Century/John Marshall faced off with Mayo in a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Mayo’s goalie Grace Kober (33) attempts to block a shot from Century/John Marshall’s Kennedy Stewart (9) during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall players line up before a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match against Mayo on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Mayo’s Milania Black (3) controls the puck during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match against Century/John Marshall on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Mayo’s Katie Cummings (7) attempts to knock the puck away from Century/John Marshall’s Caydance Hanson (23) during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Mayo’s Marley Smith (5) takes a shot on net while Century/John Marshall’s Tegan Carroll (7) guards her during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall’s Katie Nelson (10) shoots the puck and scores during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match against Mayo on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Mayo’s goalie Grace Kober (33) attempts to block a shot from Century/John Marshall’s Katie Nelson (10) during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall’s Katie Nelson (10) skates with the puck during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match against Mayo on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall players celebrate a goal from Katie Nelson (10) during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match against Mayo on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Century/John Marshall’s goalie Isabella Scranton (1) attempts to block a shot from Mayo’s Abby Weick (14) during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall’s Daelyn Williams (6) and Mayo’s Olivia Dahl (8) face-off during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Mayo’s Olivia Dahl (8) and Century/John Marshall’s Katie Nelson (10) face-off during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall’s Claire Groslie (13) and Mayo’s Leksi Doyle (21) battle for the puck during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Mayo’s Marley Smith (5) skates with the puck during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match against Century/John Marshall on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall’s Katie Nelson (10) attempts to knock the puck away from Mayo’s Marley Smith (5) during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Century/John Marshall’s Caydance Hanson (23) hits the puck down the rink during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match against Mayo on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Mayo’s goalie Grace Kober (33) attempts to block a shot from Century/John Marshall’s Caydance Hanson (23) during a Big Nine Conference girls hockey match on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, at Rochester Recreation Center in Rochester. Century/John Marshall won 3-1.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
Maya Giron joined the Post Bulletin staff in 2023. She grew up in the Berkshires area of Western Massachusetts and, in the spring of 2023, obtained a BFA in photojournalism from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, N.Y. While at RIT, she interned at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh, Pa., and the Rapid City Journal in Rapid City, S.D., before moving to Minnesota.
Beyond the Playbook: Duluth Marshall girls hockey teams up with North Shore Storm
Two Harbors and Silver Bay hockey joined as a co-op years ago, and are now paired up for football too.
But this year, an unexpected third team added to the girls hockey membership.
Duluth Marshall girls hockey made it to the Section 7A championship just nine months ago. However, fast forward to November, and the Hilltoppers won’t be fielding their own team.
“It was definitely sad,” said Nina Thorson, a senior center from Duluth Marshall. “Like, I want to be a part of our school team and show off our pride. But like I said, it’s going to only help us and hopefully be able to get to that section final again.”
After an agreement between athletic directors, Silver Bay, Two Harbors, and Duluth Marshall will now all be under the “North Shore Storm” umbrella.
“We were already a co-op, so we already go back and forth between Two Harbors and Silver Bay. So it’ll mostly stay the same, just adding a few more friends,” said Addison Bentler, a senior defender from Two Harbors.
For the Hilltoppers, the whole experience is new. Perhaps the most worrisome throughout the year is the toll on traveling up to an hour away just for practice, and keeping up with all of the other things that high school athletes do.
“With any high school athlete, you make sure that they’re getting fed, they’re getting some sleep,” said Callie Hoff, an assistant coach for the storm and the former Duluth Marshall head coach. “They’re getting their homework done. We always talk about the student athletes, so getting their homework done is important. Just finding ways for them to make this all happen as they have a longer travel to and from practices and games.”
With anticipation comes excitement though, and the melting pot of team identities is set to make for an exciting season up north.
“North Shore is definitely a really gritty team,” said Thorson. “We’re known to get the puck into the back of the net. So I feel like those two are going to really complement each other so we can learn how to be more gritty and more offensively better. We can help them on the goal side.”
“They were definitely always a competitor,” said Bentler. “We always wanted to beat them really badly. They play really good hockey and move the puck a lot. So hopefully, that’ll continue on with us.”
“The Hilltoppers bring in some good talent, for sure,” said Mike Hoff, the head coach for the Storm. “They’re working hard. We have some good leaders on that squad that are older. We have some younger talent, of course, that complements them pretty well, and hopefully, we’ll play our best hockey come February.”
Mike Hoff explained that it was important to get the Duluth Marshall girls a game closer to home and in front of their home fans, and that game will come January 30th at Mars Lakeview Arena against the Proctor/Hermantown Mirage.
