Down 21 points in the third quarter, Hermantown mounted an epic comeback to defeat top-seeded North Branch 35-28 in the Class 4A, Section 7 prep football championship game on Friday night at Marv Heikkinen Field in West Duluth.
Hawks defeat North Branch, advance to state 4A prep football quarterfinals
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Plante scores game-winner in World Championship exhibition
Former Hermantown standout Max Plante scored a third-period goal as Team USA defeated Germany 5-2 in its lone exhibition game ahead of the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship before a sellout crowd of 12,909 at SAP Arena. Plante, a sophomore forward from University of Minnesota Duluth and the
Howie: Max Plante on preliminary U.S. world championship roster
The IIHF Men’s World Championship annually serves as the highest-profile international men’s hockey tournament outside the Winter Olympics, drawing many of the world’s top professional and amateur players after the NHL regular season concludes.
Plante, Gajan lead Bulldogs’ 2025-26 award recipients
Howie's daily column is sponsored by Lyric Kitchen Bar. University of Minnesota Duluth honored six players with its 2025-26 men’s hockey team awards Wednesday, headlined by sophomore forward Max Plante, who capped a historic season as the Bulldogs’ most valuable player. Plante, a Hermantown native, received the
Howie: Hobey in hand, unfinished business ahead for Plante and Bulldogs
A group that could have fragmented chose to remain intact, and that continuity alters expectations in a meaningful way. Teams that stay together tend to become harder to play against, not just because of talent, but because of familiarity and shared understanding.
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AF1 Scoreboard
Albany 60, Michigan 57 – Quarterback Sam Castranova passed for 316 yards and nine touchdowns Saturday night as Albany held on against host Michigan at Dow Event Center. Castranova, the reigning AF1 league and playoff MVP, completed 29 of 39 passes, receiver Isiah Scott caught nine passes for 107 yards and
Howie: Why LSC is winning the local college enrollment battle
For years, America subtly treated trade education as a secondary path for students who supposedly could not “make it” academically. That narrative now looks outdated and borderline absurd. Many technical programs are competitive, mathematically rigorous and tied to industries starving for talent.
Howie: The Northland’s media ecosystem is messy
No single institution controls the public conversation anymore. The region now operates inside a decentralized information economy where television owns immediacy, newspapers own documentation, Facebook owns emotional momentum and independent publishers increasingly own personality-driven loyalty.
Howie: Duluth moves beyond emergency shelter thinking
Serious cities eventually discover homelessness sits at the intersection of housing costs, addiction, mental illness, family collapse, poverty and social isolation. Remove one piece while ignoring the others and the system keeps recycling human beings through crisis.