7AAs: Bombers win wild one at Hinckley
Hitting the road as the No. 6 seed for the Section 7AA quarterfinals, Braham engaged in a wild arena football-like game with No. 2 Hinckley-Finlayson Oct. 23 as the Bombers outlasted the Jaguars 44-43.
Freshman QB John Larson completed 25 passes for 295 yards and 6 touchdowns in the upset playoff win at Hinckley Oct. 23.
Braham (5-4) next travels to No. 2 Duluth Marshall (6-3) for the 2 p.m. semifinal game on Saturday, Oct. 27. The Hilltoppers had to rally to defeat No. 7 Deer River 16-14 Tuesday night. In the other 7AA semis, No. 1 Moose Lake-Willow River will host No. 4 Eveleth-Gilbert.
Down 43-36 with 3:11 to play, receptions by Zach Dahlman and a big 3rd-down run by Elijah Overton moved the Bombers downfield. John Larson completed his sixth touchdown pass of the evening when he found Dahlman on the left side for the score with 14.4 seconds left. Bomber Coach Shawn Kuhnke rolled the dice on the clinching 2-point conversion, and it worked when Larson hit Shaun Hollenkamp in the end zone to win it.
Freshman QB Larson had a huge night with 295 yards passing. He found Hollenkamp for TD passes of 5 and 39 yards, then he hit Dylan Altendorf for a 12-yard touchdown as time expired in the first half with the score knotted 21-21.
Meanwhile, the Jaguars were rushing all over the Bombers as Brady Harth finished with 214 yards on the ground and Dylan Libra ran for 140 more. Braham’s Noah Bone caught two TD passes in the second half to help counter Harth’s 5-yard scoring run and Ryan Nelson’s 25-yard pick-six.
Alex Sutton had a monster night for Braham with 17.5 tackles, including two for losses. Tyler Stromlund’s interception helped slow the Jags a bit in the second half.
7AA: Braham 44, Hinckley-Fin. 43
Brhm H-F
First Downs 25 21
Rushing 26/123 50/387
Passing 42/25/1 8/1/1
Passing Yds 295 14
Total Yds 418 401
Bomber Individual Stats
Rushing: Overton 10/75; Larson 15/44; Hollenkamp 1/4. Passing: Larson 42/25/1- 295 yds, 6 TD. Receiving: Hollenkamp 10/145, 2 TD, 2 2pt; Dahlman 10/100, TD; Bone 3/32, 2 TD; Altendorf 1/12, TD; Braund 1/6. Tackles: Sutton 17.5, Overton 10, Hollenkamp 8.5, Dahlman 4.5, Monson 4, Braund 4, Stromlund 3.5 (int), Altendorf 3.5. Kicking: Dahlman 2 xpts, 6 kickoffs 30.5 avg.
• In the GPFA Red closer Oct. 17, the Bombers defeated visiting Ogilvie 34-8. Elijah Overton had a breakout game with 156 yards rushing, scoring on runs of 3, 71 and 16 yards.
Larson completed 13 passes for 262 yards which included a 30-yard scoring strike to Dylan Altendorf and a 49-yard TD pass to Dahlman.
Barnum wrapped up the GPFA Red championship with a 57-20 win over Deer River that same evening.
Braham 34, Ogilvie 8
Brhm Ogilv
First Downs 16 8
Rushing 21/209 38/149
Passing 24/13/0 10/2/1
Passing Yds 262 5
Total Yds 471 154
Bomber Individual Stats
Rushing: Overton 7/156, 3 TD; T.Johnson 5/25; Braund 1/17, Larson 6/12. Passing: Larson 24/13/0- 262 yds, 2 TD. Receiving: Altendorf 3/96, TD; Hollenkamp 4/86; Dahlman 4/65, TD; Overton 1/10. Tackles: Sutton 11.5 (sack), Braund 8, Overton 3.5, Dahlman 3 (sack), Lanhart 3.
Great Polar Football All. Red
FINAL: Barnum 6-0, 6-2; Cook Co. 5-1, 6-1; Braham 4-2, 4-4; Deer River 3-3, 3-5; East Central 2-4, 3-5; Mesabi East 1-5, 1-7; Ogilvie 0-6, 0-8
Section 7AA standings: Moose Lake-WR 8-0; Duluth Marshall 5-3; Hinckley-Fin. 6-2; Eveleth-Gilbert 4-4; Rush City 3-5; Braham 4-4; Deer River 3-5; Two Harbors 0-8.
