Lumberjacks Move on to State

Photos by Myrissa Laitinen & Rod Behm

Kerry Rodd-NSO

Call it chaotic, call it crazy, but whatever you call it, you have to call it a HUGE win for the Cloquet Lumberjack football team which defeated Hermantown’s Hawks 23-14 in the Section 7AAAA Championship game in Hermantown on Friday night.

  Going into the title tilt the Jacks lone loss was to the very same Hawks on Cloquet’s home field.  This time the Lumberjacks reacted to adversity with an air of confidence, made the big plays when they had to, and then rode a stubborn defense to their first state tournament berth in 26 years.

  Cloquet gained the upper hand on the very first drive of the game when Maxx Brenner topped off a seven play drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Klatt.  Klatt caught the ball at the nine-yard line and then slipped into the end zone giving the Jacks a 7-0 lead after the extra point kick by Nick Niemi.  The touchdown by Klatt would be a harbinger of what was to come later in the game.

  Hermantown followed suit with a touchdown of their own in the first quarter, with 2:33 remaining when Kole Zuidmulder threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin Brendon that pulled the Hawks to within 7-6.  However, the extra point boot by Zuidmulder went wide and the Jacks still clung to a 7-6 lead.

  The Lumberjacks answered the Hermantown score by coming back with a 14 play drive that culminated with a Jeff Sarkela bulled in from the two-yard line giving Cloquet a 13-6 lead, but Niemi’s extra point went wide and thats how thing stood with 7:11 remaining until half time.

  Things got wild in the second quarter when the Cloquet defense held the Hawks on a fourth down at the Lumberjack 45-yard line and then Cloquet quarterback Maxx Brenner threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage.  Unbelievably the Jacks then picked off Zuidmulder giving Cloquet the ball back again on their own 36-yard line, and on their first play from scrimmage the Jacks scored when Brenner handed the ball off to Klatt who raced 64 yards to the end zone giving Cloquet a 20-6 edge with 2:27 remaining until half time after Niemi’s extra point kick.

  On the Hawks next drive the Lumberjacks defense created a four-and-out situation and Hermantown punted to Zach Gerlach who returned the punt to the Hawks 45-yard line.  On the first play from scrimmage Klatt raced through an opening for a 36-yard gain that put the ball on the Hawks nine-yard line.  After a pair of runs by Henry Backus to set up a field goal attempt the Jacks sent out Niemi to boot a 20-yard field goal and Niemi booted the ball through the uprights giving Cloquet a 23-6 halftime edge.

  The only score of the second half was early in the third quarter when Zuidmulder hit Paul Glowacki on a 46-yard touchdown strike cutting the lead to 23-14 after the two-point conversion pass to Cade Zacharias, but the Cloquet defense stiffened and held solid the rest of the night.

  A huge key in the win was the ability of the Lumberjacks to slow down Hermantown running back Zach Royer.  In their first meeting the Jacks repeatedly missed tackles against the stellar running back and it was Royer who ripped the Cloquet defense for a 166 yards he gained in the Hawks regular season win.

  Defensively the Jacks were led by; Brady Obeidzinski’s six tackles and Logan Crowser and Mario Lozoya who each had five solo tackles, but in all reality the Cloquet defense was a solid team effort from a group of players who all appeared to be on the same page under the biggest spot light the program has seen since the 1980’s.

  That unselfish play has earned the Lumberjacks the right to play next Friday night at St. Cloud State University where they will play Delano in a quarterfinal matchup.

Kerry Rodd