The Ticker: A quick look at area football teams in action

Football

Cloquet-26

North Branch-12

The Lumberjacks were deadlocked with the Vikings 6-6 at halftime and slowly pulled away over the second half to secure the win on the road. Markus Pokornowski ran back a punt early in the first quarter for a 35-yard touchdown, but Cloquet missed the extra point kick and led 6-0 after the opening quarter. The Vikings tied the score in the second quarter when Johnny Snaza picked up a fumble and ran in from three yards out, but the two-point conversion run was stuffed by the ’Jacks. Just after halftime the Lumberjacks went up by seven when Cloquet quarterback Dalton Bottila hit Tony Johnson for a 13-yard touchdown pass and Pokornowski booted the extra point. After North Branch scored on a three-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, the Lumberjacks responded by scoring on back-to-back Pokornowski touchdown runs of five and six yards to take the win and improve to 4-1 on the season.

Barnum-16

Chisholm-14

It took a while, but the Barnum Bombers delivered their first win of the season by fending off the Bluestreaks of Chisholm Friday night in Barnum. After a scoreless first quarter, the Bombers got on the board just before halftime on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Reed Kornivich. Kornivich also tacked on the two-point conversion run to give Barnum an 8-0 lead at the break. Third quarter action saw Blaze Hurst scamper to pay dirt on a 34-yard run and Willie Richardson added the conversion run for a 16-0 Bomber lead. Before the third quarter ended, the Bluestreaks had cut the gap in half on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Warner to Jude Sundquist and a two-point conversion run from Warner. Warner and Sundquist hooked up again in the fourth quarter for a 15-yard touchdown pass and catch, but Barnum stopped the conversion run to preserve its first victory of the season.

Cromwell-Wright-15

Onamia-12

The difference in this one was the ability of the Cards to convert on their extra points. The first score of the game came in the second quarter when Jaeger Goranson slipped into the end zone on a three-yard touchdown rumble. After the extra point kick by Ethan Shelton, the Cards were up 7-0. The third quarter saw Josh Parrow cut the lead for the Panthers to 7-6 on an eight-yard run, but Onamia failed on a two-point conversion run, keeping the Cards out in front. Goranson then ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run to push the Cromwell-Wright lead to 13-6 and Taye Anderson added the two-point conversion run to make it 15-6. Before the third quarter ended the Panthers added their second touchdown of the game — this time on a two-yard touchdown run by Brady Husom. Again the Cards stuffed the conversion run to secure their second win of the season.

Carlton-Wrenshall-56

McGregor-8

The game was never in doubt as the Raptors rode a strong running game to take the win. Matt Santkuyl ran for 161 yards and scored four touchdowns. Justin Swanson added 129 rushing yards and a touchdown in helping the Raptors cruise. In the first quarter Santkuyl ran for scores of 11 and 64 yards with Ryan Gray booting the extra point on both kicks. The second quarter saw Swanson score on a 55-yard touchdown scamper, Santkuyl on a 56-yard run and on a 30-yard touchdown run as well as Kaden Crane latching on to a pass from Gray and racing 56 yards to the end zone. After a Willie Glun run for a Mercs score, Tanner Anderson bolted in from 39-yards away for the Raptors to end the scoring. For the game, Gray added four extra point kicks and Kristian Herman added three extra point kicks for the winners, who are now 5-0 on the season.

South Ridge-32

Cook County-28

After the first quarter of their Friday night road game against Cook County, the South Ridge Panthers were reeling and found themselves in a 14-0 hole. At halftime the Panthers were still down 28-16, but they managed to find their legs after the long bus ride to Grand Marais and scored 16 unanswered points in the second half to down the Vikings 32-28. Conner Bushbaum and his teammates put up 286 yards on the ground, including 83 from Bushbaum in the impressive road win. The victory gives the Panthers a 4-1 record on the season and the Vikings fall to 1-4 with the loss.