Paul Peterson photo Jake Rajala of Houghton busts loose for a long gain Friday night against Northland Pines. Chase Kazda of NP pursues on the play

HOUGHTON — Jake Rajala had a little more incentive than most people figured Friday night against Northland Pines.

“This was the final game to ever be played here (Alumni Field),” the Houghton senior fullback said after leading the Gremlins to their first win of the season, a 32-0 pasting of NP. “I really didn’t want to lose tonight because of that.”

The 1-5 (1-3 in the West-PAC) Gremlins have been coming on strong as the season progressed, giving highly regarded Calumet and West Iron County all they wanted in the past two weeks.

Coach Frank Bonacorsi said the season has been a learning tool for his shorthanded roster.

“That’s what I told the kids after the game tonight,” the HHS skipper said after his first head coaching career victory. “We’re starting to put together an identity, starting to learn where we want to be as a program.”

The Houghton victory on Senior Night was mainly based on a strong ground game, led by Rajala’s two touchdowns and 176 yards rushing.

“I was getting a little tired near the end,” Rajala admitted. “But I wanted to keep going because the offensive line did such a good job of blocking. It’s an awesome feeling.”

The Orange and Black defense was also stellar in blanking the Wisconsin team.

“I thought we played really good team defense tonight,” Bonacorsi noted. “Everyone did their jobs and covered for their teammates. It was nice to see.”

Houghton took the opening kickoff and drove right down the field. Rajala did much of the work, but junior quarterback George Butvilas also connected on a long pass play to get him within range.

Rajala worked his way the final 8 yards for the score and the 2-pointer was good for an 8-0 reading with barely six minutes off the clock.

The locals were back on the board later in the opening quarter after forcing a short punt by the Eagles at the Northland Pines 39.

Rajala barged in from 6 yards out for the tally and also tacked on the PAT with a run for a 16-0 lead.

The Gremlins added on to that advantage in the waning seconds of the opening half.

Butvilas, who had a nice game himself, found sophomore Ty Halonen at the Northland Pines 5-yard line and threaded a nice pass. Halonen did the rest of the job with time running out.

The Houghton faithful began celebrating in earnest after Rajala added the 2-point conversion with a run for a 24-0 lead.

“That was a big play,” Bonacorsi said. “It put us up by three scores and made it tough on them (Eagles) to try to come back.”

The Gremlins effectively worked on the clock by handing the ball to Rajala in the second half.

Butvilas put the icing on the cake early in the fourth period when he snaked his way in from 10 yards away. The 2-point run by Rajala was good.

Northland Pines quarterback Ryan Peterson made it interesting with some long passes, but the HHS defense held.

The Gremlins will travel to Lake Linden-Hubbell next Saturday.

“That should be an interesting game,” Bonacorsi said. “We’re similar teams in that we both play without a lot of numbers.”

N. Pines 0 0 0 0 – 0

Houghton 16 8 0 8 – 32

First quarter

HO – Jake Rajala 8 run (Rajala run)

HO – Rajala 6 run (Rajala run)

Second quarter

HO – Ty Halonen 22 pass from George Butvilas) (Rajala run)

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

HO – Butvilas 10 run (Rajala run)

Game stats

First downs: NP 11; HO 18; Rushing: NP 29-52: HO 44-238; Ind. Rushing: NP Hakes 8-18; HO Rajala 26-176. Passing: NP 5-16-2-72; HO 4-8-0-77.