Football: Nuggets golden in win over Gobblers

BRAINERD — Aitkin struck first. Hawley never flinched. The North’s No. 4-seeded Hawley Nuggets answered Aitkin’s opening-possession score and then sprinted to 483 yards of offense and held the No. 1-seeded and third-ranked Gobblers to just 68 rushing yards for a 36-6 upset victory in the Class 2A State Quarterfinal Thursday, Nov. 12, at Brainerd High School. Hawley’s Charles Steer led the Nuggets with 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Steer’s first score handed Hawley an 8-6 first-quarter lead as he added the two-point conversion after a 4-yard TD run. The Nuggets’ third possession was a five-play, 47-yard drive starting with a Grant Slominski interception and finishing with an Anderson Brager 6-yard TD run. “We hit some big plays on offense and picked off the ball,” Hawley head coach Nathan Brager said. “The thing about our offense is we have so many guys who can make plays. If you decide you’re going to take away a Charlie Steer, we have a Parker Stotts.

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