Newberry (3-0) racked up 309 total yards. Ivan Oswald led the way with 169 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

“We had our moments and they had some moments too,” Newberry head coach Joe Austin said. “I think they’re an improving team and working on it.”

The Gladiators (0-3), with their young roster consisting of just three seniors and three juniors, had trouble all day slowing down Newberry. Ontonagon generated just 145 yards of offense including 48 rushing and 97 passing.

Steven Graff led the Gladiators with 25 rushing yards and three receiving yards. Wyatt McIntyre led the team with eight tackles and forced fumbles. Brandon Westie, Austin Walters and Mason Totzke each had a fumble recovery.

Ontonagon’s Austin Walters, left, catches a pass as Newberry’s Connor Rintamaki, center, and Noah Gielecki defend on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, in Ontonagon, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

“We played so much better. Our first two games were really a disappointment in our effort level and execution,” Ontonagon head coach Ray Bramlett said of last week’s 62-6 loss to Brimley. “This week it seemed like it was finally clicking. They’re starting to understand what they’re supposed to do. Still got a lot of sloppiness that we gotta clean up. To be honest our goal going into this had nothing to do with points. It was just sustain drives and I think we had a lot of sustained drives.”

Ontonagon’s lone score came four minutes into the fourth quarter when quarterback Ike Bramlett connected on a 20-yard pass to Austin Walters. The two-point conversion failed, but it helped the Gladiators end the day on a good note after chasing Oswald and Carter Smithson all day. Coach Bramlett said he liked the team’s willingness to fight despite facing the large deficit.

“I was really, really impressed with the drives, even on defense,” he said. “They still took pride in the fact that they wanted to stop them. They were extremely aggressive, which is always nice to see.”

While his team handily controlled the scoreboard, Austin said there are still things to improve.

“I thought they did a pretty good job, but we gotta work on some assignment football and do a little better job,” he said. “Overall, a beautiful sunny day and we got no complaints. Our tailback ran tough at times, our fullback ran tough at times.”

Ontonagon hosts North Central (3-0) on Friday, while Newberry visits Forest Park (2-1).

Newberry 6 27 13 0 — 46

Ontonagon 0 0 0 6 — 6

First Quarter

N — Oswald 15 run (2-point failed), 6:34

Second Quarter

N — Smithson 4 run (2-point failed), 11:55

N — Skidmore 39 pass from Rintamaki (2-point failed), 10:04

N — Smithson 24 run (2-point run), 1:56

N — Oswald 43 run (Rintamaki kick), 0:09

Third Quarter

N — Oswald 36 run (Rintamaki kick), 4:19

N — Skidmore 9 pass from Rintamaki (kick blocked), 1:27

Fourth Quarter

O — Walters 20 pass from Bramlett (2-point failed), 8:08