The THS football team made sure it brought the warm feeling to Homecoming on Friday night, crushing Cadott 56-6.
Tomahawk took out most of the guesswork with a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, and eliminated what little remained with a 22-0 margin in the third.
“It was an outstanding Homecoming night for the Hatchets,” THS coach John Larson said. “We played our best football game of the season for four quarters, in all phases of the game.
“It was a great team win for the Hatchets! It was awesome to see a team come together on a big stage, in front of a big crowd. Sometimes teams can get distracted with all the hoopla surrounding weeks like Homecoming, but our guys handled it like true champions!”
After the Hatchets deferred on receiving the kickoff and forged a 3-and-out, the offense drove 79 yards over 13 plays and scored a touchdown.
“That set the tone for the game,” Larson said. “Defensively, we continued to play consistently well. Holding Cadott to just 30 yards rushing and forcing three turnovers, we played very physical and had 11 helmets to the ball. The Hatchets were led by Jake Borchardt and Brandon Vecchio. A big highlight came in the fourth quarter when Jordan Roessler returned an interception 102 yards for a TD.”
Keagan Jach blocked Cadott’s next punt and Nate Flohr scooped it up and dashed six yards for a TD. Jake Borchardt would also open up the second half with a 95-yard kickoff return.
“Special teams really stepped it up!” Larson said. “We had not been playing well on special teams and our guys this week in practice took some pride it getting this phase of our game better.”
THS followed Flohr’s score with a drive capped by Jake Borchardt’s three-yard blast. He would sprint 35 yards in the second to help the Hatchets to a 27-6 halftime lead.
Tomahawk would amass 370 yards of offense, including 319 on the ground. Borchardt gained 161 on 15 carries (10.7 ypc), while Kaleb Kaminski picked up 97 on just six (16.1 ypc), including racing 74 yards for a third-quarter score. Dane Borchardt gained 49 on 12, blasting in from two yards right before Kaminski’s long run.
“Much of the credit needs to go to our offensive line!” Larson said of Quin Wallenfang, Josh Phillips, Tanner Bartz, Jach and Steven Renn. “This group did a great job of opening some nice running lanes and getting some crucial downfield blocks that created big plays.”
Kaminski completed 3-of-7 passes for 51 yards, to J. Borchardt (25 yds.), Roessler (21) and Brian Vecchio (5).
The THS defense was led by: Roessler (3 slos, 1 assist, 1 int., 1 TD ret.); J. Borchardt (2 S, 6 A, 1 TFL, 2 PBU, 1 int.); Brandon Vecchio (1 S, 4 A, 1 TFL, 1 PBU, 1 FF, 1 FR); D. Borchardt (2 S, 6 A); Kaminski (4 S, 2 A); Jach (2 S, 2 A, 1 BK); Flohr (2 A, 1 TD ret.); Isaac Schoone (1 S, 3 A, 1 PBU); Jacob Pieffle (2 A, 1 sack).
Tomahawk (1-4 Marawood, 3-4 overall) hosts Prentice/Rib Lake (0-5 Mara, 1-6) on Friday.