Hibbing at Aitkin

Recap

A near perfect performance, after two hard-luck losses, gave the Aitkin Gobblers the bounce back they needed in a Section 7AAA match-up against the Hibbing Bluejackets in a 54-20 win to close out the re regular season.

Aitkin came out with an agressive approach, starting out 5-for-5 on their drives ending in touchdowns. The Gobblers got up 8-0 with quarterback Zach Ehnstrom connecting with Carson Kullhem on an 11 yard pass. After recovering a short kickoff on the ensuing play, Kullhem ran in a 12 yard touchdown for a 16-0 advantage. Following a 3-and-out by Hibbing, The Gobblers running attack found Jackson MacDonald socring from 11 yards out. Gus Sanford capped off the perfect start for Aitkin with 10 and 12 yard touchdown runs and a 38-0 lead in the 2nd quarter. Those scores were setup by a Zach MacDonald 4- yard punt return and a Jackson MacDonald interception.

Hibbing’s offense had only 3 first downs but did benefit from 2 Gobbler fumbles which then turned around into passing touchdowns from Bluejackets quarterback Evan Radovich. Josh Kivela caught a 24 yard scoring pass and Hayden Verhel brought a 47 yard pass into the endzone, trailing 47-14 halftime deficit.

Aitkin adjusted a few hiccups offensively and added rushing scores from Zach Ehnstrom and Jacob Williams. The Bluejackets added one more touchdown with Radovich finding Amari Manning for a 1-yard touchdown with 22.7 seconds remaining.

The Gobblers improve to 6-2 on the season and Hibbing falls to 1-7 with the Section 7AAA playoffs starting next week. Aitkin sits as the #2 seed and will host a home game, the Bluejackets currently sit as the #6 seed and will hit road next week.

Aitkin Stats (18 first downs; 3 penalties; INT – Jackson MacDonald, Carson Kullhem, Jaeland Williams, Zach MacDonald; Sacks – Landon Janzen, Zack Leittinger, Blaise Sanford)

Rushing – 307yd, 5 TD – Gus Sanford 16rush, 134yd, 2 TD; Jacob Williams 11rush, 71yd; Carson Kullhem 6rush, 42yd, TD; Alex Palm 5rush, 20yd; Zach Ehnstrom 4rush, 13yd, TD; Jack Grell 2rush, 13yd; Jackson MacDonald 1rush, 11yd, TD; Kane Bierne 2rush, 3yd; Tanner Nissen 1rush, 0yd

Passing – 71yd, TD – Zach Ehnstrom 8-9 comp, 71yd, TD

Receiving – 8rec, 71yd, TD – Jaeland Williams 3rec, 34yd; Zack MacDonald 1rec, 17yd; Carson Kullhem 1rec, 11yd, TD; Kane Bierne 1rec, 7yd; Nathan Price 1rec, 2yd

Hibbing Stats (3 first downs; 2 penalties; Fumble Recoveries – Josh Kivela, Bryson Larrabee; Sacks – Hayden Verhel)

Rushing – -4yd – Bryson Larrabee 1rush, 3yd; Charles Wangensteen 5rush, 2yd; Amari Manning 1rush, 1yd; Josh Kivela 7rush, -4yd; Evan Radovich 3rush, -10yd

Passing – 172yd, 3 TD – Evan Radovich 7-17 comp, 172yd, 3 TD, 4 INT

Receiving – 7rec, 172yd, 3 TD – Hayden Verhel 5rec, 147yd, TD; Josh Kivela 1rec, 24yd, TD; Amari Manning 1rec, 1yd, TD