×

Prep Football: Mountaineers thwart Bulldogs

IRON MOUNTAIN — Caleb Evosevich-Hynes ran for 153 yards and scored three touchdowns, while Marcus Johnson threw for 154 yards and two scores, as Iron Mountain whacked Hancock 42-6 Friday in a West PAC Copper Division game.

“I thought it was a good team win,” Mountaineers head coach Robin Marttila. “We put up a lot of points tonight. We ran the ball well. We passed the ball well. We distributed the ball well to a lot of our playmakers.”

The Mountaineers (7-0, 5-0) produced 391 yards of offense. Evosevich-Hynes carried 13 times, amassing a large chunk of his ground total with a 73-yard score on the first play of a Mountaineer drive late in the third quarter. He broke off a 14-yard tally in the final minute of the first half on a fourth and two as Iron Mountain answered Hancock’s only scoring drive to build a 21-6 advantage at the half.

Evosevich-Hynes also hauled in a 42-yard bomb from Johnson early in the second quarter that helped Iron Mountain to a 14-0 lead. Johnson first rolled to his right on the play but had to switch direction to avoid pressure. Throwing off-balance on the run, and across his body, Johnson heaved it down the left sideline to the goal line where Evosevich-Hynes won a jump ball with the Hancock defender.

Johnson was 10-of-12 passing in the game, also finding Bryce Pietrantonio for a 14-yard TD for the game’s final score.

“He passed the ball very efficiently,” Marttila said. “He scrambled when he needed to, made the right play. His ability to extend the play puts too much pressure on the defense. Anytime you go 10-for-12 with 154 yards, that’s huge for our football team.”

The Mountaineers scored on every possession except their first and last, the final drive conducted with most of the starters on the bench and ending in the victory formation.

Hancock quarterback Austin Salani connected with Connor LeClaire for an eight-yard score after the Mountaineers built their 14-0 lead. The Bulldogs drive went 65 yards on 15 plays. Salani was 5-of-12 passing for the night, but had several balls dropped by his receivers.

Not only did Iron Mountain answer the Hancock touchdown before halftime, the Mountaineers had the ball first in the third quarter and marched 65-yards on 16 plays with Bryce Pietrantonio plunging in from the one to really widen the margin.

“We definitely had our chances,” Hancock head coach Ramon Sague said. “We didn’t make some plays on offense. We had some opportunities there. We had a few dropped passes. We missed assignments blocking. But, we played real hard in the first half and I thought we had an opportunity there to really stay in the game. Once they got that first touchdown in the second half that really took the wind out of our sails. That first drive of the second half was really big.”

The Mountaineers defense, led in tackles by Pietrantonio, Caleb Burklund, Jake Dumais and Colin Visintainer, held the Bulldogs to one positive rushing play in the second half. Pietrantonio, Burklund, Evosevich-Hynes and Jon Carrion all tallied sacks. Salani completed 4-of-7 in the first half, but was held to 1-of-5 in the second half.

“They are a scary team with their athletes in space, and No. 8, he throws a really nice ball,” Marttila said. “We did a better job of pressuring the quarterback in the second half. Credit our kids for that.”

Iron Mountain’s first touchdown was a three-yard run by Burklund. The Mountaineers had a short field for that scoring drive, taking over on the Hancock 40 and needing just five plays to get on the board.

“We thought heading in that we matched up with them pretty well from a physical standpoint,” Sague said. “They really came off the ball well and their quarterback used his feet to break contain. And we talked all week about not letting him get outside. Once he got outside, we were in big trouble in the secondary.”

The Mountaineers head to L’Anse next Friday. Hancock (4-3, 2-3) heads to Calumet.

“All in all, we did some good things on both sides of the ball,” Marttila said. “I’m happy for our kids and happy to get to 7-0.”

Hancock 0 6 0 0 — 6

Iron Mountain 7 14 14 7 — 42

First Quarter

IM — Burklund 3 run (Caleb Evosevich-Hynes kick), 4:01

Second Quarter

IM — Evosevich-Hynes 42 yard pass from Marcus Johnson (Evosevich-Hynes kick), 11:48

H — LeClaire 8 yard pass from Colton Salani (kick failed), 5:21

IM — Evosevich-Hynes 14 run (Evosevich-Hynes kick), 0:44

Third Quarter

IM — Pietrantonio 1 run (Evosevich-Hynes kick), 4:24

IM — Evosevich-Hynes 73 run (Gavin Goulette kick), 3:23

Fourth Quarter

IM — Pietrantonio 14 pass from Johnson (Evosevich-Hynes kick), 8:33

Statistics

Total Offense — Iron Mountain 391 (237 rushing, 154 passing); Hancock 92 (46 rushing, 46 passing)

Rushing — IM, Evosevich-Hynes 13-153, Pietrantonio 9-37, Burklund 6-25; H, Austin Salani 11-20.

Passing — IM, Johnson 10-12-154-2-0; H, C. Salani 5-12-46-1-0.

Receiving — IM, Evosevich-Hynes 1-42, Dante Basanese 3-33, Colin Visintainer 2-32; H, A. Salani 1-19.

First downs — IM 15; H, 6

Penalties — IM, 4-35; H, 5-52.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today