Junior running back Markus Pokornowski scored 30 points on four touchdowns and three conversions to lead Cloquet to a 38-20 Northeast Red victory over Duluth East in high school football action Friday night in Cloquet.
Pokornowski rushed 16 times for 77 yards and two scores while adding four receptions for 48 yards for the Lumberjacks (6-1), ranked No. 10 in Class AAAA, while senior quarterback Riley Leslie was efficient, completing 11 of 13 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior Alex Leuzzo added three receptions for 57 yards and another score while Andre Peters paced the defense with seven tackles.
Junior Elijah Leonard had 18 rushes for 107 yards and a touchdown to lead the Greyhounds (3-4). Junior quarterback Caden Edwards was 12 of 28 passing for 144 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, while senior E.J. Hietala led the defense with 7.5 tackles.
Duluth East 0-0-6-14-20
Cloquet 8-14-16-0-38
C - Markus Pokornowski 3 run (Pokornowski run)
C - Pokornowski 14 pass from Riley Leslie (run failed)
C - Alex Leuzzo 29 pass from Leslie (Pokornowski run)
DE - Collin Peterson 6 pass from Caden Edwards (pass failed)
C - Pokornowski 7 run (Pokornowski run)
C - Pokornowski 18 pass from Leslie (Leslie run)
DE - Edwards 14 run (pass failed)
DE - Dekarri Davis fumble recovery (Derek Daniels pass from Edwards)
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Duluth Denfeld 51, Hibbing 8
Dominic Klaas gained 207 yards rushing on just six attempts, scoring on touchdown runs of 59, 92 and 23 yards in the Hunters' convincing Northeast Red win at Public Schools Stadium.
Montrell McMillan added 123 yards on the ground in eight carries, scoring on a 49-yard run during a 43-point first half
Austin Broska tacked on two TD runs for Denfeld (4-3).
Hibbing 0-0-8-0-8
Duluth Denfeld 30-13-8-0-51
DD - Dominic Klaas 59 run (Klaas pass from Kade Shea)
DD - Wryott Gerson 14 pass from Shea (Bryce Rainey run)
DD - Klaas 92 run (kick failed)
DD - Austin Broska 15 run (Tyrell Beckom run)
DD - Montrell McMillan 49 run (kick failed)
DD - Klaas 23 run (Gerson kick)
DD - Broska 38 run (Gerson pass from Caleb Lustig)
H - Blace Tomberlin 59 run (Dominic Marchetti run)
Rice Lake 33, Superior 21
The Spartans saw their season come to an end with the Big Rivers Conference loss at NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
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Knowing they needed a win for a chance to make the Wisconsin playoffs, the Spartans played toe-to-toe with the Warriors through the first quarter.
The Spartans took a 7-6 lead on Conner Fonger's 5-yard run with 3:35 left in the opening quarter.
But Rice Lake quarterback Peyton Buckley had a hand in three Warriors touchdowns in the second quarter. He ran in from 1 and 50 yards and threw a 5-yard TD pass to DeAirus Clerveaux.
Superior (4-5, 2-5) recovered the onside kick to start the second half, which set up Caden Stone's 38-yard TD run.
Rice Lake 6-20-0-7-33
Superior 7-0-8-6-21
RL - DeAirus Clerveaux 57 run (kick blocked)
S - Conner Fonger 5 run (Nate Peterson kick)
RL - Peyton Buckley 1 run (run failed)
RL - Buckley 50 run (run failed)
RL - D. Clerveaux 12 pass from Buckley (Marquez Clerveaux run)
S - Caden Stone 38 run (Jarrett Gronski run)
RL - Robert Hush 3 run (Braeden Verbsky kick)
S - Gronski 6 run (run failed)
Northwestern 76, Barron 6
The Tigers completed their first undefeated regular season since 2010 with their win at Barron.
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The Tiger scored early and often, including 41 points in the first quarter alone as they improved to 9-0 overall and 7-0 in the Heart O' North Conference.
Reagan Ruffi scored the first three touchdowns and had four for the game.
The Tigers begin play in the state playoffs next Friday.
Northwestern 41-28-7-0-76
Barron 0-6-0-0-6
N - Reagan Ruffi 24 run (Isaac Nichols kick)
N - Ruffi 33 run (Nichols kick)
N - Ruffi 30 run (Nichols kick)
N - Bryson Mazur interception return (Nichols kick)
N - Keegan Plasch 15 pass from Jake Brill (kick failed)
N - Trevor Janowicz 7 run (Nichols kick)
N - Sam Risley 18 pass from Jake Brill (Nichols kick)
N - Ruffi 26 run (Nichols kick)
N - Nate Ohman 10 run (Nichols kick)
B - Wyatt Boe 86 pass from Andrew Williams (pass failed)
N - Mazur 44 run (Nichols kick)
N - Isaiah Wiita 18 run (Alex Goodlet kick)
International Falls 22,
Eveleth-Gilbert 6
Senior Armando Barrios scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the Broncos to the Northeast White home victory.
Barrios opened the scoring with a 1-yard run in the first quarter, and then added an 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter for International Falls (2-5).
Junior quarterback Nick Beaudette's 44-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the lone score for Eveleth-Gilbert (2-4).
Eveleth-Gilbert 0-0-0-6-6
International Falls 8-6-8-0-22
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IF - Armando Barrios 1 run (Anthony Saari pass from Jace Hallin)
IF - Saari 2 run (pass failed)
IF - Barrios 82 kick return (Saari pass from Hallin)
EG - Nick Beaudette 44 run (run failed)
Mesabi East 26, East Central 6
Cole Meyer rushed for 123 yards on 22 carries and scored three touchdowns in the Giants' road win.
