Calumet quarterback Ted Loukus looks for an open receiver to throw to during a game against West Iron County Thursday at Agassiz Field in Calumet. (Kent Kraft/For the Gazette)

CALUMET — Both the Calumet Copper Kings and West Iron County Wykons took to Agassiz Field on Thursday night with a nervous energy present. Which team would start off the season with the sought after win?

No one needed to wait until the final whistle this time as the Copper Kings dominated early and ended up shutting out the Wykons 50-0.

Every time the Copper Kings took the field on offense, they marched down the field and scored a touchdown.

Quarterback Ted Loukus connected with running back Ben Anderson for a long score on their first possession and the team pounded the ball into the endzone with their running game on their next five possessions through the game. The only exception to their offensive dominance was their final possession which came with under two minutes and they took a knee twice to close things out.

Loukus had another key pass converting a fourth-down-and-long in the third quarter to sustain a drive. He also ran the ball in for a touchdown.

Calumet coach Josh Frantti thought Loukas, “did a great job of doing what was asked of him. We are usually very run heavy but we also know when we want to take shots and have to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Anderson had a stellar night as well. He followed up his touchdown reception with a touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown a short time later and another touchdown run to cap off the first offensive possession for the team in the third quarter.

Anderson also kicked all six of the team’s extra points.

Frantti pointed out that Anderson, “came up and played with us as a sophomore so we had some higher expectations for him coming into this season and he is off to a great start. He’s a hard runner and doesn’t shy away from contact.”

He also pointed to other key players for Calumet in the game.

“I thought Nels Loukus had a great day on defense, very solid linebacker for us and very fundamentally sound,” he said. “Up front, we had Matt Frantti and Kent Koskela that played very well and really came off the ball, as well as our entire offensive line.”

The Wykons struggled to get anything going offensively, but the Anderson interception seemed to be a breaking point for the team. After that, they fumbled the ball to the Copper Kings on three of their last four possessions.

That speaks to the oppressive nature of the Copper King defense in the game. They not only shutout the Wykons, but kept them to only two first downs all game. In addition to the four turnovers, they also tackled the Wykon ball handlers for a loss eight times.

“With the first game, you never really know where you will be at until you step between the lines and there are usually mistakes and a small learning curve,” Frantti said. “There’re always in-game adjustments that come with football but we knew we wanted to keep it simple and do what we do well. I thought our guys came out and executed well and limited our mistakes.”

The play of the Copper Kings was strong on both sides of play and they started the season very strong with a nearly perfect game.

“There’re always things that we can work on and get better, and our guys know with our schedule that we need to get better.” Frantti said, when asked if this was actually a perfect start to the season. It’s always nice to start the season on a win and get the ball rolling in the right direction, and our guys are excited to get back to work.”

UP NEXT

The Calumet Copper Kings are on the road against Westwood on Friday, Sept. 6.