CASS LAKE- The North Woods football team was on the road last Friday to face Cass Lake-Bena in a homecoming matchup, and the young Grizzlies showed they could take a punch and come back with a roar, trouncing the Panthers 56-14.
The Panthers drew first blood in the contest, scoring on a 15-yard pass play. The conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 6-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Grizzlies’ Talen Jarshaw put the Panthers on notice that they were in for a fight by running the ball back 70 yards for a touchdown, and the Grizzlies went on top 8-6 when Nick Abramson scored the two-point conversion.
“Talen caught the ball going forward and never slowed down,” Grizzlies Head Coach Joel Anderson said. “He brought it up into the middle and made one cut and he was gone. It was a giant boost for us.”
CL-B bounced back with another touchdown before the end of the first quarter to regain the lead 14-8, the last time they would find the end zone all night.
Anderson said that the Grizzlies made some defensive adjustments to counter the Panthers’ passing game, and the strategy paid off big time, with Mason Rutchasky nabbing three interceptions and Trajen Barto snaring two, including a 48-yard pick six in an explosive 32-point third quarter for North Woods.
“Trajan did a nice job of reading it, and our guys did a nice job of making blocks all the way around,” Anderson said. “Trajen made the right cuts and used his speed and athleticism and went from there.”
Noah Westman also blocked a punt and forced a fumble, and Tristan Vidal recovered a fumble as the Grizzlies played most of the game on the CL-B side of the 50-yard-line.
A resurgent Grizzlies offense put the ball in the end zone twice in the second quarter on a 10-yard run by Abramson and a two-yard plunge by Kaden Gornick, and tallied three more TDs in the third on short runs by Abramsom and Gornick and a 20-yard scamper by Jarshaw. By the end of the game the Grizzlies amassed 385 yards of total offense, with 358 of those yards coming on the ground.
“We made nice adjustments at halftime in our blocking scheme overall, and especially in the third quarter our guys responded well,” Anderson said. “We got out there and we opened up some very, very big holes.”
Anderson had nothing but good things to say about Jarshaw, who entered the Grizzlies lineup last week and was the team’s top rusher against the Panthers with 122 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown and two conversions, one on a pass from Barto.
“He’s a nice counterpart to Nick (Abramson) and Kaden (Gornick),” Anderson said. “Kaden and Nick are very similar runners, and Talen brings a different aspect to our offense. Talen’s athleticism just naturally shows through – we see it on the basketball court, we see it on the baseball diamond, which is where I think his primary focus tends to be, but we’re happy to have him for football and he’s doing a fantastic job for us.”
Abramson and Gornick also turned in big games for the Grizzlies. Abramson scored two touchdowns and two extra points while rushing for 92 yards on 16 carries, and Gornick ran the ball 13 times for 85 yards, two touchdowns and two conversions.
Barto threw only six passes for the game, completing two to Jarshaw for 27 yards.
Rutchasky keyed the defensive effort with six solo tackles and two assists to go along with his three interceptions, with Jarshaw, Vidal and Rogelio Noyes each collecting three solo takedowns.
The Grizzlies have a tough draw for this Friday’s contest against Cherry, another road trip. The Tigers have been a scoring juggernaut this season, averaging 63 points a game in their five wins. The Tigers haven’t been slouches on defense, either, holding four of their five opponents to single digits.
“Cherry is going to be a challenge,” Anderson said. “They’re very athletic and they’re juniors and seniors. They have a lot of speed and size. We’ve got to go in and play to the best of our abilities and control what we can control. They’ve proven every week they can score quickly and they can score a lot. We have to limit their possessions and make plays when the opportunities present themselves.”