Relaxed and smooth

Physicality was still Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's primary objective during the 2022 Homecoming football game. But H-M-S also successfully passed the ball to complement a potent rushing attack. That combination led to a 47-point halftime lead and an eventual 66-34 victory Sept. 16 at Peterson Field.

Kooper Ebel nearly broke free to score on the first play from scrimmage, but needed just one more snap to reach the end zone. His 27-yard run just 28 seconds into the game gave H-M-S a 6-0 lead.

Travis Kamradt capped the next drive with a three-yard scoring run but MMCRU answered with an 84-yard kickoff return to make the score 13-7. That led Hawk coach Jay Eilers to challenge his team as they came off the field.

"I think our kids came out and realized that we were better," he said. "I could not be more proud of the response. They've seen me upset before. And every time, whether it's in practice, whether it's in the weight room, whether it's [on the field], I've always seen our kids step up to challenge; not only step up, but sit back and hit a home run off of it."

That happened quite often the rest of the first half.

A 73-yard scoring run by Kamradt was followed by a 72-yard touchdown by Ebel. Evan Eilers' fumble recovery in MMCRU territory set up a 34-yard scoring pass from Ebel to Kamradt, and Kamradt added a 66-yard run to make the score 40-7.

H-M-S closed out the first half with a 10-yard run by Ebel and a five-yard run by Kamradt. The scoreboard read at halftime: H-M-S 54, MMCRU 7.

"I tip my hat to MMCRU. I saw on film how much those guys have improved and that does not happen by accident," Eilers said. "The hard thing is that sometimes these games come down to matchups and this was just a rough matchup for them."

He was pleased with the 176 net passing yards, as Ebel connected on 10-of-13 attempts.

"I felt like our kids got to play relaxed. And when you play relaxed, it's just smooth," Eilers remarked.

H-M-S also dominated defensively, limiting the Royals to two first downs in the half. MMCRU won the second half by a 26-12 margin, scoring on three passing plays and a rushing attempt.

The Hawks' second-half scores were an 80-yard kickoff return by Ethan Diehm and a 70-yard run by Aidan Espeland.

"Ethan Diehm's got to be one of the top-averaging kickoff return guys," Eilers noted. "Everyone wants to kick away from Kooper and we say, 'Okay, no problem.'"

Kamradt rushed the ball 12 times for 178 yards and Ebel ran for 175 yards on 11 carries.

Receiving leaders were Ryan Borden, 4-77; Tyson Tessum, 3-42; Trenton Vollink, 2-26; and Kamradt, 1-34.

Defensive leaders (solo/assist) were JR Araiza and Kamradt, 5/4; Lance Berends and Ethan Wiersma, 4/3; Elijah Groeneweg, 3/3; Ethan Baker, 3/2; David Wetrich, 2.5/2; Jack Mastbergen, Borden and Diehm, 2/2; Keevyn Jacobsma and Adam Schierholz, 2/1.

• Next Up: at Alta-Aurelia

H-M-S [No. 5 Class A] continues district play on the road Friday night at Alta-Aurelia. The Warriors suffered their second straight loss last week but Eilers expects their passing game will challenge the Hawk defense.

"They're going to throw the ball very successfully. They're going to utilize their backs out of the backfield more than we witnessed [last week]," he noted.

"I think the biggest thing is to make sure our kids don't overlook anybody. It's a one-week process. We need to go 1-0 each week."