Physicality rules for the Royals

The result of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's football game at Marcus might have been due to the fact it was played on Friday the 13th. But other factors also contributed to the 44-0 loss to MMCRU.

Six penalties, four turnovers and an inability to generate much offense against a physical opponent also led to the Hawks' first loss in Class A District 1 play.

"They were just crazy physical," Hawk coach Jeremiah Delzer said. "They had a good game plan, they were super physical and they found our weaknesses and just kept exploiting them."

Interceptions ended H-M-S's first two offensive series. MMCRU took advantage of the turnovers, scoring a touchdown on a 50-yard pass play and kicking a 26-yard field goal. The Royals recovered an onside kick after the second score, and were soon back in the end zone early in the second quarter.

MMCRU threatened to add to its 17-point lead, driving to the Hawk 1 before being stopped with 14 seconds left in the half. The coaches' message at halftime was to take things one step at a time.

"We talked about you can't score 17 points in one play. It starts with a stop and then we've got to continue things," Delzer said.

The Hawks couldn't stop the Royals, who scored on a 12-yard run early in the third quarter. H-M-S fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff. MMCRU took advantage of that opportunity and extended their lead to 37-0 with another score later in the quarter.

H-M-S's only scoring opportunity came late in the game, reaching the 4 yard line. But MMCRU's Gage Johnson intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned it 100 yards to make the final score 44-0.

"I think we're close on a lot of different spots," Delzer said. "A missed tackle here, a missed assignment there and things like that hurt you, and then we play in a certain way and if we can't execute that way, then we're going to struggle."

H-M-S was limited to 119 yards of offense. James Gellerman rushed for 72 yards and Jack Mastbergen gained 32. Jackson Vogt caught two passes for nine yards and Slayton McCarter caught one for six.

Gellerman led the defense with 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. Damion Hansen had six tackles, Isaac Schierholz, Jackson Vogt and Mastbergen each had five, Jayden Leth had four, and Alex Billings and Luke Dagel added three.

• Next Up: vs. Akron-Westfield

The Hawks look to get back into the win column when they host Akron-Westfield (0-3, 0-1) on Friday. Delzer expects another physical matchup this week.

"They are a well-coached team. They're going to come out and they're going to try to be physical and run the football," he said. "It will be a good test with back-to-back weeks where it's can we go and be physical and punch them in the mouth like we got punched in the mouth [by MMCRU] and maybe set the tone a bit."

A good week of practice is essential if the Hawks are to accomplish that.

"We've just got to get back to our fundamentals and techniques," Delzer noted. "It starts at practice. We've got to stress that this is how we do it and this is why we do it."