Mark Hummel threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Brainerd Lumberjacks sacked the Twin City Rhinos 24-6 Saturday in Brainerd.
Hummel, fresh off of an injury and back in his not-so-normal-position of quarterback threw for more than 200 yards and one interception.
“Hummel played great,” said Lumberjacks head coach J.J. Kern. “Mark had been out for a while due to an injury, but he had a pretty good day for a guy who hadn’t played quarterback in a while. His confidence grew as the game went on and throughout the game. I was proud of him. Everyone was happy with how he played. The 50-yard pass was a beautiful ball. It was right on the receiver.”
Mark Fussy was the receiver who caught the 50-yard touchdown pass to hand Brainerd a 12-0 lead. Hummel then hit Brad Simpson from 5-yards out for a 18-0 halftime edge.
Hummel’s 65-yard touchdown run was the first score of the game.
“It was a good job by everyone,” said Kern. “We came out there and our numbers were down. We only had 22 guys playing in the 90-degree weather, but everyone played hard. We’ve been playing against teams with more players than us, but we’ve won four out of our last five games.
“The one game we lost we laid an egg, but we’ve been playing hard and getting better. There are a lot of things we know we can do as we head into the playoffs.”
The win handed the Lumberjacks the No. 3 seed for the playoffs. After a bye week, the Lumberjacks will open Midwest Premier Football League playoffs against the No. 2 seeded Minnesota Sting, who Brainerd split with during the season.
Hummel’s 10-yard pass to James Singer in the third quarter finished Brainerd’s scoring. The Rhinos, who beat the Lumberjacks earlier in the season, scored with about three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Brainerd finishes the regular season at 4-4.
