No one can accuse THS of scheduling a patsy for Homecoming.
Unbeaten Stanley-Boyd, the third-ranked team in D5, rolled into town on Friday night, breathing fire.
But the Hatchets didn’t quiver. They bucked up and gave a strong performance before losing a 43-20 contest, a score skewed by a couple of miscues.
“Overall it was one of our most complete games of the year,” THS coach John Larson said. “The big differences in the game were two turnovers, a fumble return and interception return for touchdowns. These two plays were big momentum changers. We need to eliminate the turnovers.”
Stanley-Boyd turned the fumble into an 11-yard TD in the first for an 8-0 lead, although a bad punt snap gave THS a short field for Kaleb Kaminski’s one-yard run to cut it to 8-6.
The Orioles were able to rip off four more scores into the third quarter. But Tomahawk closed to 36-12 with Kaminski’s 18-yard pass to Aaron Leonhard. Stanley-Boyd answered with a 14-play, 89-yard drive for a 43-12 lead, but still the Hatchets didn’t quit. Kaminski hit Aaron Schoone with a late 25-yard scoring strike.
“Defensively, the Hatchets continue to impress,” Larson said. “We were very physical, flying to the football and making plays. We held a very good offense to just 260 total yards.
“Offensively, we were better. We still have a long way to go, but the Hatchets’ passing game was solid. Kaleb Kaminski threw the ball well and (Jordan) Roessler and (Lorne) Ahrens had some nice catches. Our running attack fought for some tough yards.”
Kaminski completed 10-of-23 passes for 176 yards with 2 TDs’s and 2 ints., hooking up with Roessler (4-84), Ahrens (4-49), Schoone (1-25) and Leonhard (1-18). THS rushed for 33 yards, paced by Jake Borchardt (12-43), Leonhard (2-14) and Dane Borchardt (2-8).
Leading the defense were: J. Borchardt (6 solos, 6 assists); D. Borchardt (3 S, 6 A); Kaminski (2 S, 4 A); A. Schoone (1 S, 5 A); Leonhard (2 S, 2 A); Jacob Schaper (3 A, 1 sack); Quinton Wallenfang (2 S, 2 A); Ahrens (2 S, 1 A); and John Rupel (2 S).
Tomahawk fell to 1-7 overall, while Stanley-Boyd is 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the Cloverbelt.
The Hatchets will visit Rib Lake/Prentice on Friday for a battle of the 1-6 Marawood teams.