Detroit Lakes' senior Rick Hutchinson finished the 2011 regular season as the Lakers' leading receiver, but Wednesday against visiting Crookston, he did most of his damage on the other side of the ball.
After the Lakers struggled out of the gates against the Pirates, falling down 6-0 in the first quarter, two-second quarter Hutchinson interceptions jarred DL out of the quagmire to give the home team a huge boost.
The DL senior safety finished with three interceptions on the evening.
The Lakers proceeded to score 35 unanswered points in the second and third quarters, on their way to a convincing 43-22 victory to finish the regular season with a 6-2 record and the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Section 7-4A playoffs.
"Rick is a very good player on both sides of the ball, his interceptions were a huge boost for us," said DL head coach Flint Motschenbacher.
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Playing without starting senior quarterback Joe Mollberg for the second time this season -- the first came in the season opener -- the Lakers were led by sophomore QB Michael Herzog, who helped spearhead a rushing attack which gained 336 yards rushing.
Each of Herzog and senior slotback Brian Labat eclipsed the century mark on the ground with 113 and 124 yards, respectively.
Once again, the DL offense took what the opposing defense gave, which on this night, were the edges.
"There was nothing in the middle for us, (fullback) Jarett Nosal came back to the huddle and said there was nothing up there because they were stacking it so much.
"So that gave us the edges."
The Pirates were loading up the middle of the box with up to eight players, so the end around plays to Labat and the planned bootlegs by Herzog were more than effective.
"They had eight guys between the tackles for almost the entire game, so it was pretty tough to run up the middle," Motschenbacher said. "So we took what was given to us."
One thing the Lakers didn't want to have were turnovers against a team which was struggling at 1-6 coming into the game.
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But early on, that's what exactly what occurred as Herzog fumbled on the Crookston 28 yard line on DL's first series of the game.
Crookston promptly drove the field on 10 plays and 63 yards by gouging the Laker defense by air and ground, with Josh Edlund gaining 23 yards rushing in the drive alone.
Junior quarterback Dylan Klatt added a 25-yard scramble to the Laker three, before Edlund capped it with a touchdown and 6-0 Crookston lead.
"We started off well by moving the ball, but we let them drive the field, which kind of woke us up (defensively)," said Herzog, who also plays linebacker.
On DL's next possession, Edlund intercepted Herzog for a touchback, but this time, the Laker defense stiffened and forced a three-and-out.
That's all Herzog and the offense needed to establish their first touchdown drive, as good field position at the DL 41 resulted in a five-play drive, capped by a Herzog 26-yard end zone scamper around left end for the 7-6 lead, after Steven Labine's extra-point kick -- in which he went a perfect 5-5 on the evening.
The floodgates opened on the Pirates, after the Lakers stuffed them on fourth and one on the Laker six on the ensuing series.
On Crookston's next possession, Hutchinson came up with a pick from his safety position, then returned it 67 yards to the Pirate 13.
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It took two plays to up the ante to 14-6, thanks to a 12-yard end-around by slotback Stephen Erb and a one-yard plunge by Herzog.
"After we let them score on their first drive, it fired us up," Hutchinson said. "Then the interception really fired us up. The blocking on the first interception was good, as well. Brian Labat blocked two or three guys himself down field to break me open (for 67 yards)."
Another three-and-out by Crookston, led to a partial punt block by Brandon Dahring, thus giving the Lakers favorable field position at the Crookston 43.
But an interception by Jordan Brewster killed DL's series, but Hutchinson would hand the ball right back to the Lakers on his second pick of the night, returning it to the Pirate 22.
"We knew they couldn't run on us, so I could (roam) more in the secondary," Hutchinson said. "I knew my backside was covered, too."
This time, Herzog ripped off a 22-yard run to the Crookston six-yard line and capped the drive with a four-yard end zone rush with 38.8 seconds left in the half and DL up 21-6.
"Everybody got into the game after Rick's interceptions, they were big," Herzog said.
With Crookston still loading up the middle, the Lakers took full advantage of the open edges, with Labat going the distance on DL's first possession of the second half for a 43-yard touchdown.
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A Derek Long interception on the ensuing Crookston drive, was turned into more points, as a fourth and fourth play on the Pirate 20 finished as Herzog's first-ever varsity touchdown pass.
Fittingly, Herzog found a wide open Hutchinson right down the middle of the end zone for six points to give the Lakers a 35-6 edge with 5:12 left in the third quarter.
"I felt more comfortable in the pocket and Rick was wide open," said Herzog, who played quarterback in the opening game of the season after Mollberg missed it with a sprained ankle.
