Dan Higgs added a pair of touchdown runs for Two Harbors and Casey Morsette threw two TD passes.

Alex Gornick scored both touchdowns for the Bluestreaks.

C -- Alex Gornick 1 run (run failed)

TH -- Dan Higgs 5 run (Higgs run)

TH -- Darren Thewis 8 run (Thewis run)

TH -- Thewis 81 run (pass failed)

TH -- Higgs 4 run (Reese Conrow pass from Casey Morsette)

C -- Gornick 32 run (pass failed)

TH -- Erik Magnuson 44 pass from Morsette (kick failed)

TH -- Brady Johnson 5 run (kick failed)

Game 2 - September 8, 2006 at Halsted Field, Two Harbors


TWO HARBORS - 22, DULUTH MARSHALL - 14

It was the 11th straight loss for Duluth Marshall (0-2).

DM -- Clayton Schnell 2 run (Schnell run)

TH -- Darren Thewis 3 run (Casey Morsette run)

DM -- Brian Erola 15 pass from Logan Curwin (run failed)

TH -- Dan Higgs 3 run (run failed)

TH -- Thewis 3 run (Thewis run)

Game 3 - September 15, 2006 at Halsted Field, Two Harbors


TWO HARBORS - 45, NASHWAUK-KEEWATIN - 29

Sophomore Erik Magnuson scored four touchdowns and junior Darren Thewis had 168 yards rushing on 28 carries to lead the No. 6-ranked Agates to the home win.

Casey Morsette completed 5 of 7 passes for 134 yards. Magnuson had four catches, three for touchdowns, for 125 yards.

TH -- Casey Morsette 1 run (Darren Thewis run)

TH -- Montrel Hemsworth 30 run (kick failed)

NK -- J.J. Wright 5 run (Brian Clusiau kick)

TH -- Erik Magnuson 36 pass from Morsette (pass failed)

TH -- Magnuson 21 pass from Morsette (run failed)

TH -- Magnuson 75 kickoff return (kick failed)

NK -- Kenny Kruger 46 pass from Wright (kick failed)

TH -- Magnuson 37 pass from Morsette (kick failed)

NK -- Wright 10 pass from Clusiau (Kruger from Wright)

TH -- Brady Johnson 1 run (Jon Alvarez kick)

NK -- Collin Anderson 43 run (Wright from Clusiau)

Game 4 - September 22, 2006 at Esko

ESKO - 18, TWO HARBORS  - 14

Eskomos surprise Agates

POLAR LEAGUE:Esko reaches into its bag of tricks to beat Two Harbors.

BY RICK WEEGMAN

NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

ESKO - Down by two and stuck deep in his own territory late in the game on a slippery field, Esko coach Bill Hudspith called a play that probably should have been buried deep in his playbook for a player that had been buried deep on the bench.

Senior wide receiver Erik Reinertsen, inactive for the last two weeks due to a leg injury, caught an 86-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Hall on his first play of the game to give Esko an 18-14 high school football victory over fourth-ranked Two Harbors on Friday night.

"Kyle put it right where I needed it," Reinertsen said of the pass he caught in stride along the left sideline and outraced the Agates' secondary to the end zone with 6:04 to play. "We needed a big play and Kyle gave it to us."

It's not surprising that the Eskomos (3-1, 1-1 Polar League AA) turned to a big play -- as their offense is usually predicated on them -- but using it from their own 14-yard line on a sloppy field during a steady rain was taking a chance.

"I said, 'We've got to take a couple shots deep,' " Hudspith said about the play call.

Hudspith also decided at the last moment to send Reinertsen onto the field.

"We weren't going to use him, but he was pretty fresh and he's probably our fastest kid," Hudspith said. "I'd been trying to go deep, but I didn't know if we had the protection to do that. We were running out of time and we were going to lose so we ran a fade to him."

Hall, who completed only 4 of 7 passes for 126 yards, had difficulty executing the passing game with a wet football. But his only pass of the second half was timed perfectly.

"It's hard to throw the ball in the rain; I had trouble with it. But (that throw) felt great," the senior said. "Nobody really expects you to do it. When you do it, it shocks the other team. We like to catch teams off guard. We try not to be predictable."

Two Harbors (3-1, 1-1), on the other hand, is very predictable. The Agates rarely break out of their double-wing offense, but the results are usually hard to argue with.

Halfback Darren Thewis, the Northland's rushing leader with 601 yards entering the game, rushed for 106 yards on 34 carries and helped the Agates win the time of possession battle. Two Harbors ran 33 plays to Esko's 19 in the second half.

