Defense keys Lumberjacks' comeback win

Mark Hummel and the Brainerd Lumberjacks played on.

Officials called the game because of lightning with the Lumberjacks nursing a four-point lead with just 46 ticks on the clock. But the never-quit Lumberjacks wanted to savor their come-from-behind 14-10 victory at Harvey Shew Field on Saturday.

Five minutes later, and the officials leaving the stadium, J.J. Kern and the Lumberjacks' coaching staff took the field to officiate the final 46 seconds. That move gave the Minnesota Sting another opportunity to ensure the Lumberjacks finished the regular season under .500.

Kern and the Lumberjacks held on as the Sting's backup quarterback Brandon Mueller spent more time eluding Lumberjack linemen in the backfield than he did looking for receivers down field.

In the first quarter, the Sting outmaneuvered the Lumberjacks, gaining more than 100 yards of offense and chewed up more than 10 minutes of clock time during the first quarter alone before the Lumberjacks' talented defensive line began to dominate.

The Sting finished with minus-10 rushing yards and only 159 passing yards thanks to seven sacks for losses of 67 total yards.

"They're good players," Kern said. "Raheem White and (Mike) Munsterteiger upfront. We've got great linemen. We have guys that are filling in that are playing well too. We have a lot of good players."

Despite the defensive prowess, the Lumberjacks' offense continued to struggle, and they have had to rely on lucky breaks to keep them from being 3-7 instead of 5-5 with one regular-season game remaining.

The breaks started early on a third and five from the Sting 12 when Hummel threw an interception to Sting corner back Anthony Buckner at the one. After both teams switched offensively and defensively, the officials ruled the ball incomplete, returned the ball to the Lumberjacks eight yards behind the original line of scrimmage for fourth and five.

Trailing by 10 with no sign of offensive continuity, Hummel launched a desperation pass up the sideline into double coverage that had to be broken up by his own receiver. Then the flags started to fly.

First, a defensive interference call, a spot foul that gave the Lumberjacks 42 yards, followed almost immediately by unsportsmanlike conduct on the opposing bench setting up first and goal from the nine.

In all, the Sting were penalized seven times for 81 yards, while the Lumberjacks had just 30 yards in penalties.

Hummel wasted no time as he connected with Brad Simpson across the middle for a nine-yard touchdown strike.

Things got better on the ensuing kickoff as Ian Ruppel knocked the ball loose and the Lumberjacks recovered.

Shawn "Crazy Legs" Nelson took his only two carries of the night for 10 and eight yards and gave the Lumberjacks the lead for good with 4:54 remaining in the third.

From that point on the Lumberjacks looked to control the clock as they ran 20 plays for a total of 19 yards, and relied on their defense to close the game out as the Sting were only capable of mustering 14 plays for 29 yards.

Minnesota 3 0 7 0 - 10

Brainerd 0 0 14 0 - 14

First quarter

Min-Ken Becka FG, 9:06

Third quarter

Min-Scott Burdick 16 pass from Brandon Mueller (Becka kick) 13:08

Brd-Brad Simpson 9 pass from Mark Hummel (kick fail) 7:21

Brd-Shawn Nelson 8 run (Gross pass from Nelson) 4:54

Team statistics

Rushes-yards: Brd 37-75, Min 19-(-10)

Pass comp-att-int-yards: Brd 9-22-2-44, Min 18-34-2-159

Total offense: Brd 75, Min 122

Individual statistics

Rushing: Brd-Uron Eitner 15-35

Passing: Hummel 9-11-2-51, Min-Mueller 15-28-2-186

Receiving: Simpson 3-28, Min-Charles Klug 5-95, Anthony Buckner 3-84

Record: Brd 5-5. Next: Brainerd vs. Northern Terror at Chisago Lake 5 p.m. Saturday.