Football

    The Aitkin Gobblers held their annual banquet Sunday and many awards were given out.

All-District NE Blue -Jacob Williams, Camden Visnovec and Brandon Kunz

Honorable Mention-Jeremia Cortez, Jack Setzer and Parker Fulton

Team MVP- Jacob Williams

Offensive MVP-Jacob Williams

Defensive MVP-Camden Visnovec

Lineman of the Year-Camden Visnovec

Special Teams Player of the Year-Lumies Wang

We Not Me Awrad-Caleb Zasmeta

Scout Player of the Year Offense-Coen Olson

Scout Player of the Year Defense-Damien Maciel

JV Offensive MVP-Jack Jacobson

JV Defensive MVP-Tolo May

2024 Captains-Jacob Williams, Jake McGuire, Jack Setzer and Caleb Zasmeta

2024 Managers-Luke Burchett, Carsyn Miller and Elizabeth Morris

       The Mesabi East Giants have certainly had the Aitkin Gobblers number the past two seasons after defeating the Aitkin in the first round of the Section 7AA playoffs 20-6. The Giants won last year 30-6 and then beat Aitkin just last week 26-6. Jacob Williams had the only Gobbler score in the game in the second quarter. Aitkin finishes the season with a record of 4-5.
       The Gobblers took the opening kickoff and had the ball six plays before giving it up on downs at the Giants 46. It took just three plays for the Giants to go the 54 yards to take the lead with Cole Lehman dashing 41 yards for the score. The PAT was good and it was 8-0. That was the score after the first period. Both teams moved the ball in the second period with no results until Aitkin took over at their own 27 after holding the Giants on 4th down at the 22. The Gobblers ran ten plays this time but again gave it up after failing on 4th down. Mesabi East ran nine plays and eventually punted to the Gobbler 23 yard line. On first down Jacob Williams took the handoff and raced 77 yards for his 14th touchdown of the year and it closed the score to 8-6. The PAT failed and it remained 8-6. The Giants weren't done though and they put together a short drive that covered 58 yards in five plays with Lehman scoring again, this time on a 31 yard run. The PAT missed and the halftime score was 14-6 just as it was the previous week.
     Both teams had trouble putting anything together in the third quarter with all six possessions in the period ending in six plays or less. Early in the 4th the Giants went 58 yards in six plays to score on another Lehman touchdown, this time from 15 yards out. The PAT failed and that made it 20-6 with 7:19 remaining. Aitkin took over at the 20 and Jake McGuire hit Jack Setzer for a 30 yard gain to the 50 yard line. That 10 play drive ended with an interception in the end zone and a return to the Giants 35. They ran the clock out from there to move on to the Section semifinals on Saturday. Williams finished his final game with 175 yards on 24 carries bringing his career total to 3,933 yards rushing and 54 touchdowns, 51 of them rushing. Cortez had 38 yards on 5 carries. Jake McGuire was 2-7 for 36 yards and Bo Sanford was 0-3. Williams and Coltan Bauman both had 9 tackles on the night while Cortez had 7 and Carter Pietz, Quinton Christy and Caleb Zasmeta all had 5 stops on the night.

Gobblers 0 6 0 0   6
Giants      8 6 0 6 20 

     The Aitkin Gobblers will make a second trip to Mesabi East in less than a week Tuesday as they take on the Giants in the opening round of the Section 7AA playoffs. Coach Alan Hills, who recently became the all-time winningest coach in Gobbler history has a plan for turning the outcome around this time, "We feel like it's a good matchup. Despite the score we moved the ball pretty effectively and did a good job defensively, we just left the defense out on the field for too long. They had a number of short fields. If we eliminate some of the key mistakes we feel we should be in a position to win. Our goal for the week is to give a perfect effort and go have fun."  

