Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By JASON JUNO
Bessemer --- The Gogebic Miners have some experienced seniors at key roster spots.
The benefits have been showing up throughout the preseason. Bode Lynott, for instance, gave rides to teammates for summer weightlifting sessions. Coach Nick Heikkila hasn’t had to rehash a lot of things from last year with the veterans picking up where they left off during these August practices.
Plus they’re motivated to keep it going once the season kicks off.
“It’s nice, we’ve got these seniors, these seniors have goals,” Heikkila said. “They want to hit the playoffs, they want to make a run and we’re going to try to make that happen for them. I feel like we’re going to be a pretty tough team. There’s still going to be some teams that are going to be tough along the way as well.”
Eight-player football in the Upper Peninsula is as tough as it gets. North Central may not be a perennial state champion type of team anymore, but Crystal Falls Forest Park has aspirations of playing in the Superior Dome come November and many opponents remain formidable.
The Miners insist they are up to the challenge.
Lynott, a senior, is set to start for the second full year at quarterback. All-U.P. Dream Team linebacker Gabe Harju, also a senior, gives the Miners a standout on both offense (running back) and defense. Both of the ends, seniors Ben Kaurala and Patrick Perron, will be starting for a fourth year. The same is true for senior Cooper Anderson, an all-conference selection last year, on the line.
“The expectations are very high,” Heikkila said. “The kids know that. When it comes down to it, it’s going to come down to how well they’ve been practicing over the weeks and how hard they play on Friday night.”
Harju, a senior, is going to be a big key on both sides of the ball.
He totaled 111 tackles last year with four sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, two fumbles caused, a recovery and a touchdown. Harju did that in seven games because of injury.
“That’s where he makes his hay,” Heikkila said of the linebacker spot. “He’s just so instinctual and he plays hard. He’s not super undersized, but he’s not a very big kid. But he plays very, very big, very, very aggressive. He’s going to play hard and give you everything he’s got every Friday night - every day in practice too for that matter.”
And he’s going to get the ball a lot on the offensive end.
“He’s been hitting the weight room multiple times a day sometimes for a long time. He’s been hitting the gym shooting baskets,” Heikkila said. “He’s looking to come back and be a menace, that’s for sure.”
As often as he’ll get the football, he’ll get some help, too.
“We’ve got some speed with his brother Cayden,” Heikkila said. “We’ve got some speed and elusiveness with (junior) Owen Miljevich coming back and (sophomore) Jayden Verrett and Cory Aspinwall coming up. We’ve got some solid guys that can really round out that backfield to take a little bit of that workload off Gabe. But Gabe, he doesn’t mind the workload, he craves it.”
Cayden Harju, a sophomore, also has some of the same aggressiveness Gabe has. Sophomore Cory Aspinwall got a few looks last year; he’s young but also an aggressive runner, Heikkila said.
Gogebic also has Lynott at quarterback with those experienced ends along with a couple more the Miners can work in.
Lynott has gone to camps to get better and he’s always watching film.
“He’s the brain of the offense,” Heikkila said. “He knows everybody’s position, he knows everybody, where they gotta go, what they’ve got to do. It’s nice, almost like having a coach on the field out there. His leadership this year has just been phenomenal.”
Kaurala and Perron have impressed Heikkila in practice.
“Their hands are like magnets, very few dropped balls,” he said. “(Junior) Leland Hollenbeck is going to get looks in there, too. He’s been really stepping up large.”
If Lynott ever needs a spell at quarterback, Verrett can also play there.
Anderson, the four-year starter on the line, “is our big guy we’re going to really focus on getting behind,” Heikkila said. Patrick Hokans and Matthew Switzer are junior starting linemen. Juniors Eli Hewitt and Henry Steiger will also rotate through.
Gogebic will continue to employ the same type of defense it used against Ironwood last year with a two-person line rushing with four stand-up linebackers and two corners most of the time.
Harju, senior Wyatt Aspinwall, Cory Aspinwall and Hollenbeck will line up at linebacker although Wyatt (all-conference last year) has battled a hamstring injury. Lynott will be a coverage backer with junior Aiden Partanen in the backfield. There will be a rotation on the line.
Heikkila said their linebackers are especially strong this year. Their defensive backs have shown signs of improvement with Jeff Haapoja joining the coaching staff.
Other Miners include: Seniors Ethan Aufdencamp (L/L) and Tanner LaMaide (TE/DB); juniors Robert Kaseno (RB/DB), Jace Symons (RB/DB), Graylin Mattson (RB/DB) and sophomore Henry Jenkins (RB/LB).
Gogebic has a tough schedule. Two of their first three games are long road trips to Norway and Munising. Heikkila expects the Forest Park game on Oct. 4 in Wakefield to be tough and he recognizes Ontonagon has some playmakers back (Sept. 27 at Ewen).
“I have confidence in our guys,” Heikkila said. “I think we’re going to be pretty good, pretty competitive.”
The Miners start with North Dickinson in Wakefield Friday at 5 p.m. The Nordics only fielded a JV team last year, but Heikkila has heard they’re going to be “fairly tough.”
