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Niagara allowed a touchdown by Marion-Tigerton on the first play from scrimmage but shut down the Thundercatz from there and posted a 38-6 non-conference eight-player win Friday.
“It felt great to get the win,” said Badgers coach Ben Laarman. “Our kids played tough against a very big and physical Marion-Tigerton team.”
The Badgers gained 269 yards rushing, led by Owen Dunkes’ 105 yards on 17 carries with one TD. Dunkes also had three catches for 78 yards and a TD.
Parker LaFave carried nine times for 54 yards and two scores, while Sawyer Rouse gained 56 yards on three trips with one TD.
Rouse was 3 of 6 for 72 yards passing, including the touchdown toss to Dunkes. Jesse Wahlstrom completed 1 of 2 for 12 yards and also had 40 yards rushing.
Defensively, Myles Laarman led with 12 tackles, including three sacks. Mason Whaley, Logan Westrich and Wahlstrom were among the other leading tacklers.
“I was proud of our guys for not getting down after giving up the touchdown on the first play,” coach Laarman said. “They put it behind them and went to work, which showed a lot of mental toughness.”
The Badgers and Thundercatz arranged the game after their scheduled opponents forfeited.
“Niagara and West Point alum Domenic Spigarelli came and talked to the team before we left, and one of the things he talked about was how special high school football is and to savor every bit of it,” Laarman said. “It looked like our kids took that to heart. We talk a lot about playing with joy, and I think we did that,” he said.
Niagara (3-3) travels to Sevastopol (3-1) on Friday.
North Dickinson 56,
Rapid River 28
Down 20-0 in the first quarter, the Nordics roared back for a 56-28 Great Lakes Eight-East win at Rapid River on Friday.
North Dickinson’s Jason Graham rushed for 240 yards on 20 carries with 5 rushing TDs. Luke Grunlund completed 5 of 10 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown.
Trenton Kramer was the Nordics’ leading receiver with three catches for 105 yards and a TD.
“(The Rockets) had a great plan and confused our offensive lineman,” said North Dickinson coach Mike Christian. “At halftime we made some great changes offensively and defensively and turned things around. I give all the credit to my staff -- they made the changes that needed to be made.”
The Nordics reeled off 30 unanswered points in the third quarter.
Graham led the defense with 21 tackles, including a sack, and returned an interception 14 yards for a score. Xavier Remer added 12 tackles.
“Rapid River came out with more energy at the start and really took it to us,” Christian said. “I'm very proud of our boys for not quitting when we were down 20-0 in the first quarter. It was just a great team effort.”
The Nordics (2-1) host Calumet Copper Island Academy (2-1) on Friday.
North Dickinson scoring
1st quarter
Jason Graham, 1-yd. run.
2nd quarter
Trenton Kramer, 83-yd. pass from Luke Grunlund
3rd quarter
Graham, 13-yard run (Grunlund run)
Graham, 33-yd. run (Graham run)
Xavier Remer, 20-yd. run (Remer run)
Graham, 14-yard interception return
4th quarter
Graham, 2-yd. run
Graham, 70-yd run (Kramer, pass from Grunlund)
Forest Park 41
Gogebic 24
The Trojans racked up 506 yards of offense, including 419 on the ground, and moved to 3-0 in the Great Lakes Eight-West with a 41-24 victory on the road over winless Gogebic.
The Trojans trailed 24-22 entering the fourth quarter, but responded with three straight TDs.
Forest Park’s Dax Huuki rushed for 343 yards and four TDs. Vic Giuliani completed 5 of 9 through the air for 87 yards, including a 20-yard TD to Huuki. Giuliani also rushed for 88 yards and returned an interception 9 yards for a score.
Giuliani had two picks in all, while Huuki and Noah Starr also had interceptions.
Other defensive leaders were Nickolas Stachowicz, Brody McBee and Eli Brzoznowski.
Forest Park (3-0, 3-0) will host Ishpeming (2-1, 1-1) in a conference game Friday.
Forest Park scoring
1st quarter
Huuki, 5-yd. run (Grayson Cox kick)
Huuki, 71-yd. run (Cox kick)
2nd quarter
Huuki, 20-yd. pass from Vic Giuliani (2-point conversion)
4th quarter
Huuki, 35-yd. Run
Giuliani, 9-yd. interception return
Huuki 15-yd. Run (Cox kick)
Gwinn 40,
West Iron 28
West Iron’s Jessiah Smith rushed for 146 yards and one TD as the Wykons dropped a West-PAC Iron game.
West Iron (0-3, 0-3)) will host Manistique (1-2, 0-2) in a conference game Friday.
Trailing 14-0 in the first quarter, the Wykons responded with a 5-yard scoring run by Smith and 1-yard plunge by Nathan Camps. A conversion pass from Camps to Smith knotted the score, but Gwinn pulled away with 18 unanswered points.
Camps and Smith connected on a 14-yard TD pass in the third quarter and West Iron’s Donte White capped the scoring with a 2-yard run in the fourth.
Camps completed 7 of 12 passed for 94 yards. White totaled 86 rushing yards.
Smith had three catches for 49 yards and Seth Oberlin caught three for 32 yards.
Solomon Stubrud and Dominic Mottes were the leading tacklers. Mac McNamee and Blayze Schueler had sacks.
PREP SCORES
Friday, Sept. 11
11-PLAYER
Bark River-Harris 38, Iron Mountain 33
Menominee 50, Westwood 0
Escanaba 29, Alpena 12
Gwinn 40, West Iron County 28
Kingsford 35, Gladstone 0
Houghton 54, L’Anse 8
Calumet 21, Negaunee 18
Bonduel 35, Marinette 0
Coleman 36, Crandon 0
Crivitz 34, Manawa 21
8-PLAYER
Niagara 38, Marion-Tigerton 6
Forest Park 41, Gogebic 24
Norway 36, Ironwood 12
Lake Linden-Hubbell 50, Munising 12
St. Ignace 41, Newberry 16
North Central 49, Ontonagon 18
North Dickinson 56, Rapid River 28
Rudyard 42, Indian River-Inland Lakes 36, 3OT
Florence vs. Goodman-Pembine, ccd.