      The Mesabi East Giants and the Aitkin Gobblers met up on the range Wednesday night with a first round home game on the line in the upcoming playoffs. The Giants got the better of the visitors, scoring in every quarter while giving up just one score in a 26-6 win over Aitkin. The Gobblers finish the regular season at 4-4 while the Giants move to 5-3 for the season with the win. Jacob Williams had another good night on the ground with 146 yards on 28 carries but the locals didn't have much more in the way of offense as they struggled to get anything going. 
      The Gobblers gave up the ball on their first possession of the night on an interception and the Giants returned it 70 yards to set themselves up at the Gobblers 13. On the next play they were in the end zone for a 6-0 lead, scoring on a touchdown pass. They missed the PAT and the game moved into the second period. The Gobblers tied the game at 10:12 of the second as Jacob Williams scored his 13th touchdown of the season on a one yard run. The Giants stopped the PAT and it was 6-6 until just :33 were left in the half. The Giants moved 56 yards in 7 plays to retake the lead. They hit a pass for the PAT and took a 14-6 lead into the break. Penalties hurt both teams in the first half as Aitkin was flagged for 15 yards on two infractions while the Giants had 35 yards on 5 flags. All the penalties came at crucial times for both teams.
      Aitkin took the second half kickoff but went three and out with the Giants taking over at the Gobbler 49 after the punt. They moved 51 yards in 6 plays to score, this time on a 13 yard touchdown pass to Nick Murray. The PAT failed and the Giants were up 20-6 with 6:31 left in the third. Aitkin ran six plays but punted again with the Giants taking over at the 49 yard line. They took 9 plays to go 51 yards to extend the lead. The six yard run for a touchdown came with 11:56 left in the game. The Gobblers moved the ball but failed on fourth down in their last two possessions. Williams yards put him over 1,000 for the season, 1,057 to be exact but the next Gobbler rusher in this game was Jeremia Cortez with 14 yards. On the defensive side Williams and Quinton Christy each had 7 stops while Xarter Pietz had 5 and Camden Visnovec and Jack Jacobson each had 4 tackles.
Gobblers 0 6 0 0   6
Giants     6  8 6 6 26

        The Gobblers will travel back to Mesabi East for the first round of the Section 7AA playoffs on Tuesday at 6:00.

     The Aitkin Junior High Gobblers traveled to Mora Tuesday for their final games of the season. Coach Rory Sanders filled us in, "The 7th grade got the day started with a 20-8 victory. Steady running by Cole Kaiser and quarterback Luke Jacobson allowed the Gobblers to control the line of scrimmage. They finished 2-5 on the season. The 8th grade dominated from the start, running, passing and great defense leading them to a 30-8 win. Logan Wilhelm had close to 100 yards rushing at full back and Jordan Goeritz playing both quarterback and safety had a great game. This team finished with a three-game winning streak and a 4-3 record for the season. Thanks to our awesome coaches Green, Crain, Lake, and Sanders and tremendous support from our parents it has been a great season for our junior high players." 

      Here's a look at the current Section 7AA standings heading into the final week of the regular season.

Barnum          1-0  (7-0 overall)

M.L.W.R.           5-1 (5-2 overall)

Int'l Falls         4-2 (5-2 overall)

Mesabi East  3-2 (4-3 overall)

Aitkin              3-2 (4-3 overall)

G-Nash/K      2-3  (2-5 overall)

C-Ironton       1-5   (1-6 overall)

H-Finlay         0-5 (1-6 overall)

     This week's schedule (Wednesday)

Aitkin at Mesabi East

S. Ridge at Barnum

M.L.W.R. at Greenway/Nash-Kee

I. Falls at Rush City

C-Ironton at Hinckley-Finlayson

     Jacob Williams scored four touchdowns and the Aitkin Gobbler defense came up with a huge stop on a late PAT attempt and Aitkin beat the 5-1 International Falls Broncos in the final regular season home game at Veterans Field Thursday night 27-20. It was 21-20 after a Bronco score with a little over a minute left in the game but the defense stopped the points after to stay in the lead. Williams sprinted right to run the clock out but ended up going 48 yards for the final score as time ran out.

