Quote Me, Howie

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Howie

Legendary Hermantown football coach Mike Zagelmeyer on his team's impressive 56-12 home victory over Duluth East on Friday night, and looking ahead to the Hawks' nonconference game at Esko Thursday – "I thought we played our best offensive half of football to date on Friday against Duluth East. Our offense started fast out of the gate. I thought our line did a nice job of blocking it up. Martin Sleen (9 carries, 152 yards, 4 TDs) was tremendous in the run game and Aidan Adamski (6 carries, 31 yards, 1 TD) added a nice change of pace. But to see Evan Senst, Andre Morton, Mason Humphreys, Kyle LaValley and Adan Sandoval-Luna block was the story of the game. Their work allowed Coach (Greg) Aker to run a balanced attack and give Alex Schott (11-13, 181 yards, 2 TDs) the time needed in the pass game. Grant Johnson (4 receptions, 104 yards, 1 TD) continues to be a real weapon in the pass game. For whatever reason, we were firing on all cylinders on Friday. It was fun to be a part of as a coach. I thought our defense was very opportunistic and physical on Friday. Landon Burg's pick-6 (80 yards) was just a tremendous effort on his part. I thought Andre Morton had his best performance as a Hawk. We have always seen glimpses of it, but due to injury he has never really been able to be a consistent force for us. Friday night was really what we had hoped and believed he could give us defensively. Overall, we seem to be figuring out what having a 'team' defense means. The large halftime lead we had allowed us to give some much-needed experience to our younger guys while allowing our starters some valuable rest and time off. This is/was important for both depth and health. The season has now entered 'the grind' portion of the year, and it is important to try to keep everyone healthy and fresh. This week we are traveling to Esko for a game on Thursday at 5 p.m., which is odd. So we will have to adjust our schedule accordingly. Our focus has to be entirely on Esko as they have a tough offense to defend and playmakers to go along with it. The season within a season rolls on."

Duluth Denfeld football coach Erik Lofald on Friday's 38-22 home victory over Cloquet – "Nice win against a well-coached Cloquet team. We were able to bounce back after the North Branch loss (47-12 at North Branch) and reestablish the explosive and physical brand of football we’ve been known for. We are getting great play from the usual suspects but enjoyed great games on defense from junior Jak King and sophomores Keelijah Thomas and Christian Barnette. We’ll need those guys to continue to play well coming down the home stretch. With Grand Rapids upsetting North Branch (29-28, in Grand Rapids) last week, the district and section seeding for playoffs are wide open."

On the Vikings' 5-0 start:

Fred Friedman – "For a guy that confidently picked the Vikes to win 5 games all season, I am very surprised but remain cautious. The last two weeks they have disappeared in the second half on offense and defense and the punting team has brain locked. In both weeks, the rookie placekicker and clutch late interceptions have saved the day. Let’s talk in January."

Brian Prudhomme – "This is a team with a perfect 5-0 record, yet they have shown some imperfections. I hope out of the bye, they can minimize turnovers and penalties while improving in short-yardage situations offensively. The fanbase should be excited about how impressive the team has been in clutch moments. Enjoy each win and try not to wait for the proverbial other shoe to drop — even if we know that is so much easier said than done. SKOL!”