Cloquet Football Looks To Make Another Run

Wes Vork-NSO

Aug 19

Kerry Rod-NSO

With 93 players showing up for two-a-day drills, the Cloquet football team is starting to see the benefits of last year’s run to the section title game.

“We have a good group of seniors and the entire team has worked very hard this summer to prepare for the season,” commented Coach Tom Lenarz. “We feel good about where we are at.”

Last year, the Jacks finished 7-4 and lost to Duluth East in the section championship game. This year, the team will be led by Tyler Tollerud at quarterback, RaRa Jones at wide receiver, Nathanial Schulz on the offensive and defensive lines and Jake Horn and Cody Hraban at linebackers.

“I think we will be competitive once again in our conference and section,” remarked Lenarz. “With Bemidji being added to our section it makes it even tougher for us come playoff time, but we are excited about the challenge of having to beat much larger schools in our section.”

Offensively, the Jacks lost most of their backfield from last season. However, they return 6 starters. On defense, the Jacks lose 8 starters from a year ago, but they are confident the program can reload and not have a significant drop on ability level.

“We lost some pretty special running backs,” mentioned Lenarz. “But, we feel good about the kids coming in to replace those lost to graduation.”

Kerry Rodd can be reached at Kerry@northlandsportsonline.com