News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Oscoda’s Andrew Dault (1) tries to outrun Iron Mountain defender Jake Dumais (42) during the first quarter of a Division 7 pre-district football playoff game on Saturday in Iron Mountain. The Owls fell to the Mountaineers 36-14.

IRON MOUNTAIN — Oscoda came into Saturday’s Division 7 pre-district matchup riding an eight-game winning streak.

Oscoda they traveled a long way to take on an Iron Mountain program that is no stranger to playoff football

Iron Mountain defended its home turf and put an end to Oscoda’s season by defeating the Owls 36-14.

The Owls came out aggressively on offense, but Oscoda may have been too aggressive on its opening possession. Facing a fourth down and long near midfield, the Owls rolled the dice and went for it, but got burned as Marcus Johnson stepped in front of a pass and intercepted the ball and returned it to the Oscoda two yard line.

One play later, the Mountaineers found the end zone on their first offensive play on a two yard plunge from Bryce Pietrantonio to give Iron Mountain the early lead.

It took time for Oscoda’s offense to get going as they were forced to punt on their next offensive possession and the Mountaineers responded again with a long scoring drive, going 88 yards on just six plays that resulted in another two yard touchdown, this time off the legs of Zach Herrick.

The game proved to be no sweat for the Mountaineers, who are longtime playoff veterans. Iron Mountain has seven trips to the state semifinals, three finals appearances and two state championships to its credit.

Owls coach Mark Whitley told him team to remain relaxed and confident on the sideline and Oscoda responded on the ensuing possession as it reached pay dirt with under a minute left in the opening quarter to cut the lead to 14-7 after quarterback Brayden Mallak hit a wide open Andrew Dault for a 17-yard score.

Oscoda was in good spirits after forcing another Mountaineers punt, but was backed up in the shadows of its own goal line. Iron Mountain brought pressure on third down and sacked Owen Franklin on what looked to be an attempt at a half back pass, but Franklin had no time and was dropped in the end zone.

Despite trailing 16-7 late in the half, Oscoda was very much in the game, but the turning point came with 40 seconds left when Johnson hit a wide open Tony Fiera on fourth and long for a 30-yard touchdown as the Owls had a mistake in coverage and Iron Mountain held a 23-7 lead at the break.

The second half belonged to Herrick and the Mountaineers as Herrick scored on the first play from scrimmage, sprinting 47 yards and diving to the pylon for a score to extend Iron Mountain’s lead.

Herrick added another touchdown in the fourth quarter and finished with 170 yards rushing on 11 carries and had three touchdowns.

The final touchdown of the season for Oscoda came with 3:42 left to play when sophomore Caleb Nagel rumbled into the end zone from a yard out.

Robert Host led the Owls with 66 yards rushing on seven carries. Franklin had 26 yards on the ground and completed a two passes for 48 yards. Mallak finished 8-of-21 passing for 92 yards and a touchdown.

Despite the loss, the 14 points scored by the Owls added to what was a record-breaking offensive year as Oscoda finished with a program record 406 points.