Mountaineers, Jets gain playoff berths
Trending
Iron Mountain will host East Jordan at 6 p.m. Friday in the opening round of the MHSAA Division 8 football playoffs.
The Mountaineers wrapped up the regular season with a 21-20 win Thursday over Division 5 Negaunee to improve to 7-2 on the season.
“We came out on fire,” Mountaineers coach Kyle Johnson said of the win over the Miners. “Our guys were ready to play and they wanted that one. I was really happy for our seniors with getting a win on Senior Night. It was a great win to propel us into the playoffs.”
The Mountaineers totaled 144 yards rushing and 66 yards passing in Thursday’s victory. Sophomore Gavin Winters carried 21 times for 75 yards and a touchdown while sophomore Quinton Doty had three rushes for 23 yards.
Senior quarterback Brayden Kassin had 10 rushing attempts for 37 yards and a TD. He was 3 of 7 passing for 66 yards a touchdown.
Ethan Davis, a junior, had two catches for 31 yards and a TD, and Doty had one catch for 35 yards.
Defensive leaders included Kassin, five solo tackles and an interception; freshman Daniel Doers, three solo tackles and an interception; seniors Marcus Lindgren and Maddox Menza, four solo tackles each; and Davis and Winters, three solo tackles each.
Negaunee (5-4) enters the Division 5 playoffs on Friday at Shepherd.
North Central 55
Forest Park 36
North Central will travel to Lake Linden-Hubbell for an MHSAA Division 2 eight-player playoff opener Saturday. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time at Warner Field.
The Jets are coming off a 55-36 home win Friday over Forest Park, highlighted by Kaden Malone’s four touchdown passes and two rushing TDs.
Forest Park led 30-29 at halftime but mustered just one score in the second half. The Jets forced six Forest Park turnovers while committing just two of their own.
North Central’s Malone completed 16 of 19 passes for 215 yards with one interception. Forest Park’s Vic Giuliani completed 12 of 23 for 222 yards and two TDs, but with four interceptions.
Evan Hanchek totaled 170 receiving yards for the Jets. He had 15 catches, including three TDs. Malone rushed 23 times for 118 yards and two TDs.
Dax Huuki rushed 15 times for 66 yards and three TDs for the Trojans. He also had two receiving TDs.
Nathan Pipkorn had seven passing attempts for the Jets with three completions for 29 yards and one interception.
Giuliani and Huuki had interceptions for the Trojans and Devin Koga registered 12 tackles.
Forest Park ended the season with a 6-3 record and narrowly missed joining the 16-team Division 1 playoff field, finishing 18th in playoff points.
First quarter
FP -- Dax Huuki, 11-yd. run (2-point conversion)
NC-- Pryar LaBonte, 20-yd. run (kick)
FP -- Huuki, 13-yd. run (2-point conversion)
Second quarter
FP -- Huuki, 40-yd. run (2-point conversion)
NC -- Kaden Malone (14-yd. run (2-point conversion)
NC -- Malone, 27-yd. run (2-point conversion)
NC -- Myles Nehring, 13-yd. pass from Malone
FP -- Huuki, 17-yd. pass from Vic Giuliani
Third quarter
NC -- Evan Hanchek, 9-yd. pass from Malone (2-point conversion)
NC -- Hanchek, 11-yd. pass from Malone (kick)
Fourth quarter
NC -- 27-yd. field goal
FP -- Huuki, 60-yd. pass from Giuliani
NC -- Hanchek, 54-yd. pass from Malone (2-point conversion)