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Hawley Defense Shuts Down Pillager as Nuggets Win Opener 22-0

By Craig Olson, 09/02/21, 10:30PM CDT

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The Hawley Nuggets scored 16 second quarter points and went on to hand the Pillager Huskies a 22-0 loss in their high school football opener on Thursday night.  The Nuggets had 228 yards of offense and held Pillager to 159 yards.  There were a combined ten fumbles in the game with each team losing two of them.

Early in the second quarter Davaun Stock carried the ball to the one yard line before fumbling.  Samuel Burkel recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and Carson Brew made it 8-0 with a two-point conversion run.

As the second quarter expired Carson Brew completed an 18 yard TD pass to Mason Gratton and then Brew ran for the two-point conversion as the Nuggets took a 16-0 halftime lead.

The final TD of the game came with7:14 remaining in the fourth quarter when Burkel scored on a ten yard run, making it 22-0, Hawley.

Brew completed 3-of-4 passes for 41 yards.  Gratton caught one pass for 18 yards, Burkel hauled in one for 16 yards and Brady Gratton had one catch for 7 yards.   Rushing leaders were John Vetter (12 carries, 77 yards) and Burkel (10 carries, 73 yards).  Darin Kroshus led the defense with 8 solo tackles and 1 assisted tackle.  Jacob Hegna had 7 solo tackles and 2 assisted tackles, while Ethan Magnussen and Joey Aakre each had 6 solo tackles and 2 assisted tackles.  Aakre also had a sack.

Elijah Miller compiled 115 rushing yards on 26 carries to lead the Huskies.  Pillager had possession of the football for 31 minutes and 14 seconds, collecting 15 first downs and converting 6-of-14 third down attempts.  They ran 60 offensive plays compared to 37 for Hawley, however, the Hawley defense held Pillager to just 2.7 yards per play.