“I couldn't be any more proud of the effort of the Trojan football team tonight and the coaching staff,” commented Head Coach Bryan Strand.  “We played four quarters of football tonight and came away with the win.  Adam Tonsfeldt had the game of his life tonight leading us on both sides of the ball as did Preston Snobl.  It wasn't just those two, it was the offensive and defensive lines, and the special teams.  Kids executed the game plan tonight and just made more plays.  It was such an up and down game with so much emotion by both teams.  I felt we played consistent in every aspect of the game.” 

Hawley got the scoring started on a one yard run by quarterback Jacob Vetter with 7:30 left in the first quarter. An extra point kick by Mason Klevgaard gave the Nuggets an early 7-0 lead. Barnesville went ahead 8-7 with 28 seconds remaining in the quarter when Snobl scored on a five yard run and Tonsfeldt carried the ball in for the two-point conversion. 

Hawley got the lead back at 14-7 on a 9 yard TD pass from Vetter to Chase Libakand another PAT kick by Klevgaard midway through the second quarter, however, Barnesville answered with a one yard run by Snobl and another conversion run by Tonsfeldt to make it a 16-14 Trojan lead with 2:42 left in the half. They extended that lead to 22-14 on a fifteen yard TD run by Snobl with under a minute to play in the second quarter. 

A 24 yard field goal by Klevgaard trimmed the Barnesville lead to 22-17 at 6:51 of the third quarter, but Barnesville scored on a 28 yard run by Tonsfeldt to bring the lead to 28-17 with 5:23 left in the third. Vetter hit Noah Glad with a 30 yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left in the quarter as the Nuggets climbed back to within five points at 28-23.

Barnesville put the game away with a 37 yard run by Tonsfeldt at 6:13 of the fourth quarter. 

The Trojans ran for 325 yards on the night and finished with 385 yards in total offense. They were led by Tonsfeldt (15 carries, 142 yards), Chase Brenner (8 carries, 63 yards, 1 reception, 60 yards) and Nick Detloff (11 rushes, 55 yards). Snobl scored on three of his four carries and finished with 21 yards. Kellen Hinszadded 32 yards on 7 carries. 

Defensively, Snobl (9 tackles, 1 sack), Brooks Martinson (9 tackles), Joey Mark (7 tackles) and Hunter Zenzen (7 tackles, 1 sack) led the way. Tonsfeldt and Aaron Schiefert each had an interception, while Adrian O’Brienrecovered a fumble. 

The Trojans (9-2) will travel to Brainerd to play Moose Lake-Willow River (8-2) at seven o’clock Friday night in the State AA quarterfinals. Moose Lake-Willow River advanced with a 22-6 win over Royalton in the Section 7AA championship game.