They got a kick out of it

A late preseason addition to the roster paid big dividends for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in its Class A District 1 game with Akron-Westfield on Sept. 20.

Exchange student Mattis Octmann kicked a 28-yard field goal with four seconds left to put H-M-S in front, 37-34. But the excitement was not quite over.

Following the ensuing kickoff, Akron-Westfield threw a short pass and attempted to lateral the ball. Slayton McCarter intercepted a lateral attempt and returned the ball 35 yards, sealing the Hawks’ 43-34 win.

Octmann has been a productive kicker, making all 10 of his PAT attempts this season as well as the go-ahead field goal in Friday night’s game.

“Mattis has been awesome. I didn’t even know that he was going to be here until about three days before [preseason] practice. He just loves it and we love having him here,” Hawk coach Jeremiah Delzer said of the student from Germany. “At certain moments you’ve got to rely on every aspect of your team and there was the moment for our kicker. He says it’s easy because he’s used to kicking soccer balls.”

The excitement of the closing seconds was the final chapter of a game with numerous momentum swings. The Hawks’ first three possessions resulted in scoring runs of two, four and nine yards by James Gellerman. Akron-Westfield answered with a pair of scoring runs by quarterback Tatum Wilken.

Wilken’s pass attempt during the Westerners’ next drive was intercepted by Jayden Leth in the end zone, preserving the 21-14 lead that H-M-S held at half time.

“In the first half we were doing our tempo stuff. We were on attack. We were ready to roll offensively and I feel like we had them on their heels,” Delzer observed.

Gellerman scored his fourth touchdown midway through the third quarter to give H-M-S a 14-point lead. Wilkin answered with a 37-yard run, but the Hawks came back to score on a five-yard pass reception by Isaac Schierholz.

The Westerners scored on two consecutive possessions on runs by Kaden Netley and Wilken, tying the score at 34-34 with 5:58 left in the fourth quarter. After an exchange of possessions, H-M-S took over at midfield with 62 seconds to play. A run by Jack Mastbergen and runs by Gellerman advanced the ball to the A-W 8. The drive stalled after a penalty and an incomplete pass, leading to the field goal kick by Octmann.

“We came out a flat in the second half,” Delzer said. “I was really proud of the kids [at the end] because of the choices they made not to freak out, because good teams find a way to unite and that’s what we did.”

The defense gave up 370 total yards, but there were bright spots.

“Our preparation was much better this week, and we did a better job of holding through our fundamentals and techniques even when we were tired,” Delzer noted.

Gellerman led the defense with eight tackles. Credited with four tackles were Alex Billings, Hunter Daggett, Blake Meendering, Jackson Vogt, Leth, McCarter, Mastbergen and Schierholz.

Mastbergen passed for 194 yards. Vogt had four catches for 50 yards; Leth, three for 67; Schierholz, three for 28; Gellerman, one for 30; and McCarter, one for 19.

Gellerman and Mastbergen were a potent 1-2 punch in the running game. Gellerman gained 129 yards on 31 attempts, and Mastbergen ran 18 times for 119 yards.

• Next up: at Kingsley-Pierson

A pair of 2-2 teams meet Friday in a non-district game at Kingsley. Delzer expects there will be other similarities between H-M-S and Kingsley-Pierson.

“They’re kind of a similar style to us. They’re going to find their advantages and they’re going to try to press you and do what they do,” he said. “I know we’ll have to come out with a really good defensive game plan, because once their guys get rolling they find a way to score points.”

Delzer is happy with the progress H-M-S’s offense is making.

“I think we’ve got all our fundamentals down. Our techniques lack at certain points,” he noted. “We know what we’re trying to do so hopefully now we can start to game plan and scheme and be specific as coaches. We don’t have to be so vanilla anymore.”