Beaten by a little bit

Several small things put Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn at a big disadvantage against Kingsley-Pierson/River Valley in their non-district football game. Hawk turnovers directly led to two KP/RV first-half scores, and two scoring drives in the third quarter sealed the Panthers' 40-12 win on Sept. 27 at Kingsley.

An interception early in the game gave KP/RV the ball at midfield and they took advantage, scoring on a 12-yard pass from Landon Howe to Kevin Wright. The Panthers would score again on a 33-yard reception by Easton Nissen.

H-M-S then fumbled the ball on their 42, and KP/RV scored the next play on a reception by Tyler Koch, increasing the lead to 21-0.

"We got beat a little bit on the chalkboard, we got beat a little bit with physicality, we got beat a little bit with effort and we got beat a little bit with technique," Hawk coach Jeremiah Delzer acknowledged. "When you get beat a little bit in 10 different ways, you get beat a lot of bit."

The Hawks fought back, scoring on a 12-yard run by Jack Mastbergen with 1:57 left in the half. But the Panthers had the last word, scoring on a 45-yard reception by Koch as time expired to make the score 28-6.

KP/RV scored twice in the third quarter, first on a 24-yard pass to Wright and then on a two-yard run by Cal Harvey to make the score 40-6.

H-M-S's final score came on a three-yard run by James Gellerman. The Hawks turned the ball over again in the fourth quarter, and KP/RV ran out the clock.

H-M-S rushed for 168 yards, led by Gellerman with 92. Mastbergen gained 61 yards on the ground and Slayton McCarter had one attempt for 15.

Mastbergen completed nine passes for 111 yards. McCarter had three receptions for 69 yards, Gellerman had three for 25 and Isaac Schierholz had two for 16.

Leading the defense were Gellerman with nine tackles, Dominic Tripp with six, Schierholz with five, and Alex Billings, Luke Dagel and Ricky Smith, Jr. with four.

"I think the message to the kids was we're just tired of saying 'we're this close,' and we've just got to find a way to get it done," Delzer said. "We know we can be a lot better than this and we're just not finding a way to do it."

• Next up: vs. South O'Brien

In addition to it being Homecoming week, H-M-S (2-3, 2-1) has plenty of incentive to win Friday night. The opponent is intra-county rival South O'Brien (0-5, 0-3), and a victory will keep H-M-S in contention in Class A District 1.

As far as preparing for the game, Delzer is taking the approach of one of his former coaches: "You're not going to remember anything from Homecoming except if you won or lost your football game. That will be the message. That's who we want to be."

Despite the Wolverines' record, the game will be a battle and the Hawks must be ready.

"They're a tough, physical team and they're going to try to run the football, so we've got to find a way to stop that," Delzer said. "We'll have to find a way to put those things aside and do what we need to do to be successful."