The Hatchet football team just needed a ‘W.’
And it got one with Friday’s 25-22 home triumph over Concordia Academy.
“It was a great win!” THS coach John Larson said. “After a tough loss last week, the Hatchets bounced back with a much-needed win.
“The D-Line put pressure on the quarterback all night and the DB’s and LB’s did a great job in pass coverage. Offensively, we wanted to play smash-mouth football. We were able to finish off drives, something we were struggling with.”
Concordia was averaging 42 points a game and 380 yards passing, but Tomahawk limited Dan Hartman to 10-of-29 passing for 181 yards with two interceptions and 5 deflected passes.
In the meantime, THS pounded out 217 rushing yards led by Mitch McAllister (18-102), Jacob Swenty (14-67) and Adam FauFau (12-47). Andy Firkus completed 4-of-6 passes for 14 yards including a 10-yard TD pass to Clay Borchardt to give the Hatchets a 25-9 lead with 2:17 left in the third quarter. Craig Swan blocked a punt to give them the ball.
Tomahawk had gotten to 18-9 on a 25-yard McAllister dash one player after Austin Bellile’s fumble recovery with 5:50 to go in the 3rd.
Kory Brietzke had returned an interception 37 yards to set up 28-yard drive-capped by McAllister’s one-yard blast-with seven minutes gone in the game. But Concordia added an 81-yard punt return to a early safety to grab a 9-6 lead. But Swenty cruised 14 yards for a touchdown midway through the 2nd, to put THS on top 12-9.
Concordia did score on two runs in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to prevail.
The Tomahawk defense was paced by: Swan (6 s, 3 a, 2 PBU), Payton DuPlayee (2 s, 5 a, 1 PBU, 1 int), Nate Erickson (3 s, 4 a, 1 FC), and Borchardt (1 s, 1 a, 1 sa, 1 FC).