Barnum wins Section 7A football championship

The “Star Trek” movies had a line that said revenge is a dish best served cold. If that’s true, no one told the Barnum Bombers.

Barnum avenged its only defeat of the 2010 season last Friday night in Duluth, defeating top-seed East Central 20-7 in the Section 7A football final – but did so in a way that made their coach proud.

“The kids were excited but humble,” coach Kevin Haley said. “They were classy in how they handled it. They played well but conducted themselves well, too.”

Josh Hogan rumbled for 197 yards on 34 carries and two scores, with 111 of those yards coming in the second half. Barnum ran 72 offensive plays to East Central’s 34.

“Me and Hector (Chavez) didn’t get hit until three or four yards down field,” Hogan said. “Holes opened up. I can’t even put it into words.”

The Bombers threw the ball once, as is their meme. Hogan also fumbled on the goal line in the second quarter and used the turnover to motivate himself for the second half.

“When we can run 71 running plays with very few mistakes, I’m happy,” Haley said. “Their kid made a great play on Josh at the goal line but we were consistent and I’m happy about that. We had one missed read on defense where they scored.”

Chavez rushed for 136 more yards on 29 attempts and a third score as the small, quick Bombers moved methodically down the field.

“Coach said if we scored three times we were going to win,” Chavez said. “We scored three times and we won.”

“We were deserving,” Haley said. “Before the game I told the players they had the chance to become champions. You practice and work to become champions. Now we have to practice like we are champions.”

That’s quite true. Barnum’s first state tournament since 2006 has earned them a date against defending state champion Minneota on Saturday at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud. Kickoff is scheduled for

3 p.m.

These Vikings have no issues on offense – they have rolled up 545 points in 11 games and have been held to less than 21 points on only one occasion – in their only loss, a 28-20 defeat against Dawson-Boyd on Oct. 8.

“I wouldn’t have minded a better draw,” Haley laughed. “But you look at those teams in the tournament. Mahnomen is 11-0. It doesn’t matter who you get, the eight best teams in the state are there and they are all going to be good. We scouted Minneota a bit and they are good, with two good backs and a strong defense. I’d like to believe we have two good backs and a strong defense too.”

The Bombers will go into the game undersized – like they do every week.

“They will be bigger than us, but so is everyone else we played,” Haley said.

Or, as Hogan put it: “Our line is small every week, but we’re quick every week.”

Success at this level is all about heart, according to Haley.

“The biggest stat is the scoreboard, that’s the one everyone has bought into and is believing,” he said. “It’s a ‘we’ thing. You can’t get there if you don’t believe as a team.”

“Why not us?” junior quarterback Bobby Minkkinen asked. “We have one of the top defenses in the state and our running is going.”

Why not, indeed?

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