Cloquet Football Gets By Hermantown Now 4-0

Chris Shevich-NSO

Sept 25

Kerry Rodd-NSO

For Additional Photos Click Here To View Our Photo Gallery

Click Here For Complete Game Stats

CLOQUET – It was time to respond for the Cloquet Lumberjacks on Friday night. Late in the third quarter the Hermantown Hawks had just taken the lead 17-14 on a Chris Phillips 45-yard touchdown run. The impression was that if the Jacks could answer with a score of their own they would have a chance to beat the Hawks and go 4-0 on the season. RaRa Jones, a senior running back, wasted no time! On the first play from scrimmage he raced 64-yards to pay dirt giving the Jacks a 21-17 lead.

Hermantown started strong in the game by taking the opening drive and going 78 yards for a score. Phillips scored on a 9-yard run giving Hermantown a 7-0 lead following the extra point kick. The drive was aided by a Cloquet penalty after the Jacks had put the Hawks in a fourth and long situation.

Cloquet responded on their first drive by slicing through the Hawks defense quickly and efficiently. The drive, which began inside Hawk territory due to a big return by Tim Defoe, ended when quarterback Tyler Tollerud hit Paul Ryan for a 10-yard scoring strike and the score was even at 7-7.

Defoe added a 13-yard scoring run in the second quarter as the Jacks went up 14-7 following the extra point kick by Thomas Rogers.

Again the Hawks drove deep in Cloquet territory, but the Jacks defense stiffened and Phillips knocked through a 30-yard field goal to pull Hermantown within 14-10 at halftime setting up the big run by Phillips and the eventual late game heroics by RaRa Jones. Cloquet Head Coach Tom Lenarz lauded his playmaker, stating “Every time he touches the ball there’s a chance for him to score.”

Ironically, the Jacks would need a couple of key defensive stops late in the game as the Hawks were the recipient of an interception and a fumble by Tollerud, but the Cloquet defense made big play, after big play to continually thwart the Hawks chances of scoring. No play was bigger than a quarterback sack by Matt Harman and Kyle Burggraff as they dropped the Hermantown quarterback for a huge loss on the final drive. Eventually, facing a fourth down the Hawks threw a pass on the left flat and ended up a foot short of the first down turning the ball over to Cloquet giving the Jacks the win.

The key to the win for Cloquet was the fact that their defense came up big when it needed to and the offense was opportunistic.

“We just went to the ball well on defense at the end there,” said Cloquet defensive coordinator Jeff Ojanen as he walked off the field following the game. “We made some big plays on defense when we needed to and the guys got that big stop at the end of the game when we needed it.”

Jones ended the game with 145 yards in eight carries as the Jacks rushed for 250 yards in the game against a solid Hawk defensive unit.

Cloquet improved to 4-0 on the season, while the Hawks fall to 2-2.

Life doesn’t get any easier for the Lumberjacks as they host Ashland on Friday in a game that will likely decide the Sea Range Conference Champion.

After losing their season opener 36-7 to archrival Northwestern, the Oredockers have won four straight games. (Wisconsin starts a week earlier than Minnesota, and plays nine regular season games). Ashland won those four games by a combined score of 152-28 with the last two being shutouts.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@Northlandsportsonline.com

Dan Saletel-NSO