The Crookston Pirate Football team had three Ethan Boll touchdowns and Isaac Westlake had an interception with 92 seconds left on their way to a 25-17 victory over the Hawley Nuggets in a Section 8AA match-up played in Hawley.
First Quarter –
Hawley started the game with an impressive nine-play 68-yard drive that was capped by a Sam Burkel four-yard run, and after the extra point, the Nuggets led 7-0 with 7:49 left in the quarter. “They had some good runs and had some nice plays,” said Pirate Coach Scott Butt. “They took the ball right at us in the first drive.”
Crookston’s Ethan Boll answered with a 60-yard kickoff return, and the Pirates had the ball at the Hawley 30 yard line. Crookston got the ball down to the 15-yard line and turned the ball over on downs. “We pushed it and got down there,” said Coach Butt. “We were feeling out what we could do, and Hawley played some good defense.” Hawley ran a play, and on the second play, Ty Hamre made a great play and forced a fumble and Brooks Butt jumped on the ball. “Ty played well tonight. He played his rear end off tonight,” said Coach Butt. “It was a great play to make the stop and force the fumble.” Crookston had the ball on the Hawley 15 yard line, and Leyton Salentine ran 15 yards for a touchdown, and after the extra point, the game was tied at 7-7 with 2:40 left in the quarter. “Leyton ran the ball well tonight,” said Coach Butt. “That was a big hole, and Leyton did a great job on the run.”
Hawley ran three plays and punted the ball, and with 58 seconds left in the half, Crookston had the ball and looking to see if they could score. The Pirates tried a pitch, and Ethan Boll was hit as the ball hit his fingertips and the ball popped loose. Hawley’s Cole Matson scooped the ball up and ran 35 yards for a touchdown, and after the extra point kick, the Nuggets led 14-7 going into the second quarter. “That was tough,” said Coach Butt. “Give the Hawley player credit, he saw the loose ball and took off with it.”
Second Quarter –
Crookston had the ball at the end of the first quarter into the second quarter and had a run of one yard before Leyton Salentine slung a pass downfield, and Ty Hamre made a leaping catch for a 39-yard completion in Hawley territory. “It is nice to have a taller receiver,” said Salentine. “We threw the ball a little more, and the receivers did a great job getting open.” The Pirates ran the ball for two yards before Salentine found Quinn Westlake for an 11-yard completion, which was followed by a 12 yard Boll run. After a loss of two yards, the Pirates handed the ball off to Boll who met a Hawley defensive back at the one-yard line and lowered his shoulder and knocked the Nugget tackler back into the endzone and Boll scored. “That was huge,” said Coach Butt. “Ethan ran the ball extremely hard.” Crookston’s extra point failed, and Hawley held on for a 14-13 lead with nine minutes left in the first half. Neither team was able to get anything going offensively, and Hawley took a 14-13 lead into halftime. “I was thinking to myself that we should be ahead. I thought we played well enough to have the lead,” said Coach Butt. “We knew we were going to have our hands full with Hawley in the second half and they were going to run the ball.”
Third Quarter –
Crookston’s first two possessions were three plays and a pint for a total of six yards on the two drives. Hawley didn’t fare much better, but they got close enough for a field goal halfway through the quarter, and Sam Burkel kicked a 25-yard field goal to give Hawley a 17-13 lead, which they held through the rest of the quarter. “The kid has a leg,” said Coach Butt. “It has a different sound when it comes off his foot, and that was a nice kick.”
Fourth Quarter –
Crookston had the ball to start the fourth quarter, and the offensive series started with two incomplete passes, setting up a third and 10-yard play. Salentine found Hamre down the field for a 31-yard pass completion, which was followed by a wide receiver handoff/reverse and Gunner Gunderson flew down the sideline for a 40 yard gain. “Ty went up to get the pass again and made another nice catch. They were giving us the middle of the field, so we drew up the play,” said Coach Butt. “Gunner had a tremendous run, and it was a good play call. Gunner got to the outside and showed he has some great speed. Two plays later, Ethan Boll scored his second six-yard touchdown of the game and Crookston took a 19-17 lead with 10:11 left in the game.
