Battle of wills goes to H-M-S

Wins in intra-county football battles with South O'Brien have been limited in the past decade, so Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn had plenty to celebrate after a 26-0 triumph at Paullina.

The victory over the Wolverines was just the second for H-M-S since taking three straight from 2008-10, including two shutout wins.

Hawk coach Jay Eilers anticipated Friday night's game would be a ball-control battle and it was. He was pleased with the outcome.

"Our offense was outstanding. I thought we controlled the ball well," Eilers said. "I'm proud of our kids in terms of ball security. That will be a big part of our season."

The Wolverines' first drive reached the Hawk 13 before stalling. Facing 4th-and-2 deep in its territory, H-M-S elected to go for the first down but came up short, giving South O'Brien the ball at the 23. But again, the Hawks were up to the challenge.

"I made a couple of mistakes on fourth down," Eilers acknowledged. "I'm proud of the way our kids responded. They did a phenomenal job playing defense and keeping them out of the end zone.

"When we are in four-down territory, I have great confidence in our offensive line in getting the first down," he added. "South O'Brien did a great job of stopping us."

A punt by Jordan Ortega pinned the Wolverines inside their 5. H-M-S forced a punt and took advantage of great field position with a 28-yard touchdown run by Kooper Ebel. The Hawk quarterback later scored on a 13-yard run to make the score 12-0 at half time.

South O'Brien recovered the second half kickoff, but they stalled at the Hawk 23. H-M-S responded with a 15-play drive, ending with Connor Dodd scoring on a 3-yard run. His conversion run made the score 20-0.

Ebel intercepted a pass early in the fourth quarter. On the next play, he broke loose for a 68-yard scoring run to increase the lead to 26 points.

As the game progressed, the Hawks recognized what the Wolverine offense was doing and came up with the answers to stop them.

"We called a timeout. It was something we recognized because of scheme, and made sure of our alignment and assignments," Eilers said. "It really helped us be successful."

H-M-S controlled the ball for the final 5:41, thanks to a pair of third-down conversions by Ryan Borden.

Since losing the opener to West Sioux, the Hawks have improved in a couple of areas.

"Conditioning - our kids are relentless," Eilers noted. "Our players are executing and we're starting to get into a rhythm."

Team and individual stats were not available as of press deadline.

• Next up: at MMCRU

The Hawks head to Marcus on Friday to take on MMCRU, looking to remain undefeated in Class A District 1 play.

H-M-S will face another spread offense. The Royals have been successful passing the football, but overall they average less than 150 yards of offense.

MMCRU has turned the ball over six times, and each of their opponents has scored a defensive touchdown.

"One thing I think we can be successful with is taking the ball away," Eilers noted.