Hawks, Rails Set For 69th Annual “Battle for the Hammer”

This year's game will be Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Egerdahl Field in Proctor.

PROCTOR, Minn. – While it’s the last week of the regular season, it’s the biggest game week of the year for Proctor and Hermantown football players and and their fans as it’s “Battle for the Hammer” week.

“It’s a huge thing for both communities. It’s a great rivalry game. To me, it’s a showcase of Northland football. There’s a lot of excitement around, including the game. It’s fun to be a part of. I was a part of it as a player, as far as the rivalry with Proctor,” Hermantown head coach Mike Zagelmeyer said.

“It’s a nice rival game for us. One of the better ones in the area. We have a lot of football fans out here besides Proctor, Hermantown, so hopefully we come out, play hard and it goes down into the fourth quarter,” Proctor head coach Derek Parendo said.

“The whole community, they come together. And the crowd here, the attendance is amazing. The Hermantown-Proctor rivalry has always been big, it’s like 50/50 for all time so it just means a lot,” Proctor tight end Cole Johnson added.

The Hawks won the Hammer five years in a row, from 2011 to 2015. The Rails took it the next two years before the Hawks won it again at home last year.

“We lost 14–7 and I’m not sure if it’s better to lose 14–7 or 37–7. A close one like that, we just couldn’t execute down the stretch,” Parendo said.

“It sucked. We were all sad for at least a week or two after. We just wanted to play again and now Wednesday’s our chance to get them again,” Johnson added.

The Rails are 2–5, coming off a tough loss to Cloquet, snapping their two game win streak. But the Hawks know not to take their record lightly.

“They’re a really physical team, no matter if they’re winning or losing, they go all out and won’t quit no matter what,” Hermantown quarterback Peter Soumis said.

“They’re multi–dimensional. They do a lot of things on offense so defensively, we’ve got to be prepared for a lot of things. And they’re smash mouth on defense. Their linebackers come at you, we’ve got to be ready for that blitzing aspect of their game,” Zagelmeyer added.

And the Hawks enter this week 4–3, coming off a big win over Hibbing last week.

“With this game, you can throw out the record, you throw out all those things. These kids are going to be ready to play on both sides of the ball and hopefully it’s going to be a pretty exciting game,” Parendo said.

The 69th annual “Battle for the Hammer” will be this Wednesday at Egerdahl Field in Proctor. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.