Football season officially kicks off Friday night

The 2023 high school football season officially kicks off Friday night when Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn travels to Hawarden to take on West Sioux.

The opening opponent is a formidable one. The Falcons defeated the Hawks last year, 38-18, and were runners-up in the Class 1A state finals the past two seasons.

Hawk coach Jay Eilers has a good idea of what to expect from West Sioux.

"They do what they do. They're going to be coached extremely well," he said.. "They're going to run screens. Another thing they do a great job of is using run/pass options."

Both teams have lost much of their production from a year ago. Eilers said taking care of the football and preventing turnovers, as well as winning the penalty game will be "huge" in determining the winner.

In other action in Class A District 1, Akron-Westfield hosts Ridge View, Gehlen Catholic hosts Hinton, Sibley-Ocheyedan plays at Sheldon, Alta-Aurelia travels to Kingsley-Pierson, MMCRU is at Cherokee and South O'Brien is on the road at Sioux Central.

• Other schedule notes

The cross country meet at Cherokee on Aug. 24 will feature just two races. Junior varsity and varsity girls will run together starting at 7 p.m., followed by the boys' JV/varsity race.

H-M-S's volleyball teams will host Gehlen Catholic on Tuesday, Aug. 29. It will be the Hawks' opening match in War Eagle Conference play.