Houghton's Eli Hongisto (18) hoists up Joel Durocher (12) after Durocher scored a touchdown in the second quarter of a game against Menominee Friday at Alumni Field in Houghton. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — There is a reason that the Menominee Maroons (5-0) are undefeated on the gridiron this season. That reason was on full display at Alumni Field on Friday in Houghton. They scored early and often. They led 17-0 less than two minutes after the opening kickoff and went on to defeat the Houghton Gremlins, 56-12.

“We had a lot of energy and executed well,” said Maroons coach Chad Brandt. “These guys enjoy playing football together, and that makes my job easier.”

In their opening possession, the Maroons wasted no time in scoring. A 21-yard pass from Tanner Theuerkauf to Dawson Bardowski resulted in six points. A Clayton Miller extra-point made it 7-0. Less than 15 seconds later, it was 9-0 after the Maroons capitalized on a safety.

With the safety, the Maroons kept the ball after a punt by Houghton, and scored again with relative ease. Miller went 50 yards for a touchdown. They converted for two and led 17-0 at the 10:40 mark.

To say that the Gremlins (2-3) didn’t know what hit them would be an understatement.

“It was brutal,” said Houghton coach Tim Driscoll. “It was just a really, really bad start for us. We got in a tailspin.”

That tail spin didn’t stop at 17-points, but rather spun out to 30 points before the Gremlins could counter.

A pass play to the Maroons’ Maverick Geniesse made it 23-0 at the 8:57 mark. Five minutes later, Theuerkauf hit Bardowski again for six and the extra-point put the Maroons up 30-0 with less than four minutes to go.

The Gremlins did avoid the shutout with an 81-yard touchdown run by Brayden Goudge at the three-minute mark. However, the Maroons couldn’t be stopped as Miller scored again with less than a minute left. Menominee led 36-6 after one.

“We made a ton of mistakes early, and they capitalized on them,” said Driscoll. “You cannot do that against a good football team.”

In the second quarter, the Maroons added seven more.

The Gremlins posted six courtesy of a 74-yard pass play from quarterback Brody Donnelly to Joel Durocher, but Menominee led 43-12 at the half.

In the second half, the Maroons added 13 more points and kept the Gremlins at 12.

The Maroons coach wasted no time in knowing who to give the game ball to – his quarterback.

“Tanner (Theuerkauf) gets the game ball,” Brandt said. “He had three touchdown passes in the first quarter and four in the first half.”

Driscoll said not all was lost.

“Hats off to them (Menominee),” he said. “They are a good football team, and we have got to do better next week.”

Up next

The Gremlins travel to Calumet to face the Copper Kings on Friday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.