Duluth Marshall Joins Two Harbors For Football Co-Op

The Hilltoppers folded their program back in 2015 and now have five players traveling to Two Harbors this fall to play as Agates.

TWO HARBORS, Minn. – Duluth Marshall folded their football program back in 2015, but that all changed this week as the Hilltoppers are back thanks to the help of another Northland team.

Duluth Marshall will join Two Harbors as they will compete as a co-op. The team will still be known as the Two Harbors Agates and continue to play in Class AAA. Head coach Tom Nelson says he was more than willing to accommodate the addition.

“Late winter, early spring, Marshall reached out to Two Harbors and started the talks and we had some questions about certain things. We felt strongly about staying the Two Harbors Agates and they said hey, we just want our kids to have an opportunity to play. They are dedicated and they work hard and they have fit right into this family,” Nelson said.

The team currently has five Duluth Marshall players and a few more are expected to join soon. And so far, the new teammates are getting along well.

“If they’re willing to make the drive up here every day to be at practice or be at the weight room or just work with us, then I think that’s the type of people we want on our team. I feel like as a team, the Two Harbors boys, we’ve done well just bringing them in and making them one of our own,” Two Harbors running back/linebacker Alec Churness said.

“They didn’t bat an eye about any of us coming in, they brought us in just like we were any other player from Two Harbors. We were able to just get out in the field and get to work and we’re a family and a brotherhood above all else. We’re all proud to be on the field and be a part of a team and that they were so willing to let us come be Agates with them,” Duluth Marshall center Jake Widdes added.

The Agates will open their season Sept. 2 against Barnum.