Lake Linden-Hubbell’s James Tuovila fights for extra yardage against Hancock on Aug. 26 at Warner Field. (George Leinonen photo)

IRON RIVER — After an 0-3 start, it would have been fair to wonder if the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes simply no longer had the numbers to stay competitive in the traditional 11-person game. Maybe the Lakes were best suited for the eight-person game, playing against schools with similar roster sizes in the teens. 

Or maybe it was wrong to ever doubt one of the most prideful programs in the U.P.

LL-H finished the season 4-1 to earn a spot in the Division 8 playoffs. The Lakes travel to Iron River to face the West Iron County Wykons in a district semifinal, Friday at 7 p.m. EDT.

“It’s a testament to our kids,” LL-H head coach Andy Crouch said. “They could have rolled over and packed it in and gave up, but they continued to work and earned a chance to play in the playoffs.”

Two of LL-H’s four wins came against other teams that qualified for the playoffs. LL-H topped the Newberry Indians 34-20 on Sept. 23 before defeating the Bark River-Harris Broncos, 24-12, on the road the following week. 

Part of LL-H’s success was getting its full team back together. The Lakes were without seniors Peter Heikkinen and Aaron Hainault for the first two games of the season. 

“You hate to see any kid get hurt, but with seniors who have invested a lot in your program and to miss time, that bothers me,” Crouch said. “I’m glad to see they both made full recoveries and have been major players in getting us to the playoffs.”

Heikkinen returned to have one of the finest seasons for a lineman. He was named the Mid-Eastern Offensive Lineman of the year while also earning all-conference honors at the linebacker position. 

“Peters’s had a heck of a year for us,” Crouch said. “He probably could have been the defensive player of the year, too. He has a nose for the football, likes contact and he’s one of the few guys we had coming back from last year, so he has experience as well.”

West Iron County has its own stellar senior in running back Jayce Brockhagen, who was named the West-PAC Offensive Player of the Year for the reigning conference champions. The 5-foot-11, 240-pound back presents a unique blend of power and speed. Brockhagen figures his 40-yard dash time is in the 4.6 range. 

“If we try to tackle (Brockhagen) up by his shoulders, we’re going to be on his highlight video,” Crouch said. “We need to neutralize him. We have to stop him from getting going. Once he gets past the line of scrimmage is where he does most of his damage. If we can get to him in the backfield and make him run laterally before he gets north and south, we’ll have a chance to bring him down.”

Brockhagen has already terrorized Copper Country teams. In a 30-13 win over the Hancock Bulldogs to clinch the West-PAC championship, he ran for 164 yards and scored three TDs on 21 carries and added a 9-yard TD reception. Brockhagen also scored four TDs on the ground in a 53-20 victory over the Calumet Copper Kings.

“You don’t get those type of backs very often,” WIC coach Mike Berutti said after the Hancock win. “It’s nice when you can give a guy the ball 20 times a game. He tires the defense out, and they can’t come up in the upper body because he’s just too big. You just enjoy it when you have a back who is 240 pounds that can move.”

The Lakes (4-4) will be facing a WIC unit with a size advantage across both lines. WIC (8-1) has utilized its size to great effect, limiting opposing teams to just 13 points a game. 

“They blitz more than most teams do,” Crouch said. “They do a good job of attacking teams off tackle with the blitzing linebacker, so that’s something we’ve been working on a lot this week.”

Similar to the other Copper Country teams, LL-H will be the underdog. WIC has won eight consecutive games after a 14-12 loss in the season opener to BR-H. It was the first and only loss for this group of WIC juniors and seniors when they played together. 

“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Crouch said. “(The playoff berth) is a testament to the kids and goes along with the tradition that we have here at Lake Linden. They’re maximizing their opportunities this season.”

The LL-H/WIC winner will play the victor of the Bark River-Harris/Norway matchup.