Matt Wicklund's blocked punt and recovery set up Casey Morsette's 1-yard quarterback sneak, and Dan Higgs' 3-yard run gave Two Harbors a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter.

Kyle Potswald, who led Esko with 88 yards on nine carries, scored twice in the second quarter on bread-and-butter plays to trim the score to 14-12.

"The only thing we talked about all week was their option, their counter and their fade," Agates coach Tom Nelson said. "Those were their three touchdowns: their option, their counter and their fade."

Nelson said keeping a lead has been problematic for his state-ranked team.

"We were coasting, and that's the challenge with this team," he said. "We've done it every game. That's our calling card.

"One of the kids said, 'We don't know how much heart we have right now.' That's not a negative; we just don't know if we have the ability to put teams away."

Esko showed it has that ability, no matter what the playing conditions are like.

Two Harbors  14  0 0 0--14
Esko                0 12 0 6--18

TH -- Casey Morsette 1 run (run failed)

TH -- Dan Higgs 3 run (Darren Thewis run)

E -- Kyle Potswald 9 run (kick failed)

E -- Potswald 7 run (pass failed)

E -- Erik Reinertsen 86 pass from Kyle Hall (run failed)

Game 5 - September 29, 2006 at Halsted Field, Two Harbors


BARNUM - 26, TWO HARBORS - 7

Sophomore Eric Johnson ran for a pair of touchdowns as the visiting Bombers beat the Agates in a nonconference game.

Game 6 - October 6, 2006 at Coleraine

GREENWAY - 28, TWO HARBORS  - 3

Jason Groth
Grand Rapids Herald-Review

The Greenway Raiders celebrated homecoming with a convincing 28-3 victory over the Two Harbors Agates on Friday evening at the Dixon-Barle Field in Coleraine.  “It was a fun game,” Greenway head coach Bob Schwartz said. “We took over in the second half and wore them down a bit. Our defense played really well, tonight.”  The Raiders used a solid ground attack and dominated up front wearing down the Agates in picking up the win.   “Our offensive line struggled at first and Two Harbors came out with a good defense,” Schwartz said. “They had a good gameplan, until we could get in at halftime and get a look at it. But, then our offensive line wore them out.”

The game started out as a defensive battle in the first half as the teams combined to score 10 second quarter points.  The Raiders were solid up front in containing Darrin Thewis, one of the top running backs in the area. Thewis struggled for most of the evening as did much of the Agate offense.  The Agates had good field position to start out after a Greenway punt. However, relinquished it quickly when Casey Morsette threw a pass that was intercepted by Tim Bielecki. The Raiders were unable to capitalize and punted the ball away on the ensuing possession.  The Raiders continued to bottle up Thewis and forced another punt in the first quarter.  The Raiders took advantage and marched down field to pick up the game’s first points on the first play of the second quarter.

On the drive, Dan Kessler ran for 22 yards. Quarterback Alex Guyer connected with Bielecki for a key third-down conversion for 22 yards. Joe Westlake gained four tough yards for the game’s first touchdown to make it 6-0. Matt Estey added the extra point and the Raiders grabbed the 7-0 lead.  The Agates used up much of the clock in the second quarter when they went on a 17-play drive that led to three-points. The Agates slowly marched down field and utilized the air when Morsette connected with Reese Conrow, twice, for 15-yard gains each play.  With the clock winding down in the first half, the Agates faced a third and goal at the three-yard line, Morsette went to the air and found Dave Schnurrer, but the Raiders sniffed the play out and tackled Schnurrer for a six-yard loss. The Agates called time out and kicker Cori Conrow nailed a 26-yard field goal to put the Agates on the board, 7-3. However, instead of the six-points, the Agates had to settle for three after a 17-play drive.  “If they would have scored there it would have been 7-7 heading into halftime and they would have all the momentum.” Schwartz said. “We were able to hold them and it gave us the momentum heading into the half.” 

The Agates started the second half with the ball, however, were unable to move and were forced to punt.  Greenway marched down field behind the legs of Kessler. Kessler rushed for 34-yards on the drive. Cord Semontink finished the drive off with a two-yard touchdown run to make it 14-3 after Estey nailed the extra point.   The Raiders continued to wear down the Agates and pummel them up front behind a solid offensive line. The Agates, however, held the Raiders on their next possession forcing a punt.   The Agates were hoping to cut into the lead but back-to-back sacks by Westlake and Dan Foster ended those hopes and forcing an Agate punt.  On the very first play from scrimmage, Kessler busted free for the game’s biggest play. Kessler broke to the left side of the field and cut it back inside and broke free for an 84-yard touchdown run which gave the Raiders a commanding 21-3 lead in the fourth quarter.  “Kessler stepped it up a notch tonight. He ran hard when he had to,” Schwartz said. “He kind of wore them out, too. The holes kept getting a little bigger and he made a heck of a run on the 84-yard touchdown.”

