Midgets score 22 unanswered to beat Miners

HURLEY - For nearly all of the first half, the Hurley-Gogebic game was more than living up to the hype Friday night.

The new-look Midgets looked solid, and the Miners, in their first game since Ironwood joined the Bessemer/Wakefield-Marenisco co-op, looked just as tough.

Hurley, though, took control of the game with 22 unanswered points, including 14 in a crazy final minute, 22 seconds of the first half.

The Midgets won 44-20 in front of a huge crowd.

"It's a big win, we put up 44 on a good team," Hurley coach Scott Erickson said.

Gogebic tied the game at 14 with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Parker Wilson to Jared Janczak on a post pattern with 1:36 left in the first half.

Hurley answered.

And answered.

And answered.

Isaac DeCarlo took the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to retake the lead, 20-14 with 1:22 left in the half.

With a Hurley penalty and a good return, Gogebic started the ensuing possession on the Hurley 49.

Subert, though, intercepted a pass and returned it to the Hurley 34, where he injured his shoulder and went to the hospital to get it checked out.

The Midgets marched downfield without their fullback. On the last play of the half, DeCarlo scrambled out of trouble and found Nathan Harrington for a 28-yard touchdown pass with no time on the clock. Guard Devin Lino ran in the conversion and all of a sudden, Hurley went into the half with a 28-14 lead.

"That was momentum swinging big time," DeCarlo said. "That just took all the wind out of them, those two touchdowns at the end."

Erickson said, "We had a good finish there at the end of the first half, made a couple great plays."

Halftime couldn't come soon enough for the Miners.

"It should have been 14-14 at halftime," Gogebic coach Mark Mazzon said. "The kickoff return and the long pass killed us and we can't let that happen."

The Midgets got the ball first in the second half and took total control of the game. Andy Hamlin capped a four-minute drive with a nine-yard touchdown run to put Hurley ahead 36-14.

"Coming out of halftime, the ability to tack one on is huge," Erickson said. "We really created some separation there."

In just over five minutes spanning two halves, Hurley scored 22 unanswered.

The Midgets returned just one offensive starter at the same position from last season and this group answered the bell in the rivalry game to start the season.

"Hurley's always good," DeCarlo said. "Coach Erickson is pretty darned good. Everybody respects him and everybody works hard. Everybody on the team meshes well."

All isn't lost for Gogebic. They didn't get the result they wanted in week one, but it's also week one of the new co-op.

Mazzon thought his team played well in the first half, but five turnovers and mistakes caught up to the Miners.

"We executed at first, but turnovers and mistakes hurt us," he said. "We had some poor tackling and I know their feelings are hurt because of the score, but we've only been together for three weeks and Hurley's had its system in place for years. Our kids could have quit, but they didn't. We'll learn so much from this game and we'll get better."

Gogebic added a touchdown pass late in the third quarter, the third of the game for Gogebic quarterback Parker Wilson. This one was to Jacob Suzik.

Hamlin capped the scoring with a 13-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. That was his second score of the game; he also led Hurley's rushing attack with 159 yards on 15 carries. Hurley ended up with 297 rushing yards on 52 carries.

Brayden Tomes caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Wilson just 2:13 into the game and Gogebic had an early 8-0 lead. Wilson threw for 182 yards to five different receivers. Jake Suzik led Gogebic with 61 rushing yards on 12 carries.

"Jake Suzik played his heart out as did all of them. Parker Wilson threw the ball well," Mazzon said. "The linemen gave Parker time to throw and blocked well for Jake. They are crucial to our team."

Hurley responded with touchdown runs by Subert, one in the first quarter and another with 4:01 left in the second quarter to give Hurley a 14-8 advantage.

Then the madness began.

"Everybody gutted it up hard here today, I'm really proud of the way the kids played," Erickson said.

Hurley goes to West Iron County next Friday, while Gogebic travels to Hancock.

Gogebic 8 6 6 6 - 20

Hurley 8 20 8 8 - 44

First Quarter

Gog - Brayden Tomes 64 pass from Parker Wilson (Bailey Ribich from Parker), 9:47

Hur - Scott Subert 3 run (Andy Hamlin run), 4:49

Second Quarter

Hur - Subert 5 run (run failed), 4:01

Gog - Jared Janczak 40 pass from Wilson (run failed), 1:36

Hur - Isaac DeCarlo 80 kickoff return (run failed), 1:22

Hur - Harrington 28 pass from DeCarlo (Devon Lino run), :00

Third Quarter

Hur - Hamlin 9 run (DeCarlo run), 8:00

Gog - Jacob Suzik 27 pass from Wilson (run failed), 1:41

Fourth Quarter

Hur - Hamlin 13 run (Hamlin run), 9:00

Gog Hur

First downs 12 16

Rushes-yards 37-143 52-297

Comp-Att-Int 5-16-3 2-2-0

Passing 182 44

Total yards 325 341

Penalties-yards 1-2 3-30

Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-2

Individual statistics

Rushing - Gogebic, Jacob Suzik 12-61, Bailey Ribich 7-33, Brayden Tomes 9-24, Parker Wilson 6-19, Cody Schwartz 3-6. Hurley, Andy Hamlin 15-159, Scott Subert 9-60, Kodey Henning 13-50, Dakota Haanen 9-30, Isaac DeCarlo 7-minus 2.

Passing - Gogebic, Parker Wilson, 5-16-3-182. Hurley, Isaac DeCarlo 2-2-0-44.

Receiving - Gogebic, Brayden Tomes 1-64, Jared Janczak 1-40, Jacob Suzik 1-27, Tommy Lundin 1-30, Ian Averitt 1-21. Hurley, Nathan Harrington 1-28, Andy Hamlin 1-16.

The Daily Globe's Pat Krause contributed to this report.