The stands were pink on Friday night, and Noah Hammernik had his best game of the year. The Bloomington Jefferson junior safety intercepted 3 passes as the Jaguars beat St. Louis Park 31-14 on Tackle Cancer Pink Out Night at Jefferson Stadium.
That gives Hammernik 5 interceptions this season. He gave the credit to his teammates. "I was out there trusting my guys and doing my job and just being put in the right place," he said.
Junior quarterback Joe Moore did most of the damage on offense. He opened the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown run, and Vinny Smith added a 12-yard touchdown run. The Orioles stayed close in the first half. Jayden Post caught a contested pass for a touchdown with 37 seconds left before halftime, and Park went into the break down just 20-14.
Park didn't score again. Moore ran in another touchdown in the 4th quarter and added the 2-point conversion. Marcus Denkmann then kicked a 38-yard field goal to finish the scoring at 31-14. Post caught both Park touchdowns. Quarterback Javon Fields completed 13 passes for 164 yards, but the Orioles ran for only 29 yards on 19 carries.
Jefferson coach Marc Bachman praised his defense for stopping what Park tried to do on the ground. "They played well and are really solid against that inside zone they wanted to play," he said.
The Jaguars turned it over a few times too. Park's Finn Brooberg intercepted 2 passes, and one of them came in the end zone for a touchback. Park coach Jason Foster said his team got the turnovers but couldn't score off them: "We want to be plus, not minus, in the turnovers, but without scoring that hurts you."
The team's account posted the final score: "Jags take the win over SLP!"
The win puts Jefferson at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Northstar East-Gold. Park fell to 2-4 and 1-3. The Jaguars host Benilde-St. Margaret's at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. BSM is 4-2 and coming off a 49-6 homecoming win over Columbia Heights. Then comes the crosstown game: Jefferson plays at Bloomington Kennedy's new stadium on Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. to close the regular season.
