Friday night was a big night for Nathan Thode as he ran for four touchdowns, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble to lead the Hutchinson Tigers to a 56-28 win over the North Branch Vikings in the Class AAAA semifinals at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
The Tigers would tally on their first drive that bolstered by Carter Verhasselt's 45 yard run to the Viking one yard line and Thode would finish it off with a one yard touchdown run. Hutchinson almost got the ball back on Manny Pearce's interception but it was nullified due to a pass interference penalty. It would enable North Branch to tie the game on Jacob Robillard's 33 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Minke. The Tigers would strike back quickly on Logan Butler's 64 yard touchdown pass down the middle to Charles Renner giving Hutchinson a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Thode would account for both of Hutchinson's second quarter touchdowns. The first would come as he ran right for 10 yards and the second would come following an interception that would also be a 10 yard run. North Branch would wrap up the first half scoring as Austin Anderson ran left and scampered 17 yards into the end zone. The Tigers led at the half 32-16.
In the third quarter, Hutchinson would capitalize on two North Branch fumbles. The first was recovered Gunnar Fick and Verhasselt would score from two yards. Thode would also play defense and his fumble recovery would set up Renner's second touchdown, this one from five yards. Minke would reach the end zone a second time as he caught a 14 yard pass from Robillard. The Tigers led 48-20 at the end of the third quarter.
There would be running time in the fourth quarter as Thode on fourth down and five would score his fourth touchdown of the game, an 11 yard run. But the Vikings would end running time late in the game on Brody Beaver's three yard run with :58 to play. The Tigers would take a couple of kneels to end the game.
Thode would lead Hutchinson as he ran for 171 yards on 24 carries. Verhasselt ran 13 times for 120 yards. North Branch was led by Robillard as he carried 15 times for 112 yards.
The Tigers improved their record to 10-2 and advanced to the Class AAAA final against the Rocori Spartans on Friday, November 24 at 4 PM at US Bank Stadium. It will be a rematch of the September 22 game where Hutchinson was shutout by Rocori 11-0. The Vikings concluded their season with a record of 9-2.
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