       Both teams failed to move the ball on their first possessions but the Broncos got things going after a Gobbler punt. They took over at their own 40 yard line and went 60 yards in just 6 plays before scoring on a 33 yard touchdown pass. The PAT failed and it was 6-0 after one quarter. Aitkin took over at their own 40 and went 60 yards in 12 plays to tie the game at 6-6. Jacob Williams did most of the work on the drive but a pass from Bo Sanford to Jack Jacobson gave the Gobblers a first and goal at the Bronco 5. Williams went the rest of the way for his 9th touchdown of the season for a 6-6 score. The PAT kick by Lumeis Wang gave Aitkin a 7-6 edge. The Broncos went three and out and the Gobblers were on the move again until a Cooper Crandall interception and runback set the Broncos up at the Gobbler 34. They took it in in just four plays and after the two point conversion it was 14-7. Aitkin wasn't done though and although they had to punt with a little over a minute to go in the half the Broncos muffed the punt and Jack Jacobson pounced on it at the Broncos 37 yard line. It took seven plays but Williams scored his 10th of the year with :19 left in the half from five yards out and a 14-13 Broncos lead. The PAT kicked failed and the score stayed the same into intermission.

     Aitkin took the second half kickoff and burned over eight minutes and traveled 60 yards before attempting a field goal. It was blocked and the Broncos went the other way and ran 10 plays and went 66 yards just before the third period ended but the drive ended on an incomplete pass on fourth down. The Gobblers went 85 yards in 12 plays to retake the lead at 19-14 on a 2 yard run by Williams before Bo Sanford ran the PAT and a 21-14 lead. That score came with 5:47 left in the game but now the Broncos weren't finished. They went 55 yards after a nice kickoff return and took 12 plays to get it in the endzone on a seven yard run. They lined up to kick the PAT, took a timeout and then decided to go for two. The Gobbler defense stood up and made the stop with just 1:11 left in the game. After Jeremia Cortez fell on the onside kick, all the Gobblers had to do was run out the final minute. The Broncos burned their final two timeouts and the Gobblers faced a fourth and two with :06 left. Jacob Williams got the call, found himself in the open and dashed fifty yards for the touchdown as the clock struck midnight for the Broncos.  Williams had a big night on the ground, rushing for 215 yards on 40 carries. Williams finished with 219 yards on 37 carries while Jacobson had 28 yards on 9 carries. Sanford had his best night going 8-11 for 100 yards, 45 of those yards turned in by Braxton Huse on 2 catches. The defense had a great team night with Jacobson, Quintin Christy and Coltan Bauman each recording 5 tackles. 

     It was a great ending for the Gobblers at home, celebrating Senior Night and Parent's Night. The Gobblers, who move to 4-3 on the season, close out the regular season Wednesday at Mesabi East.

Broncos    6   8 0   6 20

Gobblers   0 13 0  14 27

     The Aitkin Junior High Gobblers split a pair of games at Veterans Field Tuesday as they hosted Pillager. The 7th grade lost 28-6. Here's Coach Rory Sanders, "We had a rough game, too many turnovers and we ran out of steam." The 8th grade posted a 20-14 win despite trailing at one point 14-0. Coach Sanders picked things up from there, "Quinton Rikala got things going for us by grabbing an option pitch in mid-air from the Huskies quarterback and took it 75 yards for a touchdown. Then Quinn Roettger took a reverse pitch and threw a 50 yard touchdown pass to Joshua Maciel. Finally quarterback Jordan Goeritz hit Roettger for A 50 yard touchdown pass to give us the lead and we never gave it back. The defensive team as a unit played outstanding. Some standouts were Aiden Franzen and Logan Wilhelm. Way to go Gobblers."

     The Aitkin Gobbler "C" squad lost a close game at home Monday, 24-14 to the Esko Eskimos. Coach Rob Williams on the loss, "We got some hard running from Jack Jacobson and Eli McNevin. Esko opened the scoring on a 53 yard sweep but we tied it on a 68 yard drive ending with a touchdown on a sweep by Jacobson. Tolo May added the PAT and it was 8-8. We took the lead at 14-8 but they went ahead 16-14 in the third period. They covered a fumble and scored again for a 24-14 lead. We had a drive late and set up for a field goal to get it to a one score game but it was blocked. I'm very proud of our guys, Esko has a great program but we played hard. We had some good opportunities but didn't execute as well as we wanted to."

      The Aitkin Gobblers sit at 3-3 heading into their final home game of the regular season Thursday against International Falls. They have been up and down for most of the year but are coming off a huge win on the road at C-I 15-6. They have outscored their opponents 137-121. Here's a look at some of their six-game stats.

