Thunderhawks topple Jacks

Kerry Rodd – NSO

Photos By Ken Palmer

Eric Soderberg came close to realizing what it must be like to be Superman on Friday night when the senior quarterback exploded for four second half touchdowns helping to lead his Grand Rapids Thunderhawks football team to a 28-7 victory over Cloquet at Rol Bromberg Field in Cloquet.

The first half was a defensive gem. Neither Cloquet, nor Grand Rapids, could muster much offense as both defenses carried the day to that point. The second half? Well, that was all Superman, or should we say Soderberg.

After both teams started the the second half with a drive that fizzled out it was Soderberg that got the Thunderhawks offense clicking into high gear on their second possession of the half.

Cloquet punted the ball to the Thunderhawks and on the first play from scrimmage Soderberg bounced free from a pile of would be tacklers to race 61 yards to the end zone making it 7-0 after the extra point kick by Joe Palik. That score came with 9:01 remaining in the third quarter.

On the following kickoff it appeared Cloquet was responding when a series of penalties and Thunderhawk defensive plays pushed the Jacks into a punting situation. That was when fans began to realize that Soderberg, who did little in the first half, had changed from Clark Kent into the Man of Steel.

Soderberg ripped off another touchdown run, this time it was a 53-yard touchdown scamper in which he left Cloquet’s final defender grasping for air with a slick juke move down the right side line making it 14-0 following the extra point kick by Palik with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter.

Soderberg continued his dominance with a nifty two-yard touchdown run by taking the ball into the end zone on a quarterback keeper around left end early in the fourth quarter making it 21-0 after the conversion kick.

That score came with 8:19 remaining in the game. Cloquet showed life on the very next possession, when on the first play of that drive, Joe Gotchnik reeled off a 64-yard touchdown romp that ended with Gotchnik being tripped up right as he dove for the end zone giving Cloquet life by making it 21-7 after the extra point boot by Robbie Sobczak.

The Gotchnik touchdown came with 8:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. Any chance of a comeback by the Jacks was thwarted by Soderberg about four and a half minutes later when he broke free from a stack of players on the interior of the line and pulled away from the Cloquet defenders for his fourth touchdown of the second half, this one covered 27 yards, making it 28-7 after the extra point kick.

Second half stats revealed the dominance of Soderberg’s performance. The first half saw the senior run for just 28 yards, but the second half he chewed up 240 yards for a total of 268 rushing yards and four scores.

Joe Gotchnik led Cloquet performers with 94 yards rushing and Jeb Leone completed eight passes for 104 yards.

Grand Rapids improved to 3-1 on the season and Cloquet now drops to 2-2 overall.

qw