Copper Kings football swats away Purple Hornets
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CALUMET -- The L'Anse Purple Hornets football team visited Agassiz Field Friday evening, hoping to beat the Calumet Copper Kings to give their playoff chances a boost. Seven first half touchdowns showed the Copper Kings had other plans.
L'Anse had little offensive answer, and Calumet handily won, 50-8.
L'Anse received the opening kickoff, but struggled to get forward momentum and had to punt. Calumet's quarterback Tyler Halonen connected with Oskar Loukus on a 60-yard pass on their first play, and Trent Anderson ran into the end zone two plays later for Calumet's first score.
Calumet's Sawyer Berg managed to kill L'Anse's next drive with a leaping interception of Kale Cichosz's pass. Three plays later, Anderson ran in for a second Copper Kings touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. Despite the lucky break, L'Anse's defense could find no way to stop Calumet and two plays later, Keith Koivisto had a 19-yard run for Calumet's second touchdown.
Now up 16-0, Calumet surprised L'Anse with a bouncing onside kick, which the Copper Kings managed to recover. Anderson ran for a 32-yard touchdown on the next play, and his score stood this time.
Ready for another onside kick attempt, the Purple Hornets started their next drive with excellent field position. As the first quarter came to a close, L'Anse was finally putting together a drive. As the second quarter started, Cichosz launched a pass for the end zone. The pass was once again intercepted by Calumet, this time by Tanner Hendrickson.
After a touchback on the interception, Berg ran the ball 45 yards before being brought down by the Purple Hornets' defense. Halonen threw a 35-yard touchdown pass on the next play, and Calumet now led 30-0.
L'Anse turned the ball over on downs at the 50-yard line, and Calumet scored two plays later on a 45-yard run by Kirby Halonen.
An early 10-yard run by Connor Kemppainen showed promise for the Purple Hornets on their next possession, but four downs later they were punting.
Calumet put together a seven-play drive culminating in a 25-yard run by Kirby Halonen and a 42-0 lead. The Copper Kings' cheerleaders have a tradition of doing jumping jacks equal to the total points scored by their team. They had not yet finished their 42 jumping jacks by the time Calumet performed another onside kick and recovered the ball once again.
This time, it took six plays for Calumet to find the end zone on a two-yard run by Jax Carlson. Berg ran in the two-point conversion to put the Copper Kings up 50-0 at halftime. Since the score happened as time expired, the cheerleaders were spared the need for the jumping jacks.
It seemed that L'Anse made the necessary adjustments at halftime, as they forced Calumet into their first turnover on downs. Starting at their own 46-yard line, L'Anse put together a strong eight-play drive that culminated in a touchdown pass from Cichosz to Mikey Delich. A successful two-point conversion put the score to 50-8.
Calumet put together a long drive that spanned into the fourth quarter, but came up short on a fourth and 1, giving L'Anse the ball. Calumet's Luke Pennala intercepted a L'Anse pass, which effectively ended the game. A frenetic first half was paired with time-draining drives in the second half in a dominant performance from the Copper Kings squad.
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The Calumet Copper Kings end their season with an overall record of 6-3, and a 5-2 league record. L'Anse's loss leaves their overall record at 3-5, with a league record of 2-3. Both teams await their playoff fate which was to be announced late Sunday.