Marshall County kicker Luis Gonzalez (34) and Tyler Railling (21) celebrate after Gonzalez kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime to beat Pearl-Cohn during the high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Pearl-Cohn’s Donovan Higgins, right, and Anthony Carnahan (23) react after losing in overtime to Marshall County 24-21 in the high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Pearl-Cohn’s Malachi Campbell (52) and Javion Kinnard (1) walk off the field as Marshall County players celebrate their 24-21 overtime win in the high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Marshall County kicker Luis Gonzalez (34) kicks the game-winning field goal in overtime to beat Pearl-Cohn in the high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Marshall County kicker Luis Gonzalez (34) watches his game-winning field goal in overtime against Pearl-Cohn during the high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Pearl-Cohn’s Javion Kinnard (1) catches a 71-yard touchdown pass against Marshall County tying the score in the fourth quarter of an high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Marshall County quarterback Tyler Thompson (16) passes against Pearl-Cohn during an high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Pearl-Cohn’s Javion Kinnard (1) celebrates after catching a 71-yard touchdown pass against Marshall County tying the score in the fourth quarter during an high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Pearl-Cohn running back Javion Kinnard (1) runs past Marshall County’s Mylan Bell (19) during an high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean
Marshall County’s Reid Mitchell (64) recovers a fumble by Pearl-Cohn quarterback L.J. Funk (16) during an high school football Region 5-4A championship game Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Lewisburg, Tenn.
STATE CENTER — Another dominating effort on the gridiron for the PCM football team clinched a second consecutive district championship on Friday.
The Class 2A No. 2 Mustangs rushed for 282 yards and the defense collected three sacks, eight tackles for loss and one interception during a 49-7 road win over West Marshall.
Adrien Robbins rushed for four touchdowns and Gavin Van Gorp threw for three TDs and still hasn’t recorded an interception this season.
Adrien Robbins
PCM led 14-0 after one quarter and scored 49 straight points before the Trojans reached the end zone in the fourth.
It was the first time the Mustangs (7-0, 4-0 in the district) were held to fewer than 50 points during the 2A District 6 season, but they are outscoring their district opponents 209-29 this fall.
Robbins scored on a 52-yard TD run early in the first and then added touchdown runs of 10 and 15 yards later in the half.
Van Gorp tossed TD passes of 15 and 13 yards, respectively, to Harlan Shannon and Gavin Steenhoek in the final 39 seconds of the first half to go up 35-0 at the break.
Gavin Steenhoek
Robbins scored his fourth touchdown on a 3-yard run in the third and Van Gorp’s 27-yard TD pass to Steenhoek with 37 seconds to go in the quarter capped the Mustangs’ scoring.
Van Gorp finished 12-of-15 through the air for 120 yards and three TDs and rushed for 20 yards on six carries. He has 865 passing yards this fall and ranks tied for second in 2A with 17 TD passes.
Robbins gained 221 yards and scored four times on 26 carries and had a 9-yard reception. His 1,285 rushing yards rank second in 2A. He also ranks tied for third with 17 rushing TDs and leads the class with a yards per carry average of 11.
Steenhoek finished with 86 yards and two scores on seven catches, Shannon grabbed two passes for 20 yards and one TD and Sawyer Bouwkamp gained 41 yards on five carries.
Trenner Van Dyke
Steenhoek’s six receiving TDs this fall ranks tied for sixth in 2A.
Trenner Van Dyke led the defense with five tackles and one fumble recovery. Keegan Fenton registered four tackles, Alex Wendt tallied three tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss and Danson Drake contributed three tackles. Bouwkamp posted 2.5 tackles.
Kaden Clark and Tate Birkenholtz each finished with one sack and two tackles for loss and Carson Hansen snagged an interception.
Dominic Witt made all seven of his PATs and booted six of his eight kickoffs for touchbacks. His 45 touchbacks leads 2A and ranks fifth in Iowa.
Alex Wendt
The PCM defense limited West Marshall (5-2, 3-1) to 72 passing yards and 72 rushing yards. The unit has allowed 57 points this fall but only 28 have come before the fourth quarter of blowouts.
Ben Gonzalez came into the game with more than 700 rushing yards but was held to 27 yards on 12 carries.
Vincent Clawson threw for 72 yards, one TD and one pick and rushed for 44 yards on 14 carries.
Holden Simms caught five passes for 61 yards and one touchdown and Michael Lechnir led the Trojan defense to 10.5 tackles.
