HANCOCK – John Croze has been around too long to let him or his team get ahead of themselves.

But after watching the Calumet Copper Kings rout the Hancock Bulldogs, 52-17, the numerous fans in attendance at McAfee Field certainly saw the makings of a team worthy of being conference champion.

Calumet (4-1, 4-0 West-PAC) gained sole possession of first place in the West-PAC with its win, and has defeated three of the top teams in the conference: the Hurley Midgets (5-1, 4-1 West-PAC), Hancock (3-2, 3-1 West-PAC) and the Houghton Gremlins (3-1, 2-1 West-PAC).

“We still have three West-PAC games left, so it’s a little early to be too happy about it,” Croze said. “We’re going to go this weekend and watch the heck out of West Iron County film and get ready for homecoming next week.”

The Copper Kings earned the top spot in the standings with an old-school, smashmouth running game. Calumet dominated the line of scrimmage, allowing its plethora of backs to tally 333 yards rushing, compared to 105 for Hancock.

“It was just a great job by the offensive line tonight,” Croze said. “They certainly did a great job of picking up the blitzing heat that (Hancock) gave us.”

Hancock forced Calumet into its only three-and-out on Calumet’s first drive of the game. But after that, the Copper Kings scored touchdowns on seven of its next eight drives.

“We’re not a physically big team, so we have to try to get off the field. Fast,” Hancock head coach Ted Holmstrom said. “When (Calumet) could sustain drives over long periods of time, it made it difficult for us.”

One of the biggest questions for Calumet this season was how they would replace the 1,336-yard season by All-U.P. Dream Team running back Robert Erikkila. But all the way up to this season, Croze was adamant he had numerous backs who could shoulder the load. Never was this more evident than on Friday.

Five backs went over the 50-yard mark, as seniors David Kaipio (95), Russ Bjorn (70), Brock Poyhonen (60), Rory Anderson (54) and Grant Johnson (52) made for a lethal, diverse running unit that exploited the interior and exterior of Hancock’s defense. Anderson and Kaipio each scored twice, while Poyhonen and Johnson also added touchdowns.

“They all have their little strengths,” Croze said of his backs, “but they give us a lot of dimensions. You can’t focus on any one guy. We can put them in a lot of different positions. And I think we’re starting to get comfortable with these guys playing a lot of different positions.”

Despite the 35-point difference, the game’s outcome seemingly turned on three consecutive plays from scrimmage, late in the first quarter. Calumet went touchdown, forced a turnover, touchdown in the subsequent plays that lasted a total of 21 seconds to go ahead 14-7. The Copper Kings’ rally would be the beginning of 52 unanswered points.

With Hancock leading 7-0, Calumet faced a fourth-and-5 from its own 15. Bjorn fired a laser to senior Trevor Johnson on a slant route for the 15-yard touchdown.

“I saw the outside backer stepping out, so I had a seam open because the corner was playing a little bit soft,” Bjorn said. “It was just a quick hitter across the field.”

After tossing a touchdown, Bjorn jumped a post route for an interception and returned the ball to the Hancock 20. Then, Poyhonen went up the middle for a 20-yard touchdown, before Kaipio would score the 2-point conversion, giving the Copper Kings a 14-7 lead while permanently flipping the game’s momentum.

“Give credit to Bjorn,” Holmstrom said. “He made a nice play, he hit the slant when he had to. My hats off to him. That’s the play you gotta make if you’re going to win.”

The only mishap of the night for Calumet’s offense came when they turned it over on a lateral pass, allowing Hancock junior Michael Stuber to recover the fumble.

But two plays later, a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage allowed Bjorn to come down with his second interception. Anderson then capped the six play, 48-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown, putting Calumet ahead 22-7.

Kaipio’s 3-yard touchdown made it 30-7. He set up his own score up with a 27-yard halfback pass to Anderson, who was tackled at the Hancock 3.

“I think we’re starting to see ourselves improve every week,” Croze said. “We had a great week of practice. We’ve come a long way. We’re sustaining our drives now, keeping our drives going and punching it in.”

Hancock’s finest moment of the night came in the first five minutes.

The Bulldogs’ defense forced a three-and-out, and with junior punter Cooper Twardzik set to kick near his own goal line, the Bulldogs brought enough pressure around the right edge of Calumet’s punt formation to keep Twardzik from kicking the punt. Twardzik lobbed a short pass to Bjorn for a loss of 5, allowing Hancock to start its drive from the Calumet 8.

Three plays later, Nettell rolled left and found senior end Carson Turner for a 5-yard touchdown. Senior Trevor Rowe made it 7-0 with the extra point.

“Calumet’s a very good football team,” Holmstrom said. “They’re one of the most interesting teams I ever scouted. Every single one of their players, except for one, that plays (the most) is a senior. I have never seen that in all my years of coaching football.

“When you have that kind of team, that’s very powerful. If you could ever have a team that that’s senior dominant, you should win every single game.”

Up next, Calumet welcomes West Iron County on Friday, while Hancock travels to Hurley on the same day.