TMS football team wraps up season with win over Merrill, tie with Rhinelander

For the Tomahawk Leader

TOMAHAWK – The Tomahawk Middle School football team wrapped up its season with a win over Merrill and a tie with Rhinelander.

Merrill

The Hatchet 8th graders continued their improvement by winning their second game of the season with a 28-8 victory over Merrill at Hatchet Field.

The Tomahawk offense started off hot by taking their opening drive for a score. Quarterback Jack Reilly hit tight end Henry Nieman for a 32-yard touchdown on the left sideline. Reilly was stopped short on the conversion to give Tomahawk a 6-0 lead.

The Hatchet defense stifled the Merrill running game in the first half, but couldn’t get much going offensively until the last minute of the second quarter. Linebacker Breck Stromberg was able to jar the ball loose for a turnover recovered by Reilly, which turned into points for the Hatchets. Reilly again hit Nieman for a pass completion as he stiff-armed his way for a 57-yard touchdown. Running back Breck Stromberg successfully converted the 2-point attempt to give the Hatchets a 14-0 lead going into the half.

Running back Kaj Maki extended the lead as he returned the second half kickoff for another score. Stromberg was stopped shy on the conversion run, but the Hatchets took a commanding lead 20-0. Merrill responded on their next possession by scoring on a one-yard misdirection run and conversion to cut the lead to 20-8.

Tomahawk wasn’t done with the scoring as they added to their lead early in the fourth quarter. Maki scored his second touchdown run of the night as he lowered his shoulder to spin away from multiple defenders with some very impressive open-field running. Nieman scored on the conversion to extend the Hatchet lead to 28-8.

Defensively, the linebacker crew of Nieman, Stromberg, Reilly and Maki led the way. Players also rallying to make big hits included Cooper Dick, Dean Hackel, Dean Greil and Carter Albrecht.

Rhinelander

Tomahawk’s 8th grade squad ended their season with a stalemate 0-0 tie against Rhinelander at Hatchet Field.

The Hatchet defense came to play, as Rhinelander was really only able to move the ball on the stout Tomahawk defenders on their opening drive. After the Hodags moved into the red zone, Hatchet safety Kaj Maki made an athletic one-handed interception at the 10 yard line and returned the ball all the way to the Rhinelander 27 yard line.

Although the Hatchets had been able to move the ball well through the air the previous three games, the connection of quarterback Jack Reilly and tight end Henry Nieman couldn’t take advantage of multiple missed opportunities early in the game. As the Rhinelander defenders started to key on Nieman, the offense was able to grind out small chucks of yards with the hard running of Reilly and running back Breck Stromberg between the tackles.

Although the Hatchets appeared to control the line of scrimmage most of the game, turnovers, penalties and missed opportunities prevented the offense from generating any momentum or points.

As the season concludes, coaches want to thank the fans, players, the Tomahawk School District and the community for their continued support of Tomahawk Hatchet football. With their youth football careers coming to end, these young men now set their sights on off-season training to prepare for the Friday night lights of varsity football.