The Tomahawk grid men ran into perennially tough Edgar on Friday, and the host Wildcats turned a 40-0 halftime lead into a 47-0 victory.
THS finished with 100 yards of offense, five more than the average allowed by Edgar. The Hatchets held Edgar (5-0 Marawood, 6-0 overall) to 215 yards of offense, far fewer than normal given up in a 47-point defeat.
“We knew we would have to play flawlessly in all phases of the game against the #1 ranked team in the state in Division 6 in order to give us a chance,” THS coach John Larson said. “Edgar showed us why their defense has been so stingy. They fly to the ball, and are very physical and disciplined. They didn’t give us much breathing room all night. Offensively, we had some success throwing the football. Kaleb Kaminski did a nice job of finding some open receivers.
“Defensively we gave up way too many big plays, especially through the air. Broken coverages and blown assignments were key mistakes in all of the big plays. It was also the second week in a row where the Hatchets gave up a punt return for a TD.”
Edgar led off the game with a 53-yard return, then pushed it to 26-0 by the end of the first quarter with scoring strikes of 34, 34 and 21 yards. THS did stop two-point tries after the first two TDs. Second quarter runs of 25 and one yards pushed it to 40-0. Another one-yard burst in the third quarter ended the scoring.
Kaminski completed 9-of-19 passes for 98 yards, to Dakota Thompson (2-34), Jordan Roessler (2-33), Jake Borchardt (2-17), and Ian Schoone (1-9).
The THS defense was led by: Borchardt (4 solos, 6 assists); Dane Borchardt (3 S, 4 A); Kaminski (2 S, 6 A); Steven Renn (1 A, 1 TFL, 1 PBU); Brian Vecchio (5 A); Thompson (1 TFL); and Brandon Vecchio (3 A).
Tomahawk (1-4 Marawood, 2-4 overall) will host Cadott (1-5 Cloverbelt, 1-5) for Friday’s Homecoming game.
“We have to have a short memory; Edgar is in the past!” Larson said. “It is a fun week for the student body, but the exclamation point at the end of it is the football game. The Hatchets will be ready!”