Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette L’Anse’s Kolyn Sweeney (7) tries to get past Gwinn’s Carter Stansky (5) in the first quarter of the Purple Hornets’ game on Friday in L’Anse.

L’ANSE – After a cancelled season a year ago and winless season so far this fall, the L’Anse Purple Hornets were in need of a victory, and they got it on Friday. They posted a 40-22 win over the visiting Gwinn Modeltowners (2-6) on senior night.

“This feels good,” said L’Anse coach Erik DeMink. “They all played excellent football, and I am proud of them. We had to get that monkey off our back.”

After some back-and-forth battles between the 20-yard lines, Gwinn finally broke into the endzone at the 3:43 mark. It was then that Gabe Carlson finished off a 56-yard, two-carry drive with a three-yard scamper in for a touchdown. With the extra point good, it was a 7-0 game after one.

L’Anse (1-7) tied it and took the lead in the second with two touchdowns in the final minute of the half.

First, Kolyn Sweeney and Conner Kemppainen combined for two big runs and put the Purple Hornets at first and goal with 29 seconds left. Kemppainen then ran it in for six.

Then with less than 10 seconds on the clock, Gwinn, now with the ball, decided to throw deep and it was picked off by Sweeney who turned it into a touchdown and made this a 14-7 Purple Hornets lead at half.

“Conner (Kemppainen) ran the ball great tonight,” noted DeMink.

“I can’t say enough good things about Kolyn Sweeney. He is a coach on the field, particularly on defense. He is a phenomenal player.”

Momentum was with the Purple Hornets coming out of the locker room into the second half. They outscored the Modeltowners 26- 16 over the remainder of the third and fourth quarters.

Gwinn took a 15-14 lead at round the seven-minute mark of the third period with a big pass play to Dante Wixtrom. However, that is where their lead ended. The Purple Hornets countered with a 66-yard pass play to Kemppainen just two minutes later, and Reese Laitilla closed out the third with a TD run to make this a 28-15 game after three.

In the fourth, the Purple Hornets kept their foot on the gas pedal with two more TDs. Kemppainen had his third of the night at around the 7:05 mark. and quarterback Daniel Conner snuck one in just two minutes later.

While Gwinn was able to score eight points in the fourth, it was too little too late. This one ended 40-22 in favor of L’Anse.

“The seniors played great,” added DeMink. “We executed tonight and played very good football. We put points on the board and stopped them defensively and did it by playing hard-nosed football.”

UP NEXT

The Purple Hornets will close out their season at Calumet on Friday.