Hermantown Football Set to Play Orono in First State Quarterfinal Game Since 2018

Hermantown earns second seed in state tournament.

HERMANTOWN, Minn.- The Hermantown football team pulled off the late fourth quarter comeback against North Branch in the section 7AAAA championship game last Friday.

The Hawks defeated North Branch 35-28, earning their first state appearance since 2018.

Hermantown finished the regular season (7-1), with their only loss coming from North Brach.

A trip to the state tournament was one of the goals for the Hermantown Hawks, and for running back Martin Sleen, being a part of a state team runs in the family.

“I am pretty excited, actually my brother Chandler Sleen was a senior on 2018 team that went to state. So, for me it is pretty exciting being here. It’s cool to talk with to him about it, and kind of see that he is feeling a lot of the same things that I am feeling. Just to see a little bit of the pride on his face is pretty cool for me. I am really proud of this whole team,” said Sleen.

The Hawks earned the second seed in the state tournament and will face Orono in the quarterfinal game on Thursday, November 7th.

“In that State quarterfinal game, we have to come out better than we did in that section final game. We have to play better than that first half and execute better. But again, keep within ourselves and come down from the high of the section final. I feel a little bit that we are still buzzing a little bit about that,” said head coach Mike Zagelmeyer.

Kickoff for the Hawks is set for 6 p.m.