 yards. Anderson had two catches for 10 and Baldridge caught one for 3 yards.

Defensively, Marcus Lindgren paced IM with five solo tackles and seven assisted tackles. Kassin recorded four solos and five assisted, while Davis finished with four solos and four assisted.

Baldridge and Doty helped on seven tackles each, Anderson posted six assisted tackles and Memphis Setunsky, Gavin Winters and Jax Ehrhardt all recorded five assisted tackles.

Iron Mountain gets back into action Friday at Manistique (1-1).