Ishpeming’s Ethan Corp, left, makes a diving attempt for a pass reception past the Pickford defense during an MHSAA Division 1 eight-player football regional championship game played at Pickford on Saturday. (Ben Murphy photo)

PICKFORD — When it comes to eight-player football, Ishpeming is still just getting its feet wet.

Pickford has been fully immersed in this version of the game for awhile now, and on Saturday, the state’s third-ranked Panthers were able to sink the No. 11 Hematites’ season, ending their year with a 44-6 loss in a Division 1 regional championship game.

“They have a lot of juniors and seniors on the team and yeah, they’re a really good football team,” Ishpeming head coach Michael Lyman said. “It’s tough, but we were happy that we were able to punch it in in the end and the kids never quit.”

The Hematites’ lone touchdown came with 2:05 remaining in the game. They moved the ball down the field well during that drive with a steady attack on the ground, and Grady Gauthier finished it off by plunging in from a yard out.

Otherwise, though, the day belonged to Pickford, which advances to the state semifinals for the second year in a row. The Panthers host Indian River Inland Lakes at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the state championship game at the Superior Dome in Marquette the following Saturday at 11 a.m. This Saturday’s game is a rematch in the same round as last year when Inland Lakes prevailed.

“I know it’s a thrill for them,” Pickford head coach Josh Rader said about his players. “They’ve been working hard all year long, just trying to get better every single day. Just to see the success it is always great for them.

“I’m really proud of the team, they’ve worked hard to get back to the semifinals again this year, that was one of our goals.”

Pickford standout quarterback Tommy Storey proved especially tough to stop on Saturday. He helped open the scoring with a 48-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to Owen McConkey and he finished with 48 yards and two touchdowns passing and 135 yards and a touchdown rushing.

Gunner Bennin and Seth Miller had touchdown runs of 19 and 29 yards in the opening quarter as Pickford led 22-0 after one. Storey ran in for his lone rushing TD early in the second quarter to make the score 30-0.

The Panthers had the ball deep in their own end late in the first half, but were still able to add some more points quickly. Bennin hit the edge with a burst of speed and ran the distance down the field for a 70-yard scoring run, giving them a 38-0 advantage at the half.

Pickford’s lone touchdown in the second half came in the form of a 12-yard TD pass from Storey to Ian Browne early in the fourth quarter.

Aside from their final drive, Ishpeming struggled to move the ball, with the Panthers doing a good job of bottling up Caden Luoma. Luoma did finish the game with 118 yards rushing, but he had to rush 36 times and could never make his usual impact on the contest. Luoma was also 4 of 8 passing for 39 yards.

“Our defense has played great all year and even today they showed up again,” Rader said. “Just our team speed on defense and the tenacity that they play with, it makes it hard for other teams to get rolling.”

Gauthier finished with 17 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Derek Meyer made two pass receptions for 25 yards, Ethan Corp had one reception for eight yards and Gauthier hauled in one pass for six yards.

Ishpeming ends its first season in the eight-player game with a 7-3 record, getting regular-season wins over Wisconsin schools Florence, Luck and Sturgeon Bay Sevastopol, and Lower Peninsula teams Gaylord St. Mary, Merrill and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian.

The Hematites also had a thrilling 44-38 postseason victory over Norway a week earlier.

Of their three losses, two came at the hands of Pickford, while the other occurred to Inland Lakes; they are the two combatants in Saturday’s state semifinal.

“We feel good about our season this year,” Lyman said. “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but it was more of an adjustment than we thought this year and we will move on from here and get the guys ready for next year.”

Ben Murphy has previously covered high school tournament games for The Mining Journal, and he currently works remotely for the St. Ignace News.