ST. IGNACE — The Bark River-Harris Broncos passed their first post-season test here Friday night in a 44-20 football victory over the St. Ignace Saints in a Division 8 district playoff opener

BR-H (8-2) visits Iron Mountain (9-1) for a district final Friday at 7 p.m. The Saints finished 7-3.

The contest was tied at 14 at halftime before the Broncos broke it open in the second half. They led 28-14 after the third quarter.

“We just went with what we do best,” said BR-H coach Al Stenberg. “We went to our horse (senior running back Vincent Martin). They had limited numbers and I think we wore them down a little. We brought up a lot of freshmen and sophomore which helped us out. They gave us some depth.”

Shawn Kingsbury put the Saints on the board first, returning the opening kickoff 65 yards for a score.

“We were on the ropes early,” said Stenberg. “We had a long drive in the second quarter. I think we had momentum going into the half, although it would have been nice to get a score on the last drive. Then, we fumbled on the opening drive in the third quarter. Although, we got a couple quick scores late the third quarter which helped us out.”

The Broncos rushed for 487 yards, led by Martin, the WestPAC Conference Iron Division Offensive Back of the Year, who led the way with 282 on 30 carries and ran his season rushing total to 1,555. Tristan Halfway added 55 and a key first down in seven attempts.

Kavin Fredrick was BR-H’s defensive leader with eight tackles and an interception. Josh Riley added an interception.