NORWAY — The Norway Knights have taken over the UPSSA eight-player poll’s top ranking from Pickford after they routed the Panthers 44-6 on Friday in Pickford.

“Great win for our football team to go on the road and beat the No. 1-ranked team in the U.P.,” Norway coach Andrew Mendina said. “Everybody on the team was a part of that win from the starters to the guys giving us the looks in practice that we needed.

“Super proud of the kids and happy they were able to execute our game plan from start to finish.”

Ironically, it was Pickford that executed first, grabbing a 6-0 lead on a 99-yard run in the first quarter. But the Knights (5-0) completely dominated from there.

Owen Baij scored one of his four touchdowns on the ground and then added a 2-point conversion run to lift Norway to an 8-6 edge later in the opening period.

Baij added a 36-yard TD run and a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter as the Knights took a 20-6 lead into halftime.

Norway continued its barrage in the third quarter with three more TDs. Kaleb Lapine recorded the first one on a fumble recovery return. Lapine then hit Elliott Kraemer for a 20-yard scoring strike before Baij hit paydirt on a 26-yard run as the Knights pulled away to a 38-6 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Norway closed the win in style with a 92-yard TD pass from Baij to Lapine.

Baij turned in another memorable performance with 367 yards of total offense. The senior rushed 16 times for 152 yards and connected on 8 of 9 passes for 215 yards.

Lapine caught three passes for 118 yards and completed 2 of 4 throws for 22 yards. Cameron Varda hauled in two passes for 83 yards and Josh Schiltz caught four passes for 16 yards. Schiltz added 20 yards rushing on four attempts.

Schiltz led the Norway defense with six solo tackles and one sack with five tackles for loss. Varda added five solos and three assisted, Kraemer posted five solos and two assisted with a fumble recovery, Landon Ross totaled four solos and four assisted and Keith Burca logged four solos and five assisted, including one TFL.

Baij and Chase Muraska chipped in with one TFL each.

After the 99-yard touchdown run, Norway held the Panthers (4-1) to only 38 yards rushing the rest of the game. Pickford added 40 yards passing but the Knights outgained the Panthers 423-177.

The Knights go for their sixth straight victory when they host Ishpeming (2-3) on Friday.