Meyer also returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown to close the scoring for Mesabi East (5-1), which gained 334 yards rushing in the game.
Mesabi East 6-12-0-8-26
East Central 6-0-0-0-6
ME - Cole Meyer 1 run (run failed)
EC - Avery Anderson 20 pass from Vern Anderson III (kick failed)
ME - Meyer 5 run (run failed)
ME - Meyer 3 run (run failed)
ME - Meyer 30 fumble return (Zach Hellender from Tyler Baribeau)
Barnum 42, Braham 8
Jake Nynas rushed for five touchdowns, which totaled just 13 yards, as Barnum won the battle of the Bombers with Braham.
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Nynas had four 3-yard TDs to go along with a 1-yard plunge.
Reed Kronivich also scored from a yard out for Barnum, while Luke Bendickson caught a 64-yard TD pass from Jacob Johnson for Braham's touchdown.
Braham 8-0-0-0-8
Barnum 8-14-12-8-42
Ba - Jake Nynas 3 run (Brandon Nelson run)
Br - Luke Bendickson 64 pass from Jacob Johnson (Ryan Roslin run)
Ba - Reed Kornivich 1 run (Tyler Nynas run)
Ba - J. Nynas 1 run (pass failed)
Ba - J. Nynas 3 run (run failed)
Ba - J. Nynas 3 run (run failed)
Ba - J. Nynas 3 run (Nathan Moors run)
Cook County 22,
Mountain Iron-Buhl 0
Senior wide receiver Jackson Haussner scored three touchdowns as the Vikings stayed unbeaten with the District 9 Blue victory in Grand Marais in what could be a possible Section 5 final preview.
Haussner opened the scoring with a 60-yard kickoff return, then caught two long touchdown passes from senior quarterback Josh Prom to give Cook County some cushion.
The Vikings (7-0), ranked fifth in Nine-Man under first-year coach Bryan Carpenter, are known for their scoring. They came in averaging 51 points per game, second to Cromwell-Wright's 56.7 ppg, but can play defense as well as evidenced by their second shutout of the season.
MIB (5-2) came in averaging 40.7 points per game.
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Mountain Iron-Buhl 0-0-0-0-0
Cook County 8-0-6-8-22
CC - Jackson Haussner 60 kickoff return (Josh Prom run)
CC - Haussner 35 pass from Prom (run failed)
CC - Haussner 50 pass from Prom (Prom run)
South Ridge 44, Chisholm 20
Joe Janke, the Northland's leading rusher through six weeks, gained 259 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns in the Panthers' road victory.
Janke surpassed 1,500 yards rushing on the season for South Ridge, which totaled 484 yards on the ground.
Two of Chisholm's three touchdowns came on Harrison Reinke kickoff returns.
South Ridge 16-22-6-0-44
Chisholm 0-14-0-6-20
SR - Joe Janke 14 run (Janke run)
SR - Matt Clark 5 run (Jayton Nelson pass from Riley Kinsley)
SR - Nick Larson 7 pass from Kinsley (Tyler Anderson run)
C - Harrison Reinke 70 kickoff return (pass failed)
SR - Connor Bushbaum 3 run (Janke run)
C - Reinke 78 kickoff return (Jacob Fena run)
SR - Janke 5 run (pass failed)
SR - Bushbaum 4 run (run failed)
C - Eli Sundquist 4 run (pass failed)
LATE THURSDAY
MLWR 22, Pine City 12
On a field that resembled a mud pit, the visiting Rebels (5-2) won their second straight on Thursday night.
Anakin Oswald's 104 rushing yards and two TDs led Moose Lake-Willow River, while Trent Juhl added 86 yards on the ground.
Nick Hansmann carried 33 times for 151 yards and a TD and also hauled in a 25-yard scoring strike from quarterback Caleb Fromm to pace the Dragons (1-6), who lost their sixth straight.
Moose Lake-WR 8-8-6-0-22
Pine City 0-6-0-6-12
MLWR - Anakin Oswald 32 run (Oswald run)
PC - Nick Hansmann 4 run (conversion failed)
MLWR - Blake Juhl 25 run (Trent Juhl run)
MLWR - Oswald 1 run (kick failed)
PC - Hansmann 25 pass from Caleb Fromm (conversion failed)
Esko 20, Crosby-Ironton 14
Kevin Gregory III scored from 10 yards out in overtime to give the Eskomos the win Thursday night at Crosby, Minn.
Luke Wagemaker ran in two touchdowns in the second quarter for Esko (2-5).
Esko 0-14-0-0-6-20
Crosby-Ironton 0-6-8-0-0-14
E - Luke Wagemaker 9 run (Eli Blue kick)
E - Wagemaker 4 run (Blue kick)
CI - Ben Edmundson 9 pass from Dakota Mitchell (pass failed)
CI - Edmundson 5 run (Matthew Christopher pass from Mitchell)
E - Kevin Gregory 10 run (kick failed)
CROSS COUNTRY
Cloquet, Proctor win LSC meet
The Cloquet boys, led a 1-2-3-4 finish, and the Proctor girls won team titles Friday at the Lake Superior Conference meet at Grand View Golf Course.
Cloquet's Jordan Allen, with a winning time of 16 minutes, 55.4 seconds, was followed to the finish line by teammates Jesse Bahen, Blaine Bong and Aidan Ripp as the Lumberjacks beat runner-up Proctor by 53 points.
Proctor senior Sydney Binsfield led the Rails past Cloquet by nine points in the girls race by reaching the finish line first in 19:32.6.