Touchdowns                                       Rushing

8-Jacob Williams                               Jacob Williams-111 carries for 674 yards

4- Parker Fulton                                   Parker Fulton-69 carries for 300 yards

2-Nolan Dotzler                                  Passing

1-Jeremia Cortez                                Jake McGuire-26-49-350 yards-2TD 

1-Jake McGuire                                    Bo Sanford-6-14-100 yards-2TD

1-Braxton Huse                                   Receptions

1-Karson Hopperstad                         Jacob Williams-13-131 yards

1-Jack Jacobson                                 Braxton Huse-3-116 yards

1-Carter Pietz                                        Nolan Dotzler-2-72 yards

                                                                 Parker Fulton-8-56 yards

Tackles                                                

Parker Fulton-42

Camden Visnovec-27

Jacob Williams-24

Braxton Huse-24

Coltan Bauman-20

       Jacob Williams scored a late touchdown and Lumies Wang kicked the extra point in the Aitkin Gobblers 15-6 win Friday at John Davies Field at Crosby-Ironton. The win moved the Gobblers record to 3-3 while dropping the Rangers to 0-6 on the season. Aitkin took an 8-0 lead into the final period but the Rangers scored before missing the crucial extra points. The win gives the Gobblers bragging rights for another year and keeps the “Stump” in the Gobblers possession. Aitkin ran the ball pretty well eating up a lot of clock during the game that lasted less than two hours. 
       The Gobblers took the opening kickoff and kept the ball for nearly nine minutes, moving the ball to the Rangers 18 in fifteen plays before turning it over on downs. The Rangers then kept the ball into the second period running 12 plays before also giving it up on downs on the Gobbler half-yard line. The Gobblers moved the ball but ended up punting to the Rangers 45. C-I went three and out and punted to the Gobbler 18 yard line. From there the Gobblers went 82 yards in 9 plays with the payoff coming on a 38 yard touchdown pass from Bo Sanford to Nolan Dotzler. Jacob Williams ran the PAT and it was 8-0 Gobblers 1:04 left in the first half. The Rangers picked up one first down but Carter Pietz ended the half with a pass interception for the Gobblers.
      The Gobblers first possession of the second half ended with a fumble but the Rangers failed to move the ball. Aitkin went three and out and the Rangers moved 47 yards in eight plays to make it 8-6. They missed the PAT and with 8:19 left in the game it was 8-6. Aitkin burned over seven minutes going 67 yards in 14 plays with Williams going in from five yards out. Lumies Wang booted the PAT and the Gobblers had it locked up 15-6. The Rangers took a chance on Williams touchdown, declining a penalty on Aitkin, hoping to stop the PAT and keep it at 14-6 with a chance to move the ball down and perhaps tie the game. Wangs kick made that a mute point.The Rangers moved the ball downfield but Braxton Huse sealed the deal with an interception at the Gobbler ten yard line. Gobbler coach Alan Hills after the win, "I'm really proud of the way our guys played. The scoreboard doesn't really show how dominate we were throughout the game. We really executed in all three phases of the game. Bo Sanford did a great job filling in for Jake McGuire at quarterback. For a freshman to step in and play that well in a rivalry game on the road is impressive. It's just a good team win." Williams led the offense as he rushed for 164 yards on 29 carries while running mate Parker Fulton had 79 yards on 18 carries. Sanford's only completion was the touchdown pass, going 1-4 on the night. Huse led all Gobbler tacklers with 5 on the evening while Pietz, Coltan Bauman and Caleb Zasmeta each had 4 stops. Pietz and Huse had interceptions and Jack Setzer recovered a Ranger fumble.
Gobblers 0 8 0 7  15
Rangers  0 0 0 6   6
      Next up for the Gobblers is a Thursday night matchup at home against the International Falls Broncos who are 5-1 on the season.

      The Aitkin Junior High Gobblers hosted Deer River Monday at Veterans Field. Coach Rory Sanders on how they did, "Deer River is a combination of 7th and 8th graders due to low numbers. The afternoon started with a half of Aitkin 7th grade against Deer Rivers combo and it was a 20-6 half. Our kids battled hard against some older kids and hung right in there, it was a great effort by our young team. Then our 8th grade took the field against their combo team and we came out on top 38-6. Defensive star of the game was Grayson Christensen with 12 tackles, four of them for a loss of yardage. Also Aiden Franzen played tough all game at corner. Offensively Jordan Goeritz played really well at quarterback along with Quinton Rikala and Ayden Wendt at running backs. The offensive line played outstanding as a unit today led by center Reed Parkin and guard Camden Hagman. Our receiving crew played really well also. Quinn Roettger had a touchdown reception and Joshua Maciel had a touchdown catch. All in all a great day for the Gobblers."