With DL's second and third stringers in on both sides of the ball, Crookston stayed with their first-stringers and put together two touchdown drives to pull to within 35-22 with 3:51 left in regulation.
The Lakers turned out the lights on the Pirates by adding another touchdown on a 24-yard Erb end-around touchdown with 1:58 left in the game.
The Lakers will now host No. 6 seeded Hibbing (1-7) in the opening round of the Section 7-4A playoffs Tuesday at Mollberg Field, starting at 7 p.m.
The other section game will be No. 5 Duluth Denfeld (2-6) at No. 4 Grand Rapids (3-5).
Top-seeded Bemidji (8-0) and No. 2 Hermantown (8-0) gain bye weeks.
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If the Lakers win over Hibbing, they will visit Hermantown Saturday, Oct. 29, starting at 2 p.m. The Section finals will be at the high seed Friday, Nov. 4.
"I want to make it to the section championship for the seniors," Herzog said. "We need to stay healthy and not take any plays off. It's a new season and we need to play like it."
This will also be the first year for the Lakers to be in Section 7-4A.
Will they be entering it with their starting quarterback Mollberg?
"We'll see how he practices over the week," Motschenbacher said. "He's questionable at best."
Laker results
Crookston at Detroit Lakes, Wednesday, Oct. 19.
Lakers 43, Pirates 22
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Crookston - 6 0 0 16 -- 22
Detroit Lakes - 7 14 14 8 -- 43
Crk: Josh Edlund 3-yard run; kick failed. 7:02, 1st quarter.
DL: Michael Herzog 26-yard run; Steven Labine kick. 2:05, 1st.
DL: Herzog 1-yard run; Labine kick. 6:00, 2nd.
DL: Herzog 4-yard run; Labine kick. 38.8, 2nd.
DL: Brian Labat 43-yard run; Labine kick. 9:35, 3rd.
DL: Rick Hutchinson 20-yard pass from Herzog; Labine kick. 5:12, 3rd.
Crk: Dylan Klatt 3-yard run; Jordan Brewster pass from Klatt. 7:35, 4th.
Crk: Alex Boone 10-yard run; Parker Epema run. 3:51, 4th.
DL: Stephen Erb 24-yard run; Aaron Marsh pass from Herzog. 1:58, 4th.
DL Crk
First Downs 12 16
By Rushing 11 10
By passing 1 6
By penalty 0 0
Net Yards Rushing 336 226
No. rushes 50 40
Yards gained 352 230
Yards lost 16 4
Yards per rush avg. 6.7 5.7
Net Yards Passing 48 137
No. passes 6 26
Completed 2 12
Incomplete 2 10
Had intercepted 2 4
Interception yards 102 0
Total Offensive Plays 58 70
TOTAL NET YARDS 384 363
Kickoffs 7 4
Yards 248 127
Ave. kickoff 35.4 31.8
Kickoffs Returned 3 4
Yards 70 52
Ave. return 23.3 13
Fumbles 2 1
Fumbles lost 1 1
Penalties 3 4
Yards 25 50
* * *
Individual Rushing
DL --
Player NR YG YL Net
Brian Labat 9 124 0 124
Michael Herzog 16 113 0 113
Stephen Erb 3 49 0 49
Taylor Magnuson 6 28 5 23
Jarett Nosal 5 16 0 16
Jake Hoganson 4 10 0 10
Casey Paskey 1 5 0 5
Nick Groth 6 7 11 (-4)
Crookston -
Josh Edlund 17 106 0 106
Alex Boone 9 48 0 48
Dylan Klatt 11 50 4 46
Robert Kappelhoff 1 18 0 18
Brett Delage 1 8 0 8
Dan Davidson 1 0 0 0
* * *
Individual Passing
Player No Comp Inc Int Yds TD
DL --
Herzog 6 2 2 2 48 1
Crookston -
Klatt 26 12 10 4 137 0
* * *
Pass Receiving
Player No. Yds. TD
DL --
Rick Hutchinson 2 48 1
Crookston -
Kody Kowlewski 3 43 0
Jordan Brewster 3 43 0
Boone 2 25 0
Ryan Edvold 1 12 0
Nate Merten 1 8 0
Paul Bittner 1 5 0
Parker Epema 1 1 0
* * *
Kickoffs
Player No. Yds. Ave.
DL --
Steven Labine 7 248 35.4
Crookston -
Delage 4 127 31.8
* * *
Kickoffs Returned
Player No. Yds. Ave.
