A three-peat was not meant to be
West Hancock ends Hawks' playoff run, 56-18
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MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS
Dawson Schiphoff is about to outrun the defensive pursuit on his way to scoring H-M-S's first touchdown in Friday's playoff game.
Facing defending state champion West Hancock in the third round of the Class A playoffs, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Hawks saw their postseason run end as West Hancock earned a 56-18 win Friday night at Britt.
The Hawks stayed with the Eagles early in the game despite some hurdles along the way. But in the end, West Hancock exerted its will and took advantage of every opportunity presented to them.
"We did some good things overall," Hawk coach Tyler Horkey said. "When we had mental breakdowns, things didn't go our way."
Two plays into the game the Eagles recovered a fumble at the Hawk 29. Cole Kelly scored three plays later on a 26-yard run to put them in front, 7-0.
H-M-S answered during its next possession, as Dawson Schiphoff took the option pitch and ran 61 yards for the score. The Hawks then forced West Hancock to punt. Due to pressure from DJ Doyle, the punter had to scramble and was tackled by Lance Berends.
But H-M-S failed to take advantage, losing yardage on a sack, a fumble and a penalty. Braden Walk then returned an interception 57 yards for the Eagles' second score.
A high punt snap by the Hawks set up West Hancock's offense again. Quarterback Cayson Barnes would score on an eight-yard run to extend the lead to 19-6.
"In the first quarter we gave them the short field and we had mental errors," Horkey said.
West Hancock scored early in the second quarter on a 10-yard run by Mathew Francis. H-M-S came right back, scoring on a 70-yard pass from Kooper Ebel to Connor Dodd to cut the deficit to 27-12.
"Offensively we did some really good things," Horkey noted. "When we were doing the right things the offense seemed to be working."
Kelly scored again on a 26-yard run, after which Keaton Graves ran the same distance for what proved to be the Hawks' final touchdown.
West Hancock then used the short time remaining to score on Francis' 36-yard run to make the halftime score 43-18.
"They are a good football team and they are relentless," Horkey acknowledged.
Kelly scored twice in the second half to complete the Eagles' scoring. H-M-S's best chance to get into the end zone ended with their second fumble of the game.
West Hancock finished with 400 rushing yards on 51 carries. Kelly led the way with 234 yards and Francis added 134. The Eagles' two pass attempts fell incomplete.
Defensive leaders for H-M-S were Ebel with 11 tackles, Dodd with 9.5, Travis Kamradt and Graves with six each, Gabe Bronstad with 4.5, Doyle with 3.0, and Noah Adams and Kayl Jacobsma with 2.5 each.
MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS
Rylan Barnes cannot escape from Lance Berends on this failed fourth-down pass attempt in the first half.
Offensively, Graves led H-M-S with 97 rushing yards, Schiphoff ran for 63 and Dodd added 49. Ebel completed three passes for 99 yards, including two to Dodd for 70 and one to Adams for 29.
• Finish with 7-3 record
In an unusual season which featured a reduced regular schedule and an expanded playoff format due to the coronavirus pandemic, H-M-S finished 7-3 overall, the program's best record since 2010, and 4-1 in Class A District 1.
"Win or lose, there's emotion to the game," Horkey said. "We have to be proud of what we accomplished this year and how we handled adversity."
Horkey credited seniors Noah Adams, Gabe Bronstad, DJ Doyle, Taylan Elwood, Sam Heyn, Kayl Jacobsma, Dawson Schiphoff, and Maggie Ohrt, who was a player before becoming a manager, for helping raise the standards for the program.