The Agates were forced to go to the air and were unable to do anything offensively after giving up the big run to Kessler. Thewis was stopped on first down and Morsette threw two incomplete passes forcing an Agate punt.  The Raiders went back to the ground and scored quickly. Kessler started the drive with runs of eight and 32-yards to move the Raiders inside Agate territory. On the third play of the drive, Tim Frings rushed for a 15-yard touchdown to make it 27-3. After the extra point it was 28-3.   After an Agate punt, the Raiders went to the ground and ran out the clock enabling Greenway to pick up the convincing 28-3 homecoming victory over the Two Harbors Agates.

Kessler was the leading rusher in the contest rushing for more than 200-yards in the game and one touchdown. The Raiders improve to 5-1 overall on the season and will now prepare to face the Deer River Warriors on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in Deer River.   “It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” Schwartz said. “They have a great football team and it’s going to be over there. It’s going to be standing room only and it’s going to be fun.”

Game 7 - October 12, 2006 at Willow River

Section Playoffs, Round 1 - October 24, 2006 at Hermantown

They needed to believe. They needed to persevere.

“It’s hard to stay up when you are 0-3,” Illikainen said Tuesday. “But we didn’t get down too much and got back on track.”

And while the Hawks fell short of that original goal, finishing the regular season 4-1, they kept their postseason hopes alive with a 43-14 win over Two Harbors in a Section 7AAA quarterfinal game on a soggy Corey Veeck Field on Tuesday night.

Illikainen said the undefeated finish was the first part of a bigger goal – being the best team in the Section 7AAA. In order to do so, they must beat International Falls in a 7AAA semifinal road game at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Broncos feature star running back DeAngelo Brackins, a 5-foot-11, 205 pound senior, who has scored 130 points in his last three games including six touchdowns and seven extra points in a 78-8 win over Virginia on Tuesday. International Falls beat Hermantown 30-14 on Sept. 15.

“He has speed and quickness that we have to contain,” Illikainen said. “We have to put helmets on him. We have weapons, too, that they have to defend.”

One of those weapons is senior running back Chad Huttle, who had eight rushes for 100 yards and two rushing touchdowns against the Agates.

“Huttle is our workhorse,” Illikainen said. “That was one of the changes we made (after the 0-3 start), making him more of our fullback. He is tough to bring down.”

Huttle added a 23-yard touchdown catch from Drew LeBlanc in the third quarter that ended a brief Agate comeback led by quarterback Casey Morsette.

To start the second half with Hermantown up 20-7, Morsette had a 62-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage. Four plays later, Morsette, at safety, intercepted a Drew LeBlanc pass at the Two Harbors 40 yard line.

The Agates couldn’t convert the turnover into points and after a turnover on downs, LeBlanc found Matt Engelmeier for a 46-yard touchdown and a Huttle two-point conversion run made it a three touchdown game at 28-7.

The LeBlanc to Engelmeier connection was the third attempt at the bootleg pass play. On the first two, LeBlanc found Engelmeier open 20 yards downfield with the opportunity for more, but Engelmeier dropped both passes.

Two Harbors was without its top running back Darren Thewis, who has rushed for 1,034 yards this season. Thewis was held to two carries on Tuesday after suffering a helmet to the hip in practice this week. He limped off the field after a 1-yard rush late in the third quarter.

“We had three tough games in a row (to start the season) and we beat ourselves in the first few,” Huttle said. “We have been on a mission since them.”

Two Harbors ………..7 0 7 0 – 14

Hermantown ………..14 6 8 15 – 43

TH – Matt Wicklund 4 run (Cori Conrow kick)

H – Alex Youngren 2 fumble return (Matt Engelmeier kick)

H – Chad Huttle 43 run (Engelmeier kick)

H – Huttle 23 pass from Drew LeBlanc (kick failed)

TH – Casey Morsette 62 run (Cori Conrow kick)

H – Engelmeier 46 pass from LeBlanc (Huttle run)

H – Huttle 32 run (Engelmeier kick)

H – Mike W. Carlson 4 run (Carlson run)