DL --
Erb 2 52 26
Magnuson 1 18 18
Crookston -
Edlund 3 32 10.7
Boone 1 20 20
* * *
Pass Interceptions
Player No. Yds.
DL -
Hutchinson 3 102
Derek Long 1 0
Crookston -
Edlund 1 0
Brewster 1 0
* * *
Sacks
Player No. Yds. lost
DL -
None
Crookston -
None
The 2011 Detroit Lakes Final regular season stats: Lakers 6-2 (4-2 in HOL Conference)
Detroit Lakes 34, Little Falls 20
Pequot Lakes 8, Detroit Lakes 7
Detroit Lakes 21, Thief River Falls 20
Detroit Lakes 40, Staples-Motley 15
Detroit Lakes 31, East Grand Forks 14
Detroit Lakes 36, Park Rapids 7
Perham 35, Detroit Lakes 28
Detroit Lakes 43, Crookston 22
Lakers 240, Opponents 141
Opponents - 25 30 7 79 -- 119
Detroit Lakes - 35 92 64 49 -- 240
Scoring
Brian Labat - (42 points) 1 rushing touchdown, 6 receiving touchdown.
Rick Hutchinson - (42 points) 6 receiving touchdowns, 1 punt return touchdown.
Michael Herzog - (42 points) 4 rushing touchdown; 2 receiving touchdown; 1 interception return.
Joe Mollberg - (36 points) 6 rushing touchdowns.
Steven Labine - (32 points) 29-31 PAT kicks, 1 field goal.
Jarett Nosal - (18 points) 3 rushing touchdown.
Taylor Magnuson - (6 points) 1 rushing touchdown.
Jake Hoganson - (6 points) 1 rushing touchdown.
Stephen Erb - (6 points) 1 rushing touchdown.
Aaron Marsh - (2 points) 1 2-point conversion reception.
Luke Eggebraaten - (1 point) 1-1 PAT kick.
DL Opp
First Downs 99 102
By Rushing 67 72
By passing 27 28
By penalty 5 2
Net Yards Rushing 1484 1535
No. rushes 294 353
Yards gained 1638 1636
Yards lost 154 101
Avg. per rush 5.04 4.34
Net Yards Passing 1125 623
No. passes 101 106
Completed 59 47
Incomplete 34 48
Had intercepted 8 11
Interception yards 171 55
Total Offensive Plays 421 503
TOTAL NET YARDS 2609 2158
Kickoffs 43 32
Yards 1807 1113
Ave. kickoff 42.02 34.8
Kickoffs Returned 20 35
Yards 380 596
Ave. return 19 17.02
Fumbles 12 16
Fumbles lost 9 11
Penalties 38 47
Yards 235 373
* * *
Individual Rushing
DL --
Player NR YG YL Net
Michael Herzog 83 429 34 395
Brian Labat 51 411 20 391
Joe Mollberg 77 338 52 286
Taylor Magnuson 14 111 5 106
Jarett Nosal 26 103 2 101
Jake Hoganson 20 76 5 71
Stephen Erb 4 56 0 56
Casey Paskey 3 55 0 55
Casey Fonder 4 28 0 28
Rick Hutchinson 1 4 0 4
Dylan Bremseth 4 0 3 (-3)
Nick Groth 7 7 11 (-4)
* * *
Individual Passing
Player No Comp Inc Int Yds TD
DL --
Mollberg 89 54 30 5 1041 12
Herzog 6 2 2 2 48 1
Magnuson 1 1 0 0 42 1
Labat 4 2 1 1 (-6) 0
* * *
Pass Receiving
Player No. Yds. TD
DL --
Rick Hutchinson 27 531 6
Labat 16 371 6
Herzog 6 128 2
Aaron Marsh 5 67 0
Magnuson 3 43 0
Kirk McLeod 1 5 0
* * *
Kickoffs
Player No. Yds. Ave.
DL --
Steven Labine 42 1764 42
Paskey 1 43 43
* * *
Kickoffs Returned
Player No. Yds. Ave.
DL --
Stephen Erb 9 170 18.9
Magnuson 5 84 16.8
Herzog 4 69 17.3
Labat 1 30 30
Brock Johnson 1 22 22
Paskey 1 10 10
Nick Groth 1 9 9
* * *
Pass Interceptions
Player No. Yds.
DL -
Rick Hutchinson 5 106
Herzog 2 32
Nick Eckman 1 33
Labine 1 10
Casey Fonder 1 0
Derek Long 1 0
* * *
Sacks
Player No. Yds. lost
DL -
David Perry 2 5
Labat 1 5
Hoganson 1 5
Brandon Dahring 1 4.
