Too many weapons to overcome

With both teams ranked in the Top 10 by media outlets, the football season-opener between West Sioux (1A No. 2) and Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn (A No. 9) Friday night at Peterson Field was expected to be a battle.

For 18 minutes, the game lived up to the hype. The score was tied in the second quarter but West Sioux started to pull away and eventually earned a 73-21 win. While the warm and muggy conditions took their toll on his players, Hawk coach Jay Eilers accepted responsibility for the result.

"This loss is not on our kids," he said. "We've got to condition more and make sure that we're in condition to play the full four quarters. This game's on me."

After an exchange of initial possessions, Kooper Ebel connected with Travis Kamradt for a 47-yard pass to the Falcon 6. Two plays later, Connor Dodd scored to put H-M-S in front, 7-0.

West Sioux quickly answered with a 30-yard scoring pass. They missed the PAT, leaving H-M-S in front by one point.

Dodd intercepted a pass in Falcon territory late in the first quarter, and later scored on a 4-yard pass from Ebel to make the score 13-6. But West Sioux came right back to tie things up with a 12-yard pass, and built a 27-13 halftime lead on runs of 65 and 84 yards.

In the third quarter, the Falcons scored on passes of 12, 62 and 15 yards, as well as a 40-yard run to extend the margin to 53-13.

"I think West Sioux proved their quarterback is a great football player and they have a lot of great weapons," Eilers noted.

The Hawks' best drive of the second half ended when a pass was tipped and intercepted deep in Falcon territory. H-M-S failed to contain West Sioux's reserve quarterback, who ran 97 yards for the score. The Falcons later scored on a 52-yard run and a fumble return.

H-M-S's lone second-half touchdown came on an 89-yard kickoff return by Ebel. Aiden Espeland added the 2-point conversion.

"I tip my hat to these guys. They had great speed on defense and they did a great job," Eilers said.

Despite allowing a school-record number of points, Eilers felt H-M-S's defense had opportunities to make plays.

"I think there's at least three or four times I felt like our kids were in good position, and it was just one of those things where [West Sioux] made the play and it was not an easy play," he said.

H-M-S's rushing attack was balanced, as Dodd ran for 51 yards, Kamradt gained 47, Ebel rushed for 41 and Ryan Borden added 38.

Among Ebel's three completions was a 23-yarder to Keevyn Jacobsma. Eilers feels the passing game can become more of a threat.

"I think there are some things we could do to help ourselves in the passing game that will force people to play us sideline-to-sideline and a full field," he noted.

• Next up: Gehlen Catholic

H-M-S and Gehlen Catholic will both be looking for their first wins Friday night in Hartley.

Based on what he saw on last year's tape, Eilers expects H-M-S will face a familiar offensive scheme.

"They're going to be similar to West Sioux. They're going to be a spread offense," he said.

Although the Hawks won both meetings last year, Eilers is sure Gehlen Catholic will be a tough opponent in both teams' district opener.

"They return a lot of good football players from last year's roster," he said. "We're going to have our hands full, but I know our kids and I know they are going to bring their lunch pail and their hard hat."

CLASS A DISTRICT 1: Scores for Aug. 27

West Sioux 73, H-M-S 21

Alta-Aurelia 21, West Monona 6

Cherokee 27, MMCRU 20

Lawton-Bronson 14, Akron-Westfield 7

South O'Brien 14, Sioux Central 8

Unity Christian 21, Gehlen Catholic 15

Woodbury Cent. 52, Hinton 0

Games for Sept. 3

Gehlen Catholic (0-1) at H-M-S (0-1)

Hinton (0-1) at MMCRU (0-1)

Alta-Aurelia (1-0) at Akron-Westfield (0-1)

South O'Brien (1-0) at Sheldon (0-1) (non-district)