Patriots' high-powered offense runs over Bluejackets

HIBBING—After going three-and-out on their first drive, the Hibbing HIgh School football team punted the ball away to Pequot Lakes.

Bryar Nordby caught the ball on the Patriots’ 40-yard line, went up the middle of the field and raced 60 yards for a touchdown.

That’s all Pequot Lakes needed to jump start its offense as the Patriots, who are the No. 5 team in the state in Class 3A raced to a 56-0 victory over the Bluejackets Friday on Cheever Field in Dr. Ben Owens Stadium.

Parents coach Bill Magnuson has a veteran team that has the possibility of advancing to, and even winning state.

“We started fast,” Magnuson said. “We put our foot on the gas pedal, and I’m proud of our team with the way we came out in that first quarter. We have 26 seniors out, and you can tell.

“You see the commitment to it. They understand what we’re doing. They’re fast. They’re physical., and they buy into what we do. They believe in each other, and that’s why we’re having a nice year.”

That fact isn’t lost on Hibbing coach Matt Anderson, but he wants his team to put this one behind them and move on to next week.

“They have 26 seniors. We have nine,” Anderson said. “They can fill an offense and a defense with the amount of seniors they have. That’s what we want to hope for. That’s what we want to do in future years.

“We have to be realistic with what’s happening going forward. This is a bump. We can’t let it affect us going forward because we can play some good football for the next three games.”

It all started after that Nordby punt return.

“We talk about special teams,” Magnuson said. ‘Everybody thinks offense and defense, but special teams are one-third of the game. When you start off that way, you get excited and all of that.

“It was a great start.”

It was still early, but return hit the Bluejackets hard.

“It’s 100-percent deflating,” Anderson said. “That allows the old ways to creep in, but we have to combat that and fight it the best way we can. All of the power to them. They’re a quality team. Very good.”

Pequot Lakes put up two more touchdowns on a Landon Brill 35-yard pass from Mike Oseland and a Brill 9-yard run before the Patriots had even run 10 offensive plays.

Brill returned an interception 35 yards for a score, then Aaron Clark caught a 31-yard scoring pass from Oseland to make it 35-0 after the first quarter.

“We already had a plan to come out with the no huddle, but I didn’t think we’d score on the punt return,” Magnuson said. “We went no huddle, and we were able to go right down the field and score on that, too.

“The goal was to change our formations after that. We kept changing and moving things. Our kids get what we’re doing, and we execute.”

Everything Pequot Lakes did worked to perfect.

“They’re that good,” Anderson said. “They do everything well. They can audible whenever they want. They have a variation of plays. We got to see a menagerie of what they’re able to run.

“They execute. They fire off of the ball. Their offensive line is immaculate. They are fantastic. They know it. Whoever they put in that backfield, they’re going to have success because those guys get it done up front.”

With most of his bench players in the game in the second half, Magunson saw Ben Broskovitz catch a 15-yard touchdown pass from Oseland in the second quarter, then Nikolas Wallin scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter.

Jobey Tvedt raced 76 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“It’s good for our program because our second team played, our JV kids got in, and they had some success,” Magnuson said. “We pulled our starters for obvious reasons, and now, those kids gained varsity experience.

“Hopefully, that pays off another year from now. That’s how our program runs. We want to get our kids an opportunity to play.”

PL 35 7 6 8—56

HHS 0 0 0 0—0

First Quarter:

PL—Bryar Nordby 60 punt return (pass failed)

PL—Landon Brill 35 pass from Mike Oseland (Jobey Tvedt run)

PL—Brill 9 run (Jerome Martin kick)

PL—Brill 35 interception return (Martin kick)

PL—Aaron Clark 31 pass from Oseland (Martin kick)

Second Quarter:

PL—Ben Broskovetz 15 pass from Oseland (Martin kick)

Third Quarter:

PL—Nikolas Wallin 4 run (run failed)

Fourth Quarter:

PL—Tvedt 76 run (Wyatt Verville run)

Cherry 41,

Littlefork-Big Falls 0

IRON—Noah Asuma and Isaiah Asuma both had two touchdowns as the Tigers rolled over the Vikings in their home opener at Tom Koskela Memorial Field Friday.

Noah Asuma scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter, then he had a 10-yard scamper in the third quarter.

Isaiah Asuma caught two 33-yard scoring strikes from Noah Sundquist in the second quarter.

Ian Kimmes caught 2-yard pass from Sundquist in the first quarter, and Sundquist scored a 33-yard run in the third quarter.

LBF 0 0 0 0—0

CHS 15 14 12 0—41

First Quarter:

C—Ian Kimmes 2 pass from Noah Sundquist (Noah Asuma pass from Sundquist)

C—Noah Asuma 1 run (Sundquist kick)

Second Quarter:

C—Isaiah Asuma 33 pass from Sundquist (kick failed)

C—Isaiah Asuma 33 pass from Sundquist (kick failed)

Third Quarter:

C—Sundquist 33 run (pass failed)

C—Noah Asuma 10 run (run failed)

Fourth Quarter:

No scoring