7A Football: Carlton, Barnum Looking To Improve

Aug 25

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Carlton Bulldogs and the Barnum Bombers are both looking to improve on the football field this season. The Bulldogs look to make bigger strides this season with the help of first-year head coach Scott Battaglia. Scott Battaglia decided to take over for his uncle Dave Battaglia, who retired from coaching this past spring. The Barnum Bombers are seeking to improve on a section semi-final appearance and advance to the state tournament like they did back in 2007.

The Barnum Bombers are looking to improve on a 7-3 overall record from last season. Barnum finished 6-2 in the regular season and went 1-1 in the section playoffs. The Bombers downed Nashwauk-Keewatin in the quarterfinals with a score of 36-24, before falling to the eventual Section 7A champion, the Chisholm Bluestreaks.

Barnum has several returning starters on both offense and defense. However, head coach Kevin Haley stated in a discussion with NSO, “It’s hard to replace 1700 yards in the backfield.” Haley was referring to Erik Johnson, who led the Bombers in rushing last season. Haley also mentioned, “We have our quarterback, Nick White returning and two outstanding running backs in Josh Hogan and Taylor Carlson.” Barnum should be one of the Section 7A favorites entering this season.

The Bulldogs will have a new leader at the helm this fall as head baseball coach Scott Battaglia will try to get the Bulldogs football team back on the winning track. The Bulldogs have not had much success recently, managing only 8 total wins in the past five seasons. Traditionally, numbers have been a big issue for Carlton.
Carlton is hoping for more numbers this fall as they try to turn the program back in the right direction.

Carlton and Barnum will open the regular season with a match up against one another. Barnum dominated the Bulldogs last season winning 34-6. The regular season starts Friday, September 4th in Carlton for both teams. Game time is 7:00 pm.

Barnum, along with Cook County, East Central and Chisholm are predicted to be battling for the section championship come October. Northland Sports Online will have all your Section 7A football stories for you every week.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com