On their heels

Lack of aggressiveness hampered Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on both sides of the football during a 48-14 loss to Sibley-Ocheyedan. The result of the game played Oct. 11 kept the Hawks winless on the road.

The winners rushed for nearly 300 yards and added 134 through the air, while H-M-S was limited to 186 yards of total offense.

"We've got to find a way where we're not getting on our heels on either side of the ball," said Hawk coach Jeremiah Delzer. "At times we got on our heels and we weren't being the aggressor. We were taking the punches rather than giving the punches."

The Hawks had early momentum. Slayton McCarter intercepted a pass and Jack Mastbergen scored six plays later to put H-M-S on the scoreboard.

The Generals answered with a scoring run by Dominic Marco late in the first quarter. After an exchange of possessions, H-M-S attempted to convert on fourth down in their territory and failed. S-O took advantage of the field position and scored on a run by Hunter Kauffman. The Generals then recovered a fumble in Hawk territory and scored on a pass to Marco. Thirteen points in the final two minutes of the half gave S-O a 20-7 lead.

"If we're going to do what we do, we've got to be winners on that, like that fourth down conversion attempt down there," Delzer noted. "That was one where it was a gamble and we thought we we're going to get it. We've got to find a way to come through."

S-O extended its lead in the third quarter on a run by Julius. H-M-S answered with a 40-yard scoring pass from Mastbergen to Jackson Vogt that narrowed the deficit to 27-14.

A scoring run by Marco then restored the Generals' 20-point advantage.

After H-M-S failed to take advantage of a botched punt snap in S-O territory early in the fourth quarter, passes to Dawson Kreykes and Tanner Gries, the latter set up by an interception, closed out the scoring.

Offensively, Mastbergen ran for 80 yards and passed for 68. James Gellerman gained 37 yards on the ground while Jayden Leth had two receptions for 25 yards.

Delzer saw positive aspects in the Hawks' performance.

"There are a lot of different situations where we're going to watch the film and say, 'Man, we were right there,'" he said. "Like always, it feels like we were this close, but not quite there."

Leading the defense were Gellerman with nine tackles, Hunter Daggett and Vogt with six, Alex Billings and Mastbergen with five, Blake Meendering and Dominic Tripp with four, and Isaac Schierholz and McCarter with three. Tripp was credited with blocking a PAT attempt.

• Next up: at Gehlen Catholic

H-M-S (3-4, 3-2) concludes the regular season Friday night against Gehlen Catholic in LeMars. The Jays are ranked No. 6 in Class A, and lead District 1 with a 5-0 record.

"I know they're going to do what they do and they're going to do it really well, so we better come out with a good game plan, have some courage and be ready to go play some football," Delzer said.

Jays' running back Kale Pearson has rushed for almost 1,000 yards, while quarterback Cole McCarty has gained 700 yards on the ground and passed for over 400.

"We'll have to find a way to stop them," Delzer said.