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HERMANTOWN — Hermantown has spent September demonstrating how quickly it can change a football game. Cloquet has spent the past two weeks demonstrating how quickly it can change a season.
The teams collide tonight in one of the more intriguing early-season Northeast Red Conference games in northeastern Minnesota, when Hermantown (3-0) hosts resurgent Cloquet (2-1) in the Hawks’ homecoming game at Centricity Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
There is plenty attached to this one beyond homecoming. Hermantown enters 2-0 in Northeast Red play and is approaching a difficult October stretch that begins next Friday at unbeaten Grand Rapids. Cloquet is 1-1 in the conference after rebounding from a lopsided opening-night loss at Grand Rapids. A victory tonight would strengthen either team’s position before a final month filled with conference and Section 7, Class 4A implications.
Hermantown has been one of the region’s most explosive teams through three games, defeating Duluth Denfeld 48-13, Proctor 50-8 and Duluth East 48-27. The Hawks have scored 146 points — 48.7 per game — while allowing 48. They have scored at least 48 points every Friday and have repeatedly produced those points without needing large numbers of offensive snaps.
Senior running back Martin Sleen remains the player every Cloquet defender will have to locate before every snap.
The North Dakota State commit opened the season by rushing for 172 yards and four touchdowns on only 13 attempts against Denfeld. He averaged 13.2 yards per carry as Hermantown rushed for 320 yards on 39 attempts in the 48-13 victory. Owen Simonson added 56 rushing yards, Kalven Skur 34 and Sawyer Johnson 30 as the Hawks scored six times on the ground.
Hermantown showed its offensive depth a week later at Proctor. The Hawks rushed for 235 yards on just 22 carries — another 10.7-yard average — while accumulating 297 total yards on only 28 offensive plays in the 50-8 victory.
Sleen needed only four carries to gain 75 yards and score, including a 42-yard run. Skur had 70 yards on five attempts, Johnson rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown, Simonson had 23 yards and a score and Bryson Eischen added 22 yards and a touchdown. Hermantown scored five rushing touchdowns, completed four of five passes for 62 yards and did not punt.
The Hawks were equally impressive defensively against Proctor. They held the Rails to 106 total yards, seven first downs and an 0-for-9 performance on third down. Proctor ran 41 plays and averaged only 2.6 yards per snap while Hermantown averaged 10.6.
Then came Sleen’s extraordinary performance against Duluth East.
He rushed for 212 yards and five touchdowns on 15 carries and returned a kickoff for another touchdown as Hermantown won 48-27. He averaged 14.1 yards per attempt, and the Hawks rushed for 309 yards on only 29 carries. Hermantown generated 343 total yards and seven touchdowns on just 35 offensive plays.
That means Sleen has rushed for at least 459 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in three games, despite receiving only 32 carries in those games for which complete individual numbers are available. His impact stretches beyond the rushing statistics because he also has been used as a receiver and return man.
Hermantown received another significant boost against East with the return of veteran quarterback Sawyer Senst, who had been recovering from a serious knee injury. Senst gives the Hawks a more experienced passing-game presence behind an offense that had been effectively managed by Brock Hoglund during his absence. Hoglund completed all three of his passes for 55 yards and a touchdown against Proctor.
The problem for defenses is becoming obvious. Loading the box to contain Sleen, Skur and Hermantown’s running game creates opportunities for Senst and the passing attack. Playing more conservatively on the back end gives Hermantown’s offensive line opportunities to create running lanes for one of the most dangerous backs in Minnesota.
Seniors Nate Haedrich, Lane Holden and Neo Carlson are important pieces up front, while Blake Amundson, Fletcher Wrazidlo and Devan Zembo are among the Hawks who help establish their physical style. Amundson and Ethan McCubbin intercepted passes against East after Hermantown held the Greyhounds to 115 rushing yards on 28 attempts.
Cloquet presents a very different three-game resume.
The Lumberjacks were overwhelmed 56-14 at Grand Rapids in their opener, a result that could have damaged a young season. Instead, Cloquet responded with consecutive victories — 41-18 over Esko and 35-8 over North Branch — to arrive in Hermantown at 2-1.
Since the Grand Rapids loss, Cloquet has outscored its opponents 76-26.
The turnaround began against Esko, when Cloquet produced perhaps its most revealing performance of the season.
Jacob Parks intercepted two passes, rushed for 72 yards and scored two touchdowns. His first score came on a 4-yard run, and he later broke a 23-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Parks had 13 carries for 68 yards in another published statistical accounting of the game and was recognized among Minnesota’s standout Week 2 performers.
Quarterback Keith Diver threw three touchdown passes for 96 yards against Esko. Two went to Max Jazdzewski, covering 14 and 16 yards, and another went to Jayce Laine from 4 yards. Cloquet also received 100 rushing yards from Jack Horvat, while Blake Prosen added a 4-yard touchdown run.
That game showed why Hermantown cannot approach Cloquet as simply another opponent standing between it and Grand Rapids.
Cloquet can run the football with several backs, Diver has shown he can punish defenses through the air, and Parks is capable of changing a game on offense and defense. Against Esko, he accounted for two rushing touchdowns and two interceptions while rarely leaving the field. Kyler Reuvers added seven solo tackles.
The Lumberjacks followed that performance by beating North Branch 35-8, their second consecutive game scoring at least 35 points and their second straight defensive performance holding an opponent below 20. Cloquet therefore arrives having corrected much of what went wrong in the 56-14 opener.
