Wehr, Bemidji State prevail over UMD in Cloquet football reunion

Oct. 28—DULUTH — Former Cloquet High School teammates turned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rivals Tim Pokornowski of UMD and Bemidji State's Spencer Wehr greeted each other with a hug in the handshake line after the Beavers won 38-31 in Saturday's down-to-the-wire contest at Malosky Stadium.

The two have remained close since their magical run to the Class AAAA championship game in 2017 as members of the Lumberjacks, despite now finding themselves on opposite sidelines.

"We're best friends and we talk all the time. And whenever I come back up to Duluth, I'm always staying with him," said Wehr after Bemidji State's 38-31 win. "We always have this game marked on our calendars because it's so fun playing against each other, and game week like this there's a lot of talk going into it. It's just a lot of chirping between each other and it's just like a fun little brotherhood we've got."

The brotherhood goes as far back as grade-school for the two through countless hours spent playing the game they love together as kids.

"Our connection has been lifelong, ever since elementary school," Pokornowski shared. "I remember in middle school and high school we used to go to our high school field with one other guy and we'd play quarterback, receiver, DB and we'd just play for hours."

Now known for their defensive prowess on their respective teams, Pokornowski and Wehr once formed a lethal rushing tandem at quarterback and running back during their prep careers with Cloquet. The two combined for over 2,000 yards on the ground in 2017 with a strong supporting cast composed of 21 seniors.

"Just the chemistry that the whole entire senior class and the junior class had (stands out the most)," Wehr said. "Growing up going through CYFA (Cloquet Youth Football Association) and middle school then going into high school, just that brotherhood that we get together and just the bonding that we had doing everything together outside of football and after practice hanging out."

Wehr and Pokornowski are two of at least four players to extend their football careers beyond the high school level from the 2017 Cloquet football team. Recent grad Dylan Lauer spent his first two seasons at St. Cloud State before transferring to Southwest Minnesota State for his junior and senior seasons. Mitch Gerlach, a 2018 grad, competed for St. John's University at the Division III level as a linebacker.

After trailing by as many as 21 points deep in the third quarter, the Bulldogs battled all the way back to make it a one-score game in the fourth behind a gutsy effort from quarterback Kyle Walljasper.

While the Beavers ultimately weathered the storm in a 38-31 final, UMD head coach Curt Wiese said the final result wasn't due to a lack of effort by his team.

"I thought our effort in both halves was good," Wiese said. "Bemidji came out in the first half and took it to us, and it wasn't a lack of effort, it was execution, and we made some adjustments at halftime."

"I thought we had an opportunity there in the second half, and maybe we could've gone for it on fourth down with three minutes to go in the game and decided to punt the football. And it was a little bit of a gamble by us, but our effort was good. Bemidji's a good football team," he added.

The Bulldogs stared down their first deficit since Week 6 against Wayne State early in the first quarter after back-to-back Bemidji State scoring drives powered by running backs Sage Booker and Ali Mohamed put the Beavers in front 14-0.

After a quick three-and-out on their first possession, UMD's offense picked up steam behind a 30-yard quarterback keeper by Kyle Walljasper into the red zone. The 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive was capped off with an eight-yard screen pass touchdown to Sam Pitz with one second remaining in the first quarter.

The touchdown pass was one of two in the game for Walljasper, who later added a pair of rushing scores as well.

The Beavers tilted the field in the second quarter thanks in large part to the arm of Brandon Alt, who finished the half 14-20 with 212 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, including a 16-yard connection with Brice Peters to take a 21-10 lead in the wake of a 27-yard field goal by UMD's Curt Cox.

BSU remained in control into halftime after manufacturing a back-breaking 13-play, 68-yard drive ending with a two-yard goal-line plunge from Sam McGath to make it 28-10.

At the break, the Beavers held a convincing 317-159 advantage in total offense after averaging 7.93 yards per play with 19 first downs. The Bulldogs converted just five first downs over the first two quarters.

The complexion of the game began to shift as UMD's offense found a much-needed spark early in the third quarter via a wide-open completion from Walljapser to DaShaun Ames at midfield with a clear lane to the end zone to make it 31-17.

The Beavers quickly silenced the home fans on the ensuing possession with a 74-yard touchdown run by Booker to extend their lead back to three possessions and reclaim the momentum.

With their backs against the wall, a heroic effort on the part of Walljasper featuring multiple chunk gains on the ground powered the Bulldogs to consecutive touchdown drives in a 38-31 game in the fourth quarter.

"Kyle's a competitor. This game meant a lot to him," Wiese said. "It was his first start last year against these guys and we got beat, and it meant a lot to our team, so that loss hurts, but we've still got a couple games to go and there's a lot that can happen."

After forcing a Bemidji State punt, UMD had a golden opportunity to tie the game up with a possession that began at their own 41-yard line, but went nowhere. The Bulldogs, instead of going for it, opted to punt in a 4th-and-9 situation with 3:56 left to play, giving the ball right back to the Beavers, who never relinquished it.

UMD will close out its home schedule with a matchup against Concordia-St. Paul next Saturday, Nov. 4 at noon.