Calumet, MI – The Ishpeming Hematites defense is one word: Tough. After shutting down the Iron Mountain offense to the tune of 10 TOTAL yards in week one, the Hematites followed it up with another shutout. This time on the road against a Manistique team that had put up 30 points on the road in Negaunee the week before. Much like their win against Iron Mountain, Ishpeming struck early and often, leaving the clock running for most of the fourth quarter. Alex Briones led the way for the Hematites with two passing touchdowns to Tyrus Millimaki while also running one in on a quarterback keeper. Once again, however, the defense told the story. Manistique was held to 98 yards in the contest bringing the total yardage let up by the powerhouse defense to 108 on the SEASON.
Ishpeming has won three in a row against the Copper Kings dating back to 2010. It really hasn’t been much of a contest either, the composite scores tallying 97-22 in favor of the Hematites. Calumet is sure to be feeling hungry coming off of two disappointing losses to open their season. While the score doesn’t show it, Calumet was fairly competitive in that game losing due to three turnovers that all took place inside the Negaunee 30-yard line. The Hematites are surely going to lean on the dynamic play of Alex Briones once again this week, and why not? He, along with Tyler LaJoie of Negaunee, is probably the best athlete in the MPC and UP in general.
Be sure to join Mike Plourde & Bob Nadeau tonight as the Hematites travel to Calumet to take on the Copper Kings. You can catch it all on 98.3 WRUP or streaming live at WRUP.com.
-Carl L. Johnson