Lumberjacks Advance To State

November 5th, 2016

Tyler Peterson-NSO

The Cloquet Lumberjacks punched their tickets to the Class AAAA State Tournament on Friday night, running past the Princeton Tigers 41-27.

Evan Pokornowski kicked off the scoring for the Lumberjacks with a 2 yard plunge to secure the 6-0 lead. Tim Kialka responded in the 2nd quarter for the Tigers on a 5 yard run, tying the game at 6-6. Cloquet would regain the lead after Spencer Wehr got across the goal line from 4 yards away, making it 13-6, but Bialka would put the Tigers up at the half, 14-13, after getting in from 2 yards out.

In the 3rd quarter, Wehr would cross the goal line again from a yard out, giving the Lumberjacks a 19-14 lead. The Tigers would regain the lead through the air when Damon Rademacher connected with Alec Schimming on a 6 yard route, making it a narrow 20-19 advantage.

Mitchell Gerlach would kick off a 22 point 4th quarter for the Lumberjacks when he scampered 26 yards to make it 27-20, but Bialka would once again find the end zone for the Tigers from a yard away to lock it up at 27-27. Pokornowski would then help the Lumberjacks pull away from the Tigers, scoring a pair of touchdowns, one from 25 yards out and another from 1 yard away, to push the Lumberjacks to a 41-27 victory.

The Lumberjacks, who are now 7-3 on the year, will face the Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights (7-3) in the Class AAAA tournament. The game will kickoff at 7:00pm at Lindstrom field.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com