Warrior football blows past Ortonville in opener

Brooke Kern

brooke@grantherald

The Wheaton/Herman-Norcross football team opened the 2022 season with a 69-6 blowout against Ortonville Friday, Sept. 2, in Wheaton.

The Warriors cruised out to a 63-0 halftime lead with five scores in the first and four scores in the second quarter.

Wheaton/H-N cruised to a 35-0 lead on two rushing touchdowns from quarterback Marshall Tolifson, a Tolifson to Clint Determan 25-yard connection, a Tolifson to Grant Dawson 10-yard connection and a 29-yard pick six by Determan.

Brayden Hofer had a 43-yard pick six to open the second quarter scoring. Tolifson found Determan on a 72-yard strike and Kevin Casper on a four-yard score. Holden Rinke recorded his first career touchdown pass on a 15-yard connection to Andrew Walker to end the half.

“I am very pleased with the way we played in the first game of the season. We had a lot of players contribute in the first and second quarter going down to the third person on the depth chart,” Warrior coach James Paul said. “We wanted to set the tone starting with the first game and I believe we did that.”

After a quiet third quarter, the Warriors went up 69-0 after a five-yard run by Brody Nachbor. Ortonville avoided the complete shutout with a four-yard run in the fourth quarter.

“One of our strengths is our depth at many positions. We want to keep guys fresh and healthy as the year continues,” Paul said. “Our younger guys, four and below on the depth chart, did a good job as well under the lights!”

Nachbor led the rushing attack with 114 yards on nine yards. Brayden Hofer had 54 yards on six carries. Marshall Tolfison was 5-for-6 for 118 yards through the air. Clint Determan had two of those catches for 97 yards.

The Warriors took advantage of seven Ortonville turnovers, including five interceptions. Two of those interceptions came from Hofer. Kevin Casper had five solo tackles to lead the defense while Ernest Jibben had a team-high eight assisted tackles.

The Warriors, 1-0, play Brandon-Evansville Friday, Sept. 9, in Brandon.

Wheaton/H-N 69

Ortonville 6

Wheaton/H-N (1-0) 35 28 0 6 – 69

Ortonville (0-1) 0 0 0 6 – 6

Scoring Plays

First Quarter WHS OHS

W-Marshall Tolifson 10 Yd Run (Clint Determan Kick) 7 0

W-Marshall Tolifson 3 Yd Run (Clint Determan Kick) 14 0

W-Clint Determan 25 Yd Pass From Marshall Tolifson (Clint Determan Kick) 21 0

W-Grant Dawson 10 Yd Pass From Marshall Tolifson (Clint Determan Kick) 28 0

W-Clint Determan 29 Yd Interception Return (Clint Determan Kick) 35 0

Second Quarter WHS OHS

W-Brayden Hofer 43 Yd Interception Return (Clint Determan Kick No Good) 41 0

W-Clint Determan 72 Yd Pass From Marshall Tolifson (Clint Determan Kick) 48 0

W-Kevin Casper 4 Yd Pass From Marshall Tolifson (Clint Determan Kick) 55 0

W-Andrew Walker 15 Yd Pass From Holden Rinke 

(Marshall Tolifson Run For Two-Point Conversion) 63 0

Third Quarter WHS OHS

No scoring

Fourth Quarter WHS OHS

W-Brody Nachbor 5 Yd Run (Failed Two-Point Conversion) 69 0