Cloquet rolls past Broncos

Photos By: Myrissa Laitinen

Kerry Rod-NSO

 The Cloquet Lumberjacks rolled to 412 yards of offense and had their reserves in early in the third quarter on Friday night as they pounded International Falls 46-12 in high school football at Rol Bromberg Field in Cloquet.

  After the Bronco’s were forced to punt on their opening series the strong offensive line play of Cloquet took over.  On their first place from scrimmage the Jacks line opened a good size hole for Henry Backus who ran for 30 yards from his own 25 yard line down to the Bronco’s 35 yard line.  Just a few plays later Backus slipped off tackle and burst through for a seven-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead after the extra point by Nate Niemi.

  The Lumberjacks then kicked off to the Bronco’s and tried a pooch kick that backfired as International Falls returned the ball inside the Jacks 10-yard line and eventually scored on a pass from Jakob Eide to Jakob Ettestad, but Cloquet stopped the Bronco’s on their extra point keeping the score 7-6 in favor of Cloquet with 5:52 to play in the first quarter.

  Cloquet answered back less than a minute later, at 5:01 to be exact, when quarterback Maxx Brenner found Niemi on the left flat and the junior tight end shed three tacklers on his way to a 46-yard catch and score making it 13-6 after the missed extra point.

  After an exchange of punts the Broncos appeared to be on the march, but Jeff Sarkela stepped in front of an Eide pass and raced 30 yards to the International Falls 18-yard line.  On the very first play from scrimmage it was Backus zipping to another touchdown and after Niemi converted the extra point kick the Jacks were up 20-6 with 1:32 left in the first quarter.

  Second quarter action saw International Falls cut the lead when Ettestad broke off a 24-yard touchdown run cutting the Jacks lead to 20-12, but that would be all the scoring on the night for the Broncos.

  With 6:03 remaining before halftime Backus ran for his third touchdown of the night this time on a 38 yard run that started when tight end Niemi crushed a defender at the line of scrimmage allowing Backus to race to paydirt.  Niemi drilled home the extra point making it 27-12 with the Jacks in front.

  Kyle Klatt pushed the lead to 33-12 when he cut back against the grain on a 41-yard touchdown run with 4:30 to go in the first half.

 Cloquet finished with another score when Brenner rolled to his left and slipped past a pair of defenders as the clock wound down to zero in the first half and after Niemi booted the extra point the Jacks were up 40-12.

  The Lumberjacks took just 22 seconds to score in the second half when Austin Gotchnik scored on the first offensive play in the second half on a 60-yard touchdown run giving Cloquet a 46-12 lead.

  Following Gotchnik’s touchdown the Lumberjacks pulled many of their starters and let the reserves, and in some instances, the reserves to the reserves, finish the game.

  Backus finished with 113 yards rushing and three touchdowns and the Jacks caused six fumbles on a hot and humid night at Bromberg Field.

  The Jacks are now 2-0 on the season and will travel to Greenway-Nashwauk-Keewatin next Friday night.