'We're leaving here with a win'

Either by design or necessity, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and North Union had one player whose performance in almost every phase dominated the action during a Class A playoff game Oct. 21 in Hartley.

North Union running back Bryer Prochniak rushed for 335 yards and scored four touchdowns, and passed for 46 yards and a score. Prochniak was second on his team in total tackles, and on special teams he returned four kickoffs and punted once.

But H-M-S had an answer in Kooper Ebel. The senior quarterback rushed for 307 yards on 32 carries and scored five times. He completed two passes for 33 yards, including a score. Ebel led the defense with 10.5 total tackles and contributed on special teams with five kickoffs, two PATs, a kickoff return and a punt for 43 yards.

Hawk coach Jay Eilers had plenty of praise for Ebel, whose rushing performance established a new H-M-S playoff record.

"What can we say? Did we rely on No. 11 tonight?" Eilers asked after the game. "I know going into the game he had a vision of 'Coach, I don't care how many times I carry it, we're leaving here with a win,' and that's exactly what we were able to do."

Prochniak was the first to make his presence known with a 66-yard touchdown run on North Union's first offensive play.

"Defensively, we were in a tough position in regard to No. 6," Eilers acknowledged. "We knew all week they will run the ball to this gap and he'll take off anywhere he wants. He's fast enough to do it. He showed me why he's as good as he is."

Ebel answered with a 56-yard scoring run, and scored on a pair of short runs later in the half. The second score was set up by a fumble recovery credited to Keevyn Jacobsma.

H-M-S capped the first half with a 10-yard scoring reception by fullback Ethan Baker. Aidan Espeland ran the conversion to make the score 32-7.

"Our fullback is just an extension of the offensive line until we sneak him out and he scores a touchdown," Eilers said. "I thought Ethan played the best fullback that I've ever seen in the game."

Ebel's first score of the second half gave the Hawks a 39-7 lead. But the Warriors refused to quit.

With two quarterbacks injured, Prochniak took over the offense and began the comeback with a 27-yard scoring pass. North Union recovered an onside kick and Prochniak scored two plays later on a 39-yard run.

Ebel scored for the final time with 2:49 left in the third quarter. But Prochniak was not finished, scoring on a 26-yard run. Following a Hawk fumble, Prochniak scored his final touchdown to make the score 46-31.

H-M-S ran three minutes off the clock and then punted, killing the ball at the Warrior 2. Prochniak again had North Union threatening before Ryan Borden intercepted a pass with 1:25 to play to seal the Hawks' win.

"Big time players make big time plays, and he came up with one right there," Eilers said.

Complementing Ebel's offensive performance was Espeland, who rushed for 77 yards on 14 carries in his first varsity start. Jacobsma added a 23-yard pass reception.

Ebel topped the tackle chart with 10.5 tackles, including seven solos, while Spencer McCarter had "a phenomenal game" at linebacker, recording eight tackles (six solos).

Other tackle leaders were Lance Berends and Ethan Wiersma 7.5/6; JR Araiza 6/6; Jacobsma 5/3; Adam Schierholz 4/3; Bryce Ortega and Trenton Vollink 3.5/3; and Borden 3/3.

• Next Up: Hinton

The second round of the Class A playoffs features a rematch between H-M-S and Hinton on Oct. 28 at Peterson Field. H-M-S won the District 1 game at Hinton, 55-20.

Hinton defeated Logan-Magnolia last week, 46-22, led by Beau DeRocher who ran for 223 yards and five scores.

H-M-S will again be faced with replacing key personnel in preparation for the game.

"I think the difficult thing is, we're going to be without a couple of players that we know about that are starting for us in those positions. So, how do we continue the process and then introduce new players to things within the system," Eilers said. "I think consistency is critical there. So we're going to be consistent and we're going to have to find some key spots that some guys will be out."

Good news is that some "tremendous football players" should be back for Friday's game.