Cromwell In 9-Man Section 5 Finals

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Oct 27, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

FLOODWOOD- The Cromwell Cardinals Jared Hutar remembers the state championship that Cromwell won when he was a sophomore; and now as a senior the quarterback of the Cardinals is hoping for a return trip to the state tournament. The Cardinals took a big step towards that goal Saturday night in Floodwood when the Cardinals bounced the Floodwood Polar Bears by a score of 30-12.

Cromwell sent a message on the opening drive of the game as they took the ball and marched down the field and scored on their first possession. “We scored right away and that set the tone of the game for us” Head Coach Jeff Gronner told Northland Sports Online. “Last time we played here, we let them control the tempo and we wanted to come out fast tonight.”

The Cardinals did just that with the first possession, it was Hutar who scored on a three yard touchdown run and an extra point from Zach Kinstel led to a 7-0 first quarter lead. Following two consecutive fumbles by the Cardinals, it was Floodwood who put together a drive in the second quarter, which ended in a 1 yard Willow Christensen touchdown run to cut the Cardinals lead to 7-6.

Cromwell came right back following the Floodwood touchdown when Hutar connected with Joe Couture on a pass down the sidelines. Couture caught the pass in stride and raced into the end zone for a 13-6 lead. Cromwell added one more score as time expired in the first half. Kinstel connected on a 22 yard field goal which gave Cromwell a 16-6 lead at the break.

The second half saw Floodwood needing a score to set the tempo and that is just what the Polar Bears did with an opening drive in the second half. That first drive resulted in Christensen’s second touchdown of the game, this time it was a three yard touchdown run and the score cut the Cromwell lead to 16-12.

Cromwell answered right back on their next possession as it was two big passes from Hutar to Joe Oliver that resulted in big gains down the center of the field, Their efforts resulted in a Tyler Hakamaki 4 yard touchdown run, which put Cromwell back in front 24-12 following a two point conversion.

Cromwell scored one more time following an interception by Austin Pfistner at the 40 yard line and Cromwell quickly rolled down the field and scored on a Hutar one yard touchdown run and a 30-12 lead; a lead which held until the final horn.

With the victory Cromwell improves to 6-4 on the season and they will face South Ridge on Friday night at Public School Stadium in the section 5 9-man championship game. The Polar Bears season came to a Saturday night with a 5-5 overall record.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com