09/22/2026
Negaunee at Kingsford
By Matt “Sweets” McCarthy
U.P. Sports Contributor
KINGSFORD — Brock Flaminio keyed a fast start for Kingsford, which defeated Negaunee 21-16 in a top-five matchup Friday night.
The senior running back reached paydirt twice in the first quarter of the homecoming and West-PAC Copper Division game at Flivver Field.
After five running plays, Kingsford senior quarterback Blake Tomasoski found Flaminio in the corner of the end zone for a four-yard touchdown strike. The six play drive covered 71 yards, with Flaminio adding the extra point to give the Flivvers a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
Negaunee’s first-two possessions resulted in three-and-outs, but Kingsford scored again in the first quarter, with a nine-play, 44-yard drive. On second and seven from the Negaunee eight yard-line, Flaminio scored with four seconds remaining in the opening stanza on an eight yard run.
A successful Flaminio PAT extended the home team’s lead to 14-0.
Miners senior quarterback Kyle Waterman led his squad on a long 12 play drive that took 7:23 off the clock. It was capped off with senior Cole Prusi hauling in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Waterman at the 4:37 mark. Junior Waylon Harvala caught the Miners successful two-point conversion attempt to make the score 14-8 Kingsford.
A key moment in the game took place near the end of the second quarter.
After a Flivvers 3-and-out, Negaunee’s seven-play drive was stopped as time expired in the first half. On fourth and goal from inside the Kingsford one yard-line, Waterman attempted a quarterback sneak. The interior of the Flivvers stout defensive line prevented the Miners from tying the game or potentially taking the lead going into halftime.
“That was a huge stop for us, as far as momentum coming out of halftime,” said Kingsford head coach Mark Novara. “I’ve said it all season so far, that we needed to lean on our guys upfront. Negaunee gave us all we could handle tonight up front, but our guys size was able to overcome that.”
In Kingsford’s first three victories of the season over Escanaba, Gladstone and Houghton, an enormous factor in their success has been at the line of scrimmage, with dominant offensive and defensive line play.
“That’s a great football program we played tonight, at times tonight wasn’t as pretty as we had hoped for, but we got the job done and I am proud of our kids' effort,” Novara said.
Negaunee, which won the pre game coin flip and elected to defer to the second half, had their 12 play, 43 yard drive to start the third quarter halted on the Kingsford 25 yard-line with Flaminio and junior Cooper Kreski wrapping up Miners senior running back Mason Swenor for a four-yard loss to give the Flivvers the ball for their opening possession of the third quarter.
Kingsford’s ensuing possession, an 11 play, 71 yard drive ended with Tomasoski hitting senior Bradlee Bottesi on a crossing pattern in the north end zone for a 23 yard touchdown with 2:52 remaining in the third stanza. Flaminio’s third successful PAT kick gave the Flivvers a 21-8 lead.
The final quarter began with the Flivvers holding the aforementioned 13 point advantage.
After a very short Flivvers punt, Negaunee got the ball at the Kingsford 17 yard-line. The Miners tightened up the score at the 9:23 mark of the fourth quarter with Swenor scoring from two yards out on second and goal.
Waterman hit Harvala for the duo’s second successful two point conversion of the contest, to make the score, 21-16 in favor of the host Flivvers.
As the final minuets of the game played out, the teams traded three-and-outs. Kingsford essentially ran the clock out with a 12-play drive, but it was halted by the Miners defense, which gave Negaunee the ball back with one last play in Flivver territory.
Waterman’s hail mary attempt was intercepted in the north end zone by Kreski with one second remaining for a touchback. Kingsford took a knee to secure the win, pushing its record to 4-0, dropping the Miners to 2-2.
On Tuesday, the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association released its first poll of the season, with the Flivvers ranked No. 2, while the Miners were ranked No. 4. Therefore, the contest lived up to the rankings, being a hard-fought game that came down to the final seconds.
“We battled with them, we hung in there,” said Miners head coach Jeff Niemi said. “We saw the films of their previous games and we knew how big and how good their line is. We were able to neutralize their advantage. I am very proud of our kids' effort tonight, it was a great football game.”
“We told the boys all week, Kingsford’s going to be fired up being it’s their homecoming and we’d need to match their intensity. We didn’t do that in the beginning of the game, and their fast start ended up being the difference in the game,” Niemi added.
Another key to the Flivvers victory, was their ability to keep Negaunee senior wide receiver Evan DellAngelo at bay, limiting him to only a couple receptions for less than 20 yards in the ball game. DellAngelo had been a huge contributor in the Miners offense the first three contests, with overall athleticism.
“Coach (Chris) Hofer always comes up with a great game plan to minimize an athlete like DellAngelo,” Novara said. “Our boys did what they needed to do and kept him (DellAngelo) from any big plays.”
“Our coaching staff knew they’d have a plan to try to minimize DellAngelo, and they did limit his touches, they had him surrounded all night,” said Niemi. “Kingsford is coached well and has a bunch of good athletes, credit to them.”
Tomasoski also had an interception for Kingsford, while junior lineman Ben Johnson recorded a sack. Kreski along with senior lineman Connor White each tallied a half sack in the fourth quarter on Waterman.
Another key to winning the game for the Flivvers that Novara mentioned was the defensive play of the linebackers and defensive backs, minimizing big gains for the Miners.
Novara also pointed to the kicking of sophomore exchange student Tomas Uribe-Isusi. “He’s from Spain and plays soccer too. He doesn’t speak English very well, but his long kickoffs giving Negaunee long fields after our scores and to start the second half was huge for us,” Novara stated.
The Flivvers head to Calumet to face the No. 3 ranked Copper Kings this week, while Negaunee returns home to face a much improved Hancock Bulldogs team, both games being West PAC Copper Division match ups.
Negaunee 0 8 0 8 — 16
Kingsford 14 0 7 0 — 21
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