Bloomer blanks Tigers; NHS faces same Blackhawks in playoff opener

The Northwestern High School football team suffered its first shutout of the season and watched its hopes of a conference title slip away Friday night in a 23-0 loss to the Bloomer Blackhawks.

Bloomer has been the only team to hold the Tigers scoreless in a regular season match for the past four seasons. The last time the Tigers suffered a shutout loss was Sept. 9, 2011, when they lost 25-0 to the Blackhawks in Maple.

Friday’s loss dropped the Tigers (5-2, 6-2) into a three-way tie for second place in the final Heart O’ North Conference standings. Cumberland (6-1, 7-1) claimed the HON crown.

Northwestern received the No. 5 seed in this week’s playoffs and will be at Bloomer for a rematch in the opening round.

The Tigers have lost two of their last three games since opening the season 5-0. Bloomer, meanwhile, enters the playoffs on a four-game winning streak.

The Blackhawks (5-2, 5-3) held Northwestern to just 122 yards rushing in Friday’s defeat. Bloomer’s Colton Seibel nearly matched that total with 120 yards on the ground and scored one of the Blackhawks’ two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Ryan Buske gave Bloomer a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a 17-yard run. Neither team scored another touchdown until the final quarter, but Matt Salm extended Bloomer’s lead to 9-0 in the third quarter with a field goal.

The Blackhawks then finished things off with a long touchdown run from Seibel to start the fourth quarter and an insurance score from Buske less than two minutes later.

Northwestern lost two fumbles in Friday’s game and was forced to punt seven times.

Nathan Sikorski was the Tigers’ leading rusher with 75 yards.

Northwestern 0 0 0 0 — 0

Bloomer 6 0 3 14 — 23

Tags: sports, preps, football, tigers, updates