Hawley ran into some penalty problems and the next drive stalled, and Crookston got the ball back with 5:47 left in the game. The Pirates were looking to take some time off the clock and ran the ball for no gain, followed by a three-yard run before Leyton Salentine, on a third down and seven-yard play. On the second down play, Crookston was called for holding and instead of accepting the penalty and pushing the Pirates back, Hawley declined the penalty and Crookston still had a third down and seven situation. Leyton Salentine found Quinn Westlake for an eight-yard pass (with a generous spot) and a first down. The next play was another first down when Jaxon Wang ran 17 yards, and Salentine followed with another first down with a 14 yard carry and Crookston had the ball first down and 10 at the Hawley 30 yard line. Crookston ran three plays and only gained a yard and had a fourth down and nine-yard play. The Pirates pulled out the bag of tricks, and Salentine zipped a pass to the Westlake who made the grab along the Pirate sideline for a nine-yard gain, a yard shy of the first down. Westlake pitched the ball to a sprinting Ethan Boll who ran 20 yards for the touchdown and Crookston led 25-17 with 2:50 left in the game. “I was thinking to myself you are 0-4, what do you have to lose?” said Coach Butt. “Leyton threw it perfectly to Quinn, and the defense came over, and he had a nice pitch to Ethan, and I knew when he got the 10-yard line they weren’t going to get him.” Crookston missed the extra point, and Hawley still had a chance. Hawley was moving the ball and hurt themselves with several penalties and at one time had a first down and 28 play from the Crookston 48 yard line. The Nuggets threw a pass over the middle, and Crookston’s Quinn Westlake intercepted the pass, and the Pirates took a knee three times and won the game 25-17. “We were in cover one, so I was just ball-hawking, I guess,” said Westlake. “It just came to me, and it was a make a wish play almost. It was a relief to seal the deal.”
Crookston improves to 1-4 on the year and will travel to Roseau on Friday. Hawley drops to 0-5 on the season.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 7 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 25 |
| Hawley | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
1st Quarter
7:49 – Hawley – Sam Burkel 4 yard run (Sam Burkel kick)
2:40 – Crookston – Leyton Salentine 15 yard run (Brooks Butt kick)
0:38 – Hawley – Cole Matson 35 yard fumble return (Sam Burkel kick)
2nd Quarter
9:01 – Crookston – Ethan Boll 6 yard run (kick failed)
3rd Quarter
5:27 – Hawley –Â Sam Burkel 25 yard Field Goal
4th Quarter
10:11 – Crookston – Ethan Boll 6 yard run (pass failed)
2:50 –  Crookston – Ethan Boll 20 yard run (kick failed)
| TEAM STATS | CROOKSTON | Hawley |
| Rushing Yards | 144 | 203 |
| Passing Yards | 110 | 50 |
| Total Yards | 254 | 253 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| First Downs | 12 | 12 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3-35 | 4-35 |
| Punts | 3-96 | 2-57 |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
| CROOKSTON | Hawley | |
| Rushing | Rushing | |
| Ethan Boll –  17-53 | Derien Gerdes  26-145 | |
| Leyton Salentine  10-36 | Sam Burkel  16-56 | |
| Gunner Gunderson  1-40 | Hayden Grani  3-(-4) | |
| Jaxon Wang  1-17 | Carter Langer 1-6 | |
| Jacob Hesby  1- (-2) | ||
| Â | Â | |
| Passing | Passing | |
| Leyton Salentine 6-11-0 110 yds | Hayden Grani 1-5-1 29 yds | |
| Sam Burkel 1-1-0 21 yds | ||
| Receiving | Receiving | |
| Quinn Westlake  3-28 | Kaden Murphy  1-29 | |
| Ty Hamre 2-70 | Keenan Syverson 1-21 | |
| Walker Winjum 1-12 |
