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Legendary Hermantown football coach Mike Zagelmeyer on his team's 41-7 nonconference home loss to unbeaten Esko last week – "Friday night was a good ol' fashioned butt kicking. Our guys probably haven't been in a game like that before, so hopefully some hard lessons were learned. The thing about that game is that we need to immediately flush it, get it out of our system. We have a short week to prepare for a very good Denfeld team (Wednesday, at Centricity Stadium) and that is where our focus is going to be. We don't have the time to rehash all of the mistakes that were made in the Esko game, and I am not sure how productive that would be even if we did have the time. We need to bounce back immediately and compete against a well-coached, hungry, athletic and confident Denfeld team. It will be a huge game for section seeding and I am guessing a possible first round playoff bye will be at stake. So the challenge is right in front of our players and I'm confident they will respond positively to it."
Hermantown boys soccer coach David Thompson on his team's recently-completed season – "Our season was a frustrating one. We could not cultivate offense and that was hard because we have talented guys and players who are coachable and who did everything I asked of them. I loved coaching this team and find success in my experience and the relationships I have with my guys. I wished better things for them and they deserve it. I told them I hope they remember the excellent locker room we had all year. I’ll take a great culture and great guys over trophies every time."
Hermantown boys basketball coach Andy Fenske, previewing this year's team and upcoming season – "We'll led by Abe Soumis, a returning senior starter and an all-around elite player who plays everywhere from point guard to center. He feeds the basketball to his teammates, plays well with his back to the basket, slashes, shoots and does everything.
We'll also be led by Brayden Lundeen, a stretch guard, who's long, lanky and deceptively quick with long limbs. He shoots the ball really well and once he finds his rhythm, he's tough to stop.
We also have Peyton Menzel and Nathan Hill, elite guards and huge team leaders.
They're all top scoring threats, guys could play all 30 minutes if given the opportunity.
Evan Senst is a strong physical player, who is best offensively with his back to the basket. Alex Schott is an elite athlete who adds great defense and has the ability to knock down a shot, an explosive first step and can finish at the rim.
Blake Sundlund plays tough defense and will knock down some threes.
Section 7AAA still runs through us. Denfeld has a chance to be back in the section finals against us. It's always a tough match up against them. Our kids go against Denfeld almost half a dozen times every year between the summer league games and in the high school season, so they know each other's tendencies so well.
Chisago Lakes and Chisago Lakes will also be section contenders. As the defending two-time Section 7AAA champion, the target continues to grow on our back. But our guys thrive on the pressure to three-repeat."
