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Bringing the noise

Calumet tops Negaunee 6-0 for district title

Bryce Derouin/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet head coach John Croze raises the district title trophy as his players look on after beating Negaunee 6-0 Friday in Negaunee.

NEGAUNEE – With a bloodstained jersey and some kleenex stuffed up his nose to stop the bleeding, Russ Bjorn’s battle-fatigued look told the tale of Friday’s clash between the Calumet Copper Kings and Negaunee Miners.

But despite the blood and dirt smeared on his face, the Calumet senior was all smiles with a wooden trophy shaped in the state of Michigan in his arms.

After 48 minutes of pounding the heck out of each other in a Division 6 district final, Calumet prevailed 6-0 in a physical, in-your-face affair in Negaunee, thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by senior David Kaipio on fourth-and-goal with 2 minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

It’s Calumet’s first football district title since 2006. The Copper Kings will host Maple City Glen Lake in a regional final on a day that is yet to be determined. Maple City Glen Lake defeated Roscommon 36-12.

“I can’t be prouder of the team than that right there,” Calumet head coach John Croze said. “Every play was just people getting after it. Just to play defense like that and go and hit, then have them hit us right back Man, what a great football game.”

Calumet and Negaunee play the style of football that would make most Yoopers proud: power running between the tackles on offense, and fast, aggressive gang-tackling on defense.

But for three-and-a-half quarters, it was each team’s defense dominating the trenches. The offenses may have had more luck going up against a brick wall than the opposing team’s 11 on this night.

“We knew it was going to be a head-knocker, a tough, physical ballgame, which it was,” Negaunee head coach Paul Jacobson said. “We just wanted to be sure that as coaches, we put our kids in situations to have success.”

After accumulating just 121 yards in the first 46 minutes, Negaunee manufactured its finest offensive drive with its season on the line, making those in royal blue feel uneasy on a warm fall night.

Starting at its own 20, Negaunee senior receiver Eric Hurst gained 10 on a sweep, then caught passes of 10, 11 and 16 from senior quarterback Brock Aho.

When a holding call made it third-and-29, Hurst struck again, catching a desperation pass in triple coverage from Aho down the middle of the field for a gain of 44 to the Calumet 5.

“Brock made some plays, Hurst came up with some, we had some good blocking upfront and had a chance to win the ballgame,” Jacobson said.

A spike and illegal procedure forced the Miners back to the 10, facing a third down, with 47 seconds remaining.

On third down, Aho threw an errant pass that Kaipio nearly picked. And on the game-deciding fourth down, Aho rolled right and threw back for senior tight end Anthony Hammermaster in the left corner of the end zone, only to find Calumet seniors Rory Anderson and Grant Johnson in position to deflect the pass and secure the Calumet victory.

“We were just keeping each other up, letting each other know we can’t let this be our last football game for us seniors,” Bjorn said about the team on the final drive. “We just had our heads high and were playing with full confidence.”

Despite the penalty-killing drives and physical toll, Calumet’s usually potent offense seized the one opportunity given to them by the Miners.

With just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth, Negaunee went to punt. However, thanks to Calumet’s penetration, junior punter Jacob Ennett kicked it into the back of one of his own lineman, forcing him to rush and kick the ball again, where it went out of bounds for a 2-yard punt to the Calumet 44.

The ideal field position sent a shockwave of energy throughout the Calumet sideline.

“Our kids knew it was getting down to crunch time,” Croze said. “We had offensive success, but we kept killing ourselves with penalties. You can’t play a team like Negaunee and face first-and-19 and continue drives I really think our offensive line ended up taking control.”

Before Calumet’s final offensive drive of the night, the one that mattered most, the Copper Kings gained just 73 yards. They nearly matched that on the 15-play, 56-yard scoring drive.

In addition to the fourth-down conversion, Calumet made three key conversions on third down on the game-winning drive.

On third-and-2, senior Grant Johnson powered his way off tackle for 7 to the Negaunee 41.

Facing another third-and-2 from the 33, Negaunee was called for offsides. That’s when the Calumet student section began to get loud.

And on the second biggest play of the night for Calumet’s offense, the Copper Kings faced a third-and-13 after an illegal procedure and an incomplete pass. They put the ball in Bjorn’s hands and he did the rest, gaining 16 up the middle for Calumet’s longest run of the night, giving his team a first down at the Negaunee 15.

“It was an inside run, read option,” Bjorn said of the 15-yard gain. “I can either give it to the fullback or keep it for myself. I read it, kept it myself and there was an opening and good blocking. I just ran until I couldn’t.”

Then, Bjorn powered his way for gains of 5 and 3, setting up second-and-goal from the 2. Calumet attempted to power it in two more times, but was kept just shy of the goal line by a sliver, bringing up a fourth down.

Still, Calumet insisted on not being outmuscled with the game on the line. So they gave it to Kaipio on a traditional power dive. And the stout 5-foot-8, 180-pound back followed his blocks, and with an assistive push from Bjorn, fell into the end zone over a pile of bodies for the game’s only points.

“We got a heck of an offensive line and a heck of a fullback. I got right behind them and right up in there,” Kaipio said. “I knew it was going to work I surged right over the offensive line. They came down, and I went over the top of them.”

The victory marks the second consecutive season in which Calumet dropped a regular season matchup to Negaunee, only to return the favor in the postseason. In Week 2 of this year, Negaunee senior backs Neal Violetta and Shane Ring each eclipsed the 100-yard mark with 105 and 109 yards in a 14-6 Negaunee win at Calumet.

But those same running alleys in Week 2 were nowhere to be found against a stouter Calumet defense, as Ring was held to 40 yards on 14 carries, while Violetta gained just 27 yards on eight attempts.

“I think they were able to change their fronts up, move their fronts and cause a little bit of confusion for us upfront,” Jacobson said. “They were able to pack the box, bring people in and bring an eight, nine-man front. We just couldn’t take advantage of it.

“Russ Bjorn, I can’t say enough about that kid. Defensively, he had a stellar game tonight.”

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