Looking for their identity

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's football team showed flashes of improvement during its Class A District 1 opener against Alta-Aurelia. But the Hawks did not play with enough consistency to avoid a 9-0 loss on Sept. 1 at Aurelia.

Hawk coach Jay Eilers felt the signs of improvement evident in the game were a result of what was accomplished on the practice field.

"I thought it happened during the week of preparation. A hundred percent," he said.

A fumble by H-M-S and an interception by Aidan Espeland in the first quarter helped keep both teams off the scoreboard. The Hawks were pinned near their goal line midway through the second quarter when Alta-Aurelia recorded a sack in the end zone.

H-M-S's best drive stalled at the Warrior 34 with seven seconds left in the half. T.J. Jans' 51-yard field goal attempt fell short, and Alta-Aurelia maintained its 2-0 lead.

The Hawk offense, which was led by Jr Araiza with 101 yards on 19 rushing attempts, had one sustained drive in the second half. It ended when Alta-Aurelia stopped H-M-S short on fourth down.

The Warriors used that momentum to score on a 29-yard pass reception by Gavin Sleezer with 9:45 left in the game. The extra point extended their lead to 9-0.

The teams traded possessions the remainder of the game and the Hawks were handed their second loss.

Others who contributed to H-M-S's 165 rushing yards were Jack Mastbergen with 49 and Ethan Wiersma with 13. The Hawks are still looking to get the running game in sync.

"We've got to figure out what's right for us," Eilers acknowledged. "When you're going to be a team that's going to pound the rock and run the ball – that starts with running the ball and being successful. We've just not had that success at the level we need it play in and play out."

Mastbergen completed 3-of-7 passes for 32 yards. Jayden Leth had one reception for 12 yards, and Isaac Schierholz and Slayton McCarter each had one for 10.

"A couple times we threw the ball it looked nice, but we don't have enough time to get that ball out," Eilers noted.

On defense, Araiza recorded 5.5 total tackles, Espeland and Wiersma had 4.5, Bryce Ortega had 3.5, David Wetrich had 3.0, Evan Eilers and McCarter had 2.5, and Adam Schierholz, Bradley Van Beek and Leth added 2.0.

The defense allowed 163 total yards and played well in some areas. Other areas still need to improve.

"For the most part I thought our eyes [in the secondary] were right to be in position. A couple times we let somebody behind us. We were at least in a recover method and reading eyes and playing the ball in the air," Eilers noted.

"We wanted to put pressure on their quarterback and I don't think that pressure got there to the level that we felt like we were able to do it and to the level we expected for us to win a football game."

• Next Up: MMCRU

The Hawks' first home game will be against MMCRU at Peterson Field. The Royals won their opening district game, defeating Gehlen Catholic, 34-27.

"It will be great to play at home. I know our kids will be excited about it," Eilers said. "MMCRU's offense is drastically improved. They've got multiple skill players, they've got a running back that runs very hard, and their quarterback does a tremendous job in running the ball and throwing the ball."

The Royals' offense is similar to that of Alta-Aurelia. They will present a big challenge to the Hawk defense.

"We'll have to make sure that we're hitting our drops, our eyes are right, and we've got to know where their best players are all night long," Eilers acknowledged.