Iron Mountain defender Matthew Colavecchi (4) extends and almost intercepts a pass intended for a Bark River-Harris receiver during the Mountaineers 40-0 shutout victory at Mountaineer Stadium. In its first two games of the 2023 season, Iron Mountain (2-0) has outscored its opponents 96-6. (Terry Raiche photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN – After losing to Iron Mountain in the second round of the 2022 Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 8 football playoffs, the Bark River-Harris varsity football team walked into Mountaineer Stadium looking to exact revenge on Thursday.

However, the Mountaineers (2-0) defense flustered the Broncos (1-1) throughout the night and propelled the home team to a 40-0 win.

“We’ve got a bunch of playmakers and again here tonight, kids made plays in terms of putting points on the board,” said Mountaineer head coach Robin Martilla. “But give credit to Bark River, the score does not indicate how tough the game was. … Those are tough, physical kids that play hard.”

Iron Mountain has outscored opponents 96-6.

Although the Mountaineers have started the season on a roll, Marttila knows that the health of his players will dictate how far they go.

Mountaineer varsity gridder Luke Wolfe (11) hauls in a fingertip catch, despite the defensive efforts of Broncos Jacob Mileski (3) and Ethan Ives (6) during Thursday’s game. (Terry Raiche photo)

“We have potential, there’s no doubt about it,” Marttila said. “We have a lot of guys back from last year, we have a lot of potential to be a very good football team. It’s early, we have to stay healthy. We have 20 guys, we have to stay healthy. I’ve been preaching that all year long. We’ve been praying about it.”

After stuffing the Broncos’ opening drive, Iron Mountain broke through with 5:22 remaining in the first quarter. Junior quarterback Ian Marttila capped off a six-play drive with a 20-yard pass to senior running back Luke Wolfe as the Mountaineers took a 6-0 lead.

Ian Marttila continued his success through the air on Iron Mountain’s next drive as he found Wolfe, who hauled in a 47-yard touchdown. But he wasn’t done there.

A few drives later, Ian Martilla shook free of the Bark River defenders swarming him and found Matthew Colavecchi for a first down. Wolfe capped off the effort with a short touchdown run as the Mountaineers pulled ahead 20-0.

On the next drive, the Broncos strung together their best drive of the game, pushing the ball into the Mountaineer red zone.

As Bark River fans came back to life, Wolfe limped off the field to deal with cramps and Marttila sent Aiden Ellis in.

“It’s always awesome to see younger guys getting in there and just having a good time,” Mountaineer senior lineman Connor Owens said. “It’s a good day to be a Mountaineer when you see everyone get into the game like that.”

Not only did Ellis get to see the field, but he made sure his impact was felt. As the Bronco fourth-down play broke down, quarterback Ethan Ives rolled to the right sideline looking for an open receiver. However, as Ives scanned the field, Ellis found another gear and recorded his first career sack.

“It felt amazing,” Ellis said. “Coach put me in and he said to go around the outside. So I did exactly that… We tried before in the game, but I finally got him and it felt good.”

Ellis added a strip sack to his resume later in the fourth quarter that resulted in an Adam Krackenberger touchdown.

Colavecchi led the way for the Iron Mountain defense finishing with a fumble recovery, an interception and one tackle. He has two interceptions through two games.

“(My team) is helping me set up and on defense we are talking a lot and working together really well this year,” Colavecchi said.

The Mountaineer defense also received contributions from Oskar Kangas (4 tackles), Ian Marttila (3 tackles), Wolfe (7.5 tackles), Michael Dove (2 tackles), Alex Jayne (6.5 tackles), Bradon Walstrom (2.5 tackles), Fulton Stroud (6 tackles), Owens (4.5 tackles, 1 sack), Alec Haferkorn (7.5 tackles), Bryce Davis (2 total tackles) and Krackenberger (1 interception, 1 touchdown).

Iron Mountain’s offense received contributions from Kangas (1 reception for 16 yards), Colavecchi (1 reception for 17 yards), Ian Marttila (162 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, and 12 rushing yards), Wolfe (4 catches for 100 yards, 35 rushing yards, three total touchdowns), Kyle Lautzenheiser (4 rushing yards), Jayne (2 catches for 39 yards, 24 rushing yards, 1 touchdown) and Walstrom (36 rushing yards, 1 touchdown).

The Mountaineers look to remain undefeated when they head to Ishpeming on Sept. 8, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.