Hematites, Patriots set to renew rivalry

Friday night in Ishpeming the Ishpeming Hematites will take on the Westwood Patriots on the gridiron. The Hematites have had the Patriots number in recent years.

Westwood’s last victory against the Hematites was back in 1998. The Patriots won that game 9-6 over the Hematites.

Ishpeming is 3-0 this season and Westwood is 0-3. Both teams can’t wait to take the field Friday night.

“You don’t have to use any great speeches or anything to get the kids fired up. This rivalry does it on its own,” said Hematites head coach Jeff Olson. “These kids see each other everyday all through the summer and it’s for bragging rights, so the kids look forward to it.”

“We just want to go out there, take care of business, and do the best we can,” said Hematites quarterback Alex Briones. “We’re just going to let the business on the field do the talking.”

“The kids usually get jacked up for this rivalry. There has been a lot of intensity at practice this week,” said Patriots head coach Jon Jessen. “In order to be victorious tomorrow night, we’re going to need to play an absolute mistake free game and be fundamentally sound.”

“It’s kind of like school yard football because we used to play football with all of them back in the day and just go out there and have fun,” said Westwood running back Derek Wing.

Kickoff between the Patriots and the Hematites is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.