Midgets rout Suring for second straight win

SURING, Wis. --- Andy Hamlin ran for five touchdowns as Hurley improved its record to .500 with its second consecutive win, 62-7, at Suring Friday night.

The Midgets' offense was operating at an elite level all evening.

Hamlin scored touchdowns on five of his nine carries and rushed for a team-best 174 yards. Dakota Haanen rushed eight times for 143 yards, and between them, they averaged 18.6 yards per carry. But Haanen was injured on the last drive the starters played and his status going forward is uncertain.

The Midgets (2-2) now go back home with a huge game coming up against familiar foe Northland Pines next week.

"I'm proud of the way our kids played tonight on a long bus ride," Hurley coach Scott Erickson said. "We played pretty solid offensively, defensively we made some stands and only gave up the one touchdown pass. Pleased with our effort. I think we are are definitely getting better and executing a lot better offensively."

Suring was no match for the Midgets, who outrushed the Eagles 449 to 118 and tackled Suring 11 times for a loss.

They were a conversion away from having running clock for the entire second half.

"They come off the ball, they're tough," Suring coach Mitch Taylor said. "We're super young, we only had two seniors tonight, we're playing with three or four freshmen in big roles."

Hurley's Kodey Henning started the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run 3:02 into the game. Hamlin followed with touchdown runs of 7 and 73 yards to put Hurley in front 20-0. Dryden Nelson intercepted a Suring pass before Hamlin's long TD run.

Suring scored its only touchdown of the game on a long pass play of 42 yards from Josh Reed to Kegyn Lambrech with three seconds left in the first quarter.

Haanen broke free for his touchdown, a 44-yarder, on the first play of the second quarter, to answer 14 seconds later.

Suring followed with a good drive, eventually having first and goal at the 3. But the Midgets' defense stood tall. Hurley stopped them for back-to-back two-yard losses – Cal Wick tackled Logan Stuart and Preston Gardner, Devon Lino and Forrest Wiedbrauk sacked Reed. On fourth and goal, Wiedbrauk pressured Reed into an incomplete pass.

Hurley then scored on a 93-yard drive in seven plays, capped by a nine-yard touchdown run by Hamlin. He scored three consecutive touchdowns, also getting an 11-yard TD run in the second quarter and a 14-yard rush in the third quarter that started the running clock with seven minutes left in the period.

"Hiding the ball really well and the other backs were faking," Erickson said of Hamlin's big night. "Here's a team that didn't see that before so that makes it tough. Offensive line blocking has been solid, we're finding holes and I'm proud of the way the kids are playing."

Suring's young team had trouble with Hurley's offensive deception.

"That misdirection, you just got to stay home with it," he said. "But being young and inexperienced like we are, you fall for that stuff. If you run into some teams that do that, it's a little bit easier to defend. They do a nice job of hiding it and they come off the ball. They're a heck of a team."

The Midgets intercepted Suring four times – Ty Gilbertson had two, Haanen and Nelson each had one. Three of them led to Hurley touchdowns.

Hurley has its final two home games of the year over the next two weeks, starting with next week's big game against Northland Pines. Erickson wasn't sure what exactly the nature of Haanen's injury was, if it was his shoulder or collarbone.

Hurley 20 21 7 14 - 62

Suring 7 0 0 0 - 7

First Quarter

Hur --- Kodey Henning 10 run (pass failed), 8:58

Hur --- Andy Hamlin 7 run (run failed), 6:27

Hur --- Hamlin 73 run (Devon Lino pass from Jack Santini), 1:27

Sur --- Kegyn Lambrech 42 pass from Josh Reed (Logan Stuart kick), :03

Second Quarter

Hur --- Dakota Haanen 44 run (Hamlin run), 11:49

Hur --- Hamlin 9 run (Cade Huotari kick), 5:15

Hur --- Hamlin 11 run (kick failed), :47

Third Quarter

Hur --- Hamlin 14 run (Huotari kick), 7:00

Fourth Quarter

Hur --- Tyler Colassaco 3 run (Huotari kick), 11:07

Hur --- Dyrden Nelson 46 run (Huotari kick), 2:58

Hur Sur

First downs 16 9

Rushes-yards 35-449 29-118

Comp-Att-Int 1-2-0 6-20-4

Passing 22 89

Total yards 471 207

Penalties-yards 2-20 4-35

Fumbles-lost 0-0 6-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING --- Hurley, Andy Hamlin 9-174, Dakota Haanen 8-143, Kodey Henning 7-54, Dryden Nelson 2-53, Tyler Colassaco 4-12, Jack Santini 3-12, Ty Gilbertson 1-2, Cameron Schuelke 1-minus 1. Suring, Logan Stuart 13-109, Terry Helminger 2-21, Jeremy Hensel 3-0, Josh Reed 10-minus 8, Kegyn Lambrech 1-minus 4.

PASSING --- Hurley, Jack Santini, 1-2-22-0. Suring, Josh Reed, 5-15-82-2, Jeremy Hensel, 1-4-7-2, Logan Stuart 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING --- Hurley, Kyle Kutz 1-22. Suring, Logan Stuart 3-35, Kegyn Lambrech 1-42, Mike VanDen Elzen 1-7, Dalton Stewart 1-5.