Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Hawks dominate Alta-Aurelia to stay perfect in district play
Quarterback Kooper Ebel breaks into the clear for a big run. Ebel rushed for 212 yards in H-M-S's 66-22 win.
Connor Dodd breaks outside containment for a good gain against Alta-Aurelia. The senior rushed for 120 yards in the Hawks' fourth district win.
Bradley Van Beek (68), Wyatt Borden (77) and Jesse Garcia (56) are three linemen who helped H-M-S rush for 416 yards Friday night.
Scoring on six straight first-half possessions, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn rolled past Alta-Aurelia, 66-22, Friday night at Peterson Field. The win kept the Hawks atop the Class A District 1 standings with a 4-0 record.
The Hawks scored on a 26-yard pass to Mason Brinkman, a 9-yard run by Kooper Ebel and a 12-yard pass to Connor Dodd to build a 24-0 lead.
Alta-Aurelia moved the ball during its first possession but their drive ended with an interception by Ebel. Forcing turnovers was a goal for the Hawks entering the game.
"We felt like we could create some turnovers," said Hawk coach Jay Eilers. "One thing we kind of preached throughout the week is creating turnovers and that's what our kids did."
The Warriors' only score of the half came when the ball was fumbled into the end zone after a pass reception and they recovered it.
But H-M-S added to the lead with scoring runs by Ebel to cap the next three possessions, extending the margin to 46-6. Dodd intercepted a pass to end the first half.
"There's times when they were moving the ball, but ultimately we did a great job of keeping them out of the end zone," Eilers said.
The Hawks picked up where they left off as Ebel recovered a fumble and Dodd scored on an 11-yard run. Ethan Diehm added 6-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Alta-Aurelia scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns on a run and a pass, but the Hawks had the last word as Diehm scored on an 88-yard kickoff return.
H-M-S had a big night running the football, as Ebel gained 212 yards, Dodd ran for 120, Travis Kamradt rushed for 35 and Ryan Borden added 22. Overall, the Hawks ran the ball 42 times for 416 yards.
The offense also showed balance as Ebel completed 7-of-11 passes for 119 yards. Brinkman caught three passes for 62 yards, Keevyn Jacobsma had three receptions for 45 yards and Dodd caught one pass for 12.
"Going into [the game] I think we had thrown the ball 30 times, which is not as much as I would like, so we improved that," Eilers said.
Defensive leaders (total/solo tackles) were Ebel 10/7; Kamradt 9.5/7; Dodd 6/5; Lance Berends 5/4; Brenton Thomas 4/3; James Gellerman 3/3; Elijah Groeneweg 3/2; Landon Elwood and Jacobsma, 2.5/2.
• Next up: at West Hancock
H-M-S steps out of district play this Friday to take on West Hancock at Britt. The Eagles are the top-rated Class A team in the Radio Iowa poll while the Hawks are No. 10.
Their reputation as a power running team is well-earned as they have amassed 1,526 rushing yards against 191 through the air.
"They are what they are," Eilers noted. "They're going to line up in double tight, 'bone and they might have one receiver wide. They're going to run the ball, and they're going to run the ball and they're going to run the ball some more."
To earn the program's first win over West Hancock after two playoff losses, the Hawks need to be consistent on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
"We're going to have to come off the ball [defensively] and be successful," Eilers said. "On the other side of it, we're going to have to value the plus three and the plus 3-1/2 yard runs and just continue to stack those things up together."
