As Braham’s new football field rests with its freshly-sown grass in place, it will be a most unique Bomber Homecoming game this year since this Friday’s action will be held at foe Hinckley-Finlayson’s field instead.
The Bombers are coming off a 46-0 thrashing of Deer River Sept. 23, and the Sept 30 battle with the Jaguars will be for the lead in the Northeast Silver Division. Those two teams also faced off in last year’s Section 7A finals.
“We came into the season knowing that Hinckley-Finlayson would be the team to beat. They have some really good players coming through right now,” scouted Bomber Coach Shawn Kuhnke. “QB TJ Johnson is a really good athlete— good runner with a strong arm. He throws to a couple of good receivers, his brother Trevor and Travis Visser, both good athletes who are fast, run good routes and have good hands. They also have Lavone Kroschel at running back who is as good or better than any back we have seen to date.
“They are fairly balanced run / pass and will be very tough to beat. We’ll give it our best shot.”
Against section-partner Deer River, his Bombers owned an 18-0 lead at the half. QB Hunter Giffrow completed touchdown tosses of 18 yards to Jacob Lindgren and 55 yards to Grant Wilsey in those 24 minutes, with Giffrow also sandwiching a three-yard TD run in between the two passes.
Wilsey opened the second half with a 36-yard TD reception. Matt Rydlund followed good blocking by returning Deer River’s next punt 70 yards for the next Bomber score. Still in the third quarter, Ryan Roslin added a 30-yard rushing touchdown, and Rydlund returned a pick for the final TD.
Giffrow threw for 153 yards, with Roslin (60 yards) and Jayden Prill (47 yards) leading the ground game. Bomber Homecoming king Lindgren added a sack as the Braham defense limited the Warriors’ passing attack to an 0-for-11 night. Leading tacklers were Jacob Johnson (9) and Cody Carlson (7).
Northeast Silver Football: Hinckley-Fin. 4-0; Braham 3-1; Rush City 2-2; Deer River 2-2; Chisholm 2-2; Barnum 1-3; Mesabi East 1-3; East Central 0-4.
Saints take down Bluejackets
St. Francis remained tied with Grand Rapids to lead in the Section 7AAAAA standings after defeating visiting Cambridge-Isanti 41-12 Sept. 23. The Saints put up three rushing touchdowns in the first half, then they added two more in the third quarter for a 34-0 edge.
Austin Schlenker broke up the shutout with an interception return for a touchdown. He found Ryley Nelson for an 88-yard scoring pass play just into the fourth quarter for the Bluejackets’ other score.
Schlenker finished with 124 passing yards, but the Jackets were limited to 21 net rushing yards against the Saints. Jett Gaudette (14), Schlenker (9), Jace Wilkinson (8) and Nelson (8) led the team in tackles.
North Central Blue Football: Elk River 4-0; St. Michael-Alb. 3-1; Rogers 3-1; St. Francis 3-1; Buffalo 2-1; Cambridge-Isanti 1-3.