Theresa Proudfit | Iron Mountain Daily News Tyler Racicot of Bark River-Harris hits the turf in front of Iron Mountain’s Joey Dumais (24).

IRON MOUNTAIN — With a strong running attack behind Caleb Evosevich-Hynes, who rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns, Iron Mountain defeated Bark River-Harris 36-16 Friday night in an MHSAA Division 8 District championship game at Mountaineer Stadium.

As each team was feeling one another out defensively, the Mountaineers got on the scoreboard first with Evosevich-Hynes scoring his first of three rushing touchdowns in the game and passing the 2-point conversion to fellow senior Bryce Pietrantonio to put the host Mountaineers up 8-0.

For the remainder of the game, Iron Mountain’s strong running game propelled them to the victory.

“We ran the ball well tonight,” said Iron Mountain head coach Robin Martilla “Caleb Evosevich-Hynes is a dynamic playmaker. Good things happen when the ball is in his hands.”

The Broncos moved the ball well in the first half but were unable to put it in the end zone until late in the contest when the outcome of the game was almost decided. BR-H sports a strong offensive line, which enabled them to run the football effectively at different points of the game.

“Give Bark River credit, they’re a physical football team, and they took it to us early on,” Marttila added. “They have an effective running game, especially to the left side behind three all-conference players. They know what they’re doing, and we had a hard time stopping them at times tonight.”

Bark River fumbled the ball on their ensuing drive after the Mountaineers’ first score, recovered by Jon Carrion on the IM 26 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Mountaineer quarterback Eli Lofholm rolled to the left and flipped the ball forward to Gabe Richtig, who motored down the visitors’ sideline for a 74-yard touchdown.

“Gabe made a great play. He’s got some speed in the open field,” Marttila said.

Late in the 2nd quarter, the Mountaineers got the ball back, and after a couple of plays gaining minimal yardage, Evosevich-Hynes broke free for a 69-yard touchdown run, on a huge block from Caleb Burklund, as he pulled out down the field ahead of Evosevich-Hynes. Evosevich-Hynes added a successful 2-point conversion run, to put IM ahead 24-0 at halftime.

In the waning moments of the first half, Bark River had the ball with first and goal on the 9-yard line but was unable to score, with the Mountaineer defense not bending at the end of the drive.

Near the end of the third quarter, a Mountaineer drive was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by Burklund, who blasted his way into the endzone to put the home team ahead 30-0.

Richtig recovered a Broncos fumble early in their ensuing drive. On the Mountaineers’ second play from scrimmage, Evosevich-Hynes broke free down the home sideline for a 50-yard touchdown run, which extended the Mountaineers lead to 36-0.

The Broncos added two fourth-quarter touchdowns, which were to no avail, with the three-touchdown lead the Mountaineers had. Bark River’s season came to an end with a (5-3) record.

“We couldn’t get into the endzone early on,” said Broncos head coach Al Stenberg. “Then we were shooting ourselves in the foot, turning the ball over.” Stenberg also noted that the Broncos lost some players early in the game due to injury.

“We started off pounding the ball behind the left side of our offensive line down the field, it was like any other game this year. Then the fumbles started which did us no good at all,” Stenberg added.

“Evosevich-Hynes is a man amongst boys. He makes people look bad, especially running north to south. He’s a special player,” Stenberg exclaimed. “I wish them (Iron Mountain) good luck going forward. They have a great program.”

Stenberg was very complimentary of his seniors, who played their last game as Broncos football players in the game. “This is the smartest group of seniors I ever coached, the mental aspect of this game is more than people realize, and this group had that down for sure. They’ve worked hard throughout the years, and I am going to miss them.”

Iron Mountain, who improves to (8-1) on the season, remains home to host Johannesburg-Lewiston next week, as Jo-Berg defeated Beal City Friday night 28-21. The time and date of next week’s Regional final game at Mountaineer Stadium is TBA.

Bark River-Harris 0 0 0 16 – 16

Iron Mountain 16 8 12 0 – 36

Score By Quarters

1st Quarter

IM- Caleb Evosevich-Hynes 10 yard run (Evosevich-Hynes pass to Bryce Pietrantonio) 7:21, 8-0

IM- Gabe Richtig 74 yard reception from Eli Lofholm (Evosevich-Hynes run) 1:55, 16-0

2nd Quarter

IM- Evosevich-Hynes 69 yard run (Lofholm to Pietrantonio) 3:57, 24-0

3rd Quarter

IM- Caleb Burklund 5 yard run (Pass failed) 4:40, 30-0

IM- Evosevich-Hynes 50 yard run (Kick failed) 1:25, 36-0

4th Quarter

BRH- Joey Stein 4 yard run (Keaton Bartoszek run) 6:58, 36-8

BRH- Bartoszek 12 yard run (Nick Javurek run) 2:40, 36-16

Iron Mountain stats

Total Yards: 342

Rushing

Evosevich-Hynes: 13-212

Burklund: 6-25

Richtig: 3-33

Passing

Lofholm: 3-5, 76 yards, TD

Defense-tackles

Hunter Fortner: 12 total, 10 solo

Pietrantonio: 15 total 12 solo

Burklund: 9 total, 8 solo

Joey Dumais: 8 total, 5 solo

Richtig: fumble recovery

Jon Carrion: 5 total, 2 solo, sack, fumble recovery

Brenden LaPoint: fumble recovery

Bark River stats

Total yards: 349

rushing: 246

passing: 103