        The Aitkin Gobbler "C" squad played some great defense and came up with an 8-0 victory Monday at Deer River. The Gobbler defense stepped up huge and got a strip sack with just 2:30 remaining in the game and freshman Tyce Jorgenson fell on it in the end zone for the touchdown. Jace Beirne converted the PAT and the Gobblers got the win bringing their record to 3-0 on the season. Coach Rob Williams after the win, "Jack Jacobson and Jace Beirne ran the ball well and sophomore Tolo May was dominant at linebacker with at least a dozen tackles. This is a great group of kids who never hang their heads, listen to their coaches and give you everything on every play."

     The Aitkin Gobblers up and down season took another downturn Friday with a 42-13 loss at Rush City. The Tigers led 14-0 at the half then put up twenty-eight in the second half including a 72 yard touchdown pass with less than a minute to go in the game. The loss gives the Gobblers a record of 2-3 heading into a road game at Crosby-Ironton next Friday night.

      The first half was a weird one with both teams having chances and turning the ball over. The first quarter was pretty docile but after moving the ball, the Tigers fumbled and Quinton Christy jumped on it for the Gobblers at the Aitkin 45. They ran three plays but on fourth down they came up short and turned the ball over. The Tigers went 44 yards in 8 plays to open the scoring with 9:23 left in the half. The PAT failed and it was 6-0. Nolan Dotzler gave the Gobblers some life as he ran the kickoff back to the Tiger 45 yard line. Aitkin got to the Tiger 9 yard line but coughed it up and the Tigers were all over it. On first down the Gobblers got it right back as they picked off a pass at the Tiger 23. The Gobblers had less than a minute to cash it in but a fourth down pass was bobbled and picked off by the Tigers in the end zone. They went 80 yards in just five plays to score with just seconds left in the half. They converted the PAT on a pass to make it 14-0 at the break.

       Aitkin took the second half kickoff and went three and out with the Tigers taking quick advantage. They went 74 yards in 14 plays and burning up some clock, scoring with 3:13 left in the period on a 10 yard run. Aitkin turned the ball over on downs but got the ball back at the end of the period. They went 55 yards, helped along by a 15 yard penalty on a fourth down play with Jacob Williams scoring from the three. The PAT failed leaving the score at 20-6. Rush City went 90 yards on their next possession in 7 plays, the big play a 48 yard strike setting them up in Gobbler territory. A 13 yard pass ended that drive and after the PAT it was 28-6. After the Gobblers failed to move the ball the Tigers went 55 yards in nine plays to make it 34-6. Aitkin got the ball back at the Tiger 40 with 2:15 left and took it in in just three plays as Bo Sanford hit Nolan Dotzler for a 34 yard scoring play. Lumies Wang booted the PAT to make it 34-13. The Tigers weren't satisfied and after taking the ball at their own 28 after the kickoff, they struck again on a 72 yard bomb. With the PAT the final became 42-13. Williams led the rushing attack with 66 yards on 17 carries while Parker Fulton had 60 yards on 13 carries. Jake McGuire was 4-7 for 39 yards and Bo Sanford was 3-6 for 42 yards. The TIgers threw for 355 yards against the Gobblers while rushing for just 88 yards. Camden Visnovec led the defense with 5 solos and three assisted tackles for a total of 8 while Luke Workman, Williams, Canaan Zasmeta and Karson Hopperstad all had five stops. Coach Alan Hills after the loss, "I'm very proud of our guys, we played hard from start to finish. We had a couple of opportunities to swing momentum in the second period but we weren't able to capitalize." This week it's the Rangers, how about this one Coach? "They are the best 0-5 team you will see. We'll need to play well to win and hopefully we get healthy. We have a lot of sick kids."

Gobblers 0  0 0  13  13

Tigers      0 14  6 22 42

(Nolan Dotzler pulls in a touchdown pass from Bo Sanford in this Lexi Hills photo)