The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News - Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties

The final score of this year's football game between Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and Sibley-Ocheyedan was different, but the result was just like their 2019 matchup: a one-point win for the Generals.

And as they did last year, the Hawks allowed the go-ahead touchdown in the second half and eventually fell short, 19-18, Friday night at Sibley.

"It was disappointing to say the least," Hawk coach Tyler Horkey acknowledged. "We had opportunities to capitalize, and we couldn't."

Both teams' initial possessions led to points. S-O's 11-play drive ended on a 1-yard scoring run by Dylan Platt. H-M-S answered with Connor Dodd's 36-yard sprint to the end zone that made the score 7-6.

Taking advantage of great field position late in the first quarter, the Generals extended their lead to 13-6 on a 10-yard run by Beau Jenness.

Late in the first half, the Hawks put together a 10-play drive. H-M-S's only pass completion, a 35-yarder from Kooper Ebel to Dodd, set up a 5-yard run by Keaton Graves that cut the margin to 13-12.

The momentum of that score carried over into the second half, as Dodd returned the opening kickoff 86 yards to make the score 18-13. But H-M-S's next drive ended with their second fumble of the game.

"The team that made the least amount of mistakes won," Horkey said.

The Generals took the lead for good on a 7-yard run by Dougie Noonkester. After forcing H-M-S to punt, S-O ran out the clock to seal the win.

"The big thing was the physicality that both teams brought to the table," Horkey said. "We had spurts where we played with them, but in the end it was the physical play that got us."

H-M-S gained 163 rushing yards on 38 attempts. Graves finished with 92 yards, Ebel rushed for 45 yards and Dodd added 37.

S-O rushed for 177 yards on 41 carries, and completed 7-of-16 passes for 90 yards.

"Defensively it was a misalignment here and a misalignment there," Horkey noted. "We knew where the ball was going, but we couldn't stop it."

Topping the tackle chart were DJ Doyle, nine solos and two assists; Travis Kamradt, eight solos; Graves, four solos and five assists, (2.5 tackles for loss); Mason Brinkman and Lance Berends, four solos; Kayl Jacobsma, two solos and four assists; and Gabe Bronstad, Jordan Ortega and Ebel, two solos.

• Next up: vs. South O'Brien

Physical football will again be in store for the Hawks as they host South O'Brien on Sept. 11. The Wolverines are 0-2 after losses to Sioux Central and Sheldon.

H-M-S expects to see more power running by the Wolverines in the district opener.

"It will be another physical game for us," Horkey said. "We know what they're going to do. They're going to come at us."

The Hawk offense may see some new wrinkles from South O'Brien's defense.

"Every year they throw something different at us," Horkey said. "We'll prepare the same way we prepared for S-O and Okoboji, and do the things we need to do."

• CLASS A DISTRICT 1

Scores for Sept. 4

Sibley-Ocheyedan 19, H-M-S 18

Lawton Bronson 14, Alta-Aurelia 7

MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS

Hawk quarterback Kooper Ebel and S-O defender Carter Brouwer get physical as Ebel runs the ball Friday night at Sibley.

MMCRU 20, MVAOCOU 14

Sheldon 21, South O’Brien 0

Westwood 40, Akron-Westfield 20

Gehlen Catholic at Hinton – canceled

• Games for Sept. 11

South O’Brien at H-M-S

Gehlen Catholic at Akron-Westfield

MMCRU at Lawton-Bronson

Hinton cancels game with Gehlen Catholic

The Hinton Community School District announced last week that their football game with Gehlen Catholic on Sept. 4 was canceled. Several Hinton players had been required to enter quarantine due to a potential COVID-19 exposure shortly before the team’s opening game against Akron-Westfield.