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CALUMET - Football fans were packed into Agassiz Field for the start of Friday's Division 6 district final at Agassiz Field between Iron Mountain and Calumet.

They didn't stay that way for the finish, at least not the ones wearing blue and gray.

The Mountaineers got four touchdowns from Josh Pender (three rushing, one on the second-half kickoff) and two long touchdown runs from quarterback Bill Boddy to advance to the regionals against Montague or Sanford Meridian next weekend.

Calumet turned the ball over on its first two possessions and never led in the 48-12 rout.

"All week our coaches have been saying we had to come out first and set the tone," Bill Boddy said. "We try to hit them first, try to get them on their heels a bit and go from there."

Boddy said the Mountaineers approached Friday with the intensity of a rivalry game, expecting Calumet to be as physical as cross-town rivals Kingsford. Bill's father Scott, the Iron Mountain coach, was clearly pleased with the response, starting at the line of scrimmage.

"I wasn't sure we were going to win that battle and we did," coach Boddy said.

Calumet dodged a bullet on its first turnover (a Seth VanLaanen interception) when Nate Sturos recovered a fumble, only to reload and shoot itself in the foot again by fumbling it back at its own 15-yard line soon after.

IMHS (9-2) took advantage, with Pender running in from 5 yards with 3:44 left in the frame.

Bill Boddy doubled the lead late in the second quarter. Rolling left, he quickly noticed lots of room on the right side, pulled the ball down and scrambled 53 yards to the end zone.

"I trust my legs a little bit more than my arm, so I just pulled it in," the senior quarterback and All-UP defensive back said.

Any hopes of Calumet regrouping quickly after the half were dashed when Pender returned the second-half kickoff to the house. The 75-yard score made it 21-0 and stunned the Copper King faithful.

Calumet got on the board in the ensuing drive, going 69 yards in seven plays, ending on a 3-yard run by Ben Steber, but Iron Mountain immediately responded. Boddy had another backbreaking touchdown scramble, this time from 50 yards, just 1:17 later. The PAT failed, but the Copper Kings trailed by an insurmountable 27-6 score.

"We got beat by a better team," Calumet coach John Croze said. "They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They just beat us, from play one to the last play of the game."

Pender tacked on a 30-yard TD run later in the quarter and a 10-yard score early in the fourth. The junior fullback ran for 117 yards on 18 carries. Boddy added 104 rushing yards on six carries.

Calumet's option running game was effective only in spurts. The Mountaineers assigned linebacker Paul Kuoppala to the pitch man and defensive lineman Tony Amicangelo to key on quarterback Sturos, and it was an effective plan. The All-UP Class ABC quarterback had zero yards on 10 carries.

"My assistants had a great scheme and we mixed it up, didn't let them get away very often," coach Boddy said.

Boddy is now 2-1 against Calumet, a team he coached for 10 years from 1990-99.

Steber led Calumet with 94 of the team's 143 rushing yards. The Copper Kings, named 2009 Class C Team of the Year by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, finish 9-2.

"I'm very proud of the season that we had and proud of the kids and the effort that they give. I'm sure going to miss the passion and leadership the seniors had for the game," Croze said.

Iron Mountain 7 7 20 14 - 48

Calumet 0 0 12 0 - 12

First quarter

IM - Josh Pender 5 run (Mac Reid kick), 3:44

Second quarter

IM - Bill Boddy 53 run (Reid kick), 3:51

Third quarter

IM - Pender 75 kickoff return (Reid kick), 11:48

CAL - Ben Steber 3 run (run failed), 8:22

IM - Boddy 50 run (kick failed), 7:05

IM - Pender 30 run (Reid kick), 2:15

CAL - Steber 1 run (run failed), 1:09

Fourth quarter

IM - Pender 10 run (Reid kick), 9:33

IM - Joe Wender 12 run (Reid kick), 2:35

Statistics

Total offense: Iron Mountain 386 (360 rush, 26 pass), Calumet 285 (143 rush, 142 pass); First downs - Iron Mountain 17, Calumet 10; Rushing - IM, Pender 18-117, 3 TDs, Boddy 6-104, 2 TDs, Taylor Jayne 8-58, Adam Gendron 3-32, Wender 2-17, TD, Mike Ring 1-16, Adam Gerhard 2-8, Nolan Wilinski 1-6; CAL, Steber 12-94, 2 TDs, Leo Helminen 9-31, Darren Bausano 3-15, Kyle Tikkanen 2-3, Nate Sturos 10-0, Nels Anderson 2-minus-3; Passing - IM, Boddy 2-9-26, 1 INT; CAL, Sturos, 5-15-107, 2 INTs, Steven Torola, 1-1-35; Receiving - IM, Seth VanLaanen 2-26; CAL, Anderson 2-86, Ryan Kaura 1-35, Chris Leer 1-13, Alex Loukus 1-8, Steber 1-0.