'Jacks down Denfeld, face Hawks tonight for section championship

CLOQUET-A year removed from a state runner-up finish, the Cloquet Lumberjacks football team has been on a mission to prove that this year's version of the team can also play some pretty good football. Mission accomplished.

On Saturday afternoon they also had to prove they were capable of winning without one of their best players when Markus Pokornowski went down with an apparent shoulder injury early in the third quarter.

No problem. The 'Jacks rode the strong second-half running of Ryan Badger and downed the Denfeld Hunters 35-26 in the Section 7AAAA semifinals.

"I talked to kids right after he (Pokornowski) came out and pointed out that we still had a game to finish," said Cloquet head coach Tom Lenarz. "They could choose to quit or each guy could find a way to dig a little deeper and make up for what we were missing. There weren't any signs that they wanted to give up and it showed on the field. This is a tough group of kids and they play for each other. When you have that kind of atmosphere you can overcome the loss of one guy during a game."

Pokornowski was nothing short of incredible in the first half and early in the third quarter as he finished with 181 rushing yards on 16 carries before suffering a stinger on his shoulder very early in the second half. That injury caused a scurry of activity on the 'Jacks sideline as the coaching staff not only had to fill his running back role, but also his middle linebacker position. No need to worry. In stepped senior running back Ryan Badger on offense to carry the load.

"It's one of the things about football that is hard for people to understand," explained Lenarz. "Ryan Badger is a pretty good athlete and does a nice job running the football. We spend lots of time in practice making sure the backups get quality reps and are running the same plays that the starters are. This is one of the situations where that kind of time and preparation pay off. He was ready and, as a senior, the moment was not too big for him."

For the record, Badger rushed 13 times in the second half for 72 yards, an average of 5.5 yards per carry. More importantly, the entire 'Jacks backfield plowed through the Hunters for 420 rushing yards - essentially keeping the explosive Denfeld offense off the field.

The offensive explosion started on the Lumberjacks' first play from scrimmage when quarterback Riley Leslie rolled right and found Alex Leuzzo on an underneath drag route that Leuzzo turned into a 90-yard touchdown as he outraced the Denfeld defenders. Noah Niemi tacked on the extra point, making it 7-0 with 8:31 remaining in the first quarter. However, that lead would be short-lived because Wryott Gerson returned the following kickoff 81 yards for a score. Denfeld was stuffed on its two-point conversion attempt, allowing the Lumberjacks to still hold a 7-6 lead.

Enter Pokornowski, who capped off an impressive drive by the Lumberjack offense by scampering in from the 10-yard line with 2:19 left in the first quarter, giving Cloquet a 14-6 lead after the extra-point kick by Niemi.

Leuzzo kept things rolling early in the second quarter on an inside counterplay that went for 34 yards, pushing the 'Jacks lead to 21-6 after the kick by Niemi.

Denfeld answered back on their next drive just 40 seconds later on a Dominic Klaas 33-yard touchdown run, and - after the Hunters scored on a two-point conversion run - the score was 21-14 in favor of the 'Jacks.

"Denfeld is a very good football team and they have guys who can beat you in space and also guys that can run you over," Lenzarz said. "We are a fairly good tackling team and they made us look silly from time to time. Having said that, I think we played hard but not always smart on defense. Everything gets faster in the playoffs so we need to make sure we adjust to that. Guys have to take better angles on outside runs and be more aggressive in wrapping up when they tackle."

A big key in the win for the 'Jacks came late in the first half and early in the third quarter when Pokornowski scored on a 62-yard run and Derek Rengo scored from three yards out. Pokornowski's score came with 4:18 remaining in the first half and was followed by a Leslie-to-Joel-Grimm two-point conversion pass. Rengo's score came early in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 35-14 after the conversion kick was blocked.

Another turning point came after Pokornowski left the game as Denfeld seemed to grab some momentum.

"Momentum is a big deal in high school sports, and when Markus got dinged up you could feel it shifting from us to them," recalled Lenarz. "The Denfeld kids started yelling and getting pumped up and it was up to our kids to respond. The entire offense just took it on themselves to grind out a long TD drive which proved to be a big deal later in the game."

The Hunters made things interesting with a late third-quarter touchdown plus another touchdown with 8:56 remaining in the final quarter, but each time the Cloquet defense thwarted a two-point conversion, keeping them ahead by two scores.

For the game, the Lumberjacks put up 560 yards of total offense compared to 319 for Denfeld. Quarterback Leslie was impressive in the passing game as he finished 6-for-9 with 140 yards and a touchdown. Pokornowski led the rushing attack with 181 yards, Leuzzo was also impressive with 98 yards on just eight carries. Badger added 72 yards; Rengo contributed 39 yards; and Andre Peters chipped in with 30 yards on six carries.

By winning the game, the Lumberjacks have put themselves into the section title game Friday at 7 p.m. against Hermantown, a team they beat 14-0 less than two weeks ago. The game will be played at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth. The game can be heard on WKLK-AM 1230.

On a side note, Cloquet defensive coordinator and assistant coach Jeff Ojanen was named the Northeast Red Assistant Coach of the Year for 2018.

"He is incredibly deserving of this award," Lenarz explained. "Coach Ojanen is one of the most knowledgeable and hardworking assistant coaches I have ever worked with. He has become one of the better defensive minds in the area and we wouldn't be where we are as a program without him. I am excited that his talents and hard work have been recognized by his peers in the football coaching community."