Hermantown is heavily favored to defeat Rock Ridge in both teams' final high school football regular-season game on Wednesday night.
A Northeast Red victory against the 1-6 Wolverines would be the Hawks’ fifth straight - all conference wins. Hermantown (6-2) will also earn a Section 7AAA playoff home game with a victory.
“We should be the No. 2 seed if we take care of business on Wednesday, which means we would play at home on Saturday the 29th at 6pm,” said Hawks coach Mike Zagelmeyer.
In the meantime, Hermantown can’t take Rock Ridge lightly, said Zagelmeyer.
“We are obviously favored against Rock Ridge, but these types of games give me grey hairs,” he said. “Cloquet let Rock Ridge hang around and it almost cost them. Fans and players always like to look at records, but there is more to it than that. Rock Ridge has some big, physical players and we need to make sure that we come to the game with the proper mindset.
“I think starting fast and getting up on them early is key. The more we let them hang around the more of a battle it will become. The players and coaches can't let all of the time and effort we have put into this season go for not by laying an egg in Eveleth on Wednesday.”
The Hawks rallied to defeat North Branch 21-18 at Corey Veech Field at Centricity Stadium on Friday night, as senior fullback Josh Muehlbauer scored the winning touchdown on a 10-yard run.
“The North Branch game was a tale of two halves, after we literally had nothing going for us in the first half,” said Zagelmeyer. “We weren't completing our assignments on defense and we were three and out on offense. The boys had their heads down at half, but River Freeman gave us a boost with his nice kick return coming out of half, and senior leadership took over from there on senior night. This could have been our season-defining game -- and I love that we played our best football in the second half, which was a nemesis of ours in the first half of the season.
“The defining play of our final drive was the 32-yard post route that Alex (Schott) threaded the needle over the middle to (Brody) Summers on. The line held their blocks long enough and Alex kept his composure with a man in his face to complete the pass and then Brody did the rest. After that play North Branch seemed a little down, they committed a pass interference foul and then Josh got us in the endzone. North Branch still had time to score, but a huge, forced fumble by (Ryder) Wrazidlo and recovery by Keefer Thorsten sealed the deal for us. It was probably one of the more memorable fourth quarters this team has been involved in.”
The Vikings led 12-0 at the half, before Hermantown tightened up defensively and the offense came alive in the second half.
Rocco Ericksen scored on a 20-yard touchdown run and Schott’s strike to Summers gave Hermantown a short-lived 14-12 lead, before North Branch’s Loghan Croal scored on a 50-yard run.
Then Muehlbauer, arguably Hermantown's most valuable player, put the Hawks’ offense on his broad shoulders to secure the victory.
📷 Shawna Jokinen | Freeway North Photography