Devils to host LL-H

By JASON JUNO

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Ironwood — Ironwood lost to the top-ranked team in the Upper Peninsula, Crystal Falls Forest Park, 58-8, Friday night.

They’re back home this week with Lake Linden-Hubbell coming to town for a 6 p.m. game Friday night. The Red Devils are hoping to have Nick Miskovich back from injury that has kept him out for much of the season.

Forest Park proved to be as formidable foe as they’ve faced this year, worthy of their top ranking.

“Very tough, quick team off the ball and then getting into space makes it very tough to open field tackle them,” Ironwood coach Kevin Lane said. “Just super physical, super strong and super quick. They have 15-16 guys that play quite a bit, especially on the offensive size. They rotate their backs in and out and don’t skip a beat when they do that. Sometimes when teams give their starters their rest or a break, you can see a difference. With Crystal, they have 15 or 16 guys that are all solid. They keep all their guys fresh.”

Nobody has played Forest Park closer than 20 points this season, even fourth-ranked Norway, which lost 42-20.

“The kids played tough, hung in there, saw some good things,” Lane said. “We’d string a few plays together where we moved the ball. A lot less penalties, which was good to see as well.”

Ironwood is excited to get another offensive weapon back in Miskovich who hasn’t played since their Week 3 win over Rapid River. He started at quarterback the first three games of the season, but the Devils plan to move him back to receiver, where he earned All-U.P. honors last year, with Brendan McCullough doing well at the QB spot. He rushed for 83 yards on 18 carries and he scored Ironwood’s only touchdown in Crystal Falls.

“We’re going to move (Miskovich) around a little bit, if he’s there, offensively for sure, just try to create some mismatches with him and try to use his speed and height to our advantage,” Lane said. “We’re going to keep Brendan at quarterback. He’s done a great job running hard, seeing the field well, making good decisions, not turning the ball over when it’s crucial times. So he’s definitely going to stay for now, use Nick more as a wide receiver this week.”

Landon Buerger ran in the Devils’ (2-5) two-point conversion Friday night. Evan Oja had four tackles, including one for a loss. Madden Sommer had three solo tackles and two assisted with one for a loss. Parker Osterman recovered a fumble.

The Lakes come it at 2-5 with three straight losses to Forest Park, No. 4 North Central and Gogebic. The Lakes are 0-4 on the road this year with this trip to Ironwood their last chance to get a victory away from home.

“They lost a lot of seniors last year from that very, very good team they had last year,” Lane said of their state semifinal team. “I think they’ve only got three seniors this year. So they’re down for sure, but still always a hard-nosed, tough-nosed team. So again, got to be ready to play physical, be fast off the ball.”