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That might be true if you're the chief operating officer of a large corporation, or the President of the United States.

But it's different for the head coach of a varsity football team. Just ask Mancelona's coach Dave Derrer, whose Ironmen climbed into the driver's seat in the Ski Valley Conference last Friday night with a 34-16 victory over Johannesburg-Lewiston.

It put the Ironmen alone in first place, and that's exactly where they want to be ... in first place, alone.

Sharing the conference lead, or the title at the end of the year, isn't in the Ironmen's playbook.

Naturally, when the dust finally settles on the 2007 regular season, the Ironmen will be glad to be in first place - whether it's all by themselves, or with another league team.

Winning a conference title in any fashion is better than finishing second, to paraphrase the late Green Bay Packers legendary coach, Vince Lombardi.

Senior running back Adam Duerksen almost single-handedly carried the Ironmen to victory against JoBurg, scoring three touchdowns. He scored one touchdown on a fumble recovery that he scooped up and returned 65 yards.

Another came on a 12-yard run, and he also hauled in a 44-yard scoring strike from quarterback Greg Blanco.

Mancelona improved to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference, assuming sole possession of first place.

It might also have served to send a message to the rest of the league that the Ironmen plan to reside in the penthouse from this point on. But, it wasn't just the Duerksen show for the Ironmen.

James Johnson got in on the scoring act as well, going in from 27 yards out and racing 26 yards for a second touchdown in the balanced Mancelona offense.

Duerksen finished the game with 92 yards rushing. Johnson led the defense with 10 tackles.