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

The aftereffects of a tough loss to the No. 1 team in Class A the previous game coupled with a week of Homecoming activities affected Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn early in its football game against Hinton. But the Hawks responded with 49 unanswered points to secure a 61-13 win Oct. 8 at Peterson Field.

The victory, coupled with South O'Brien's loss to Akron-Westfield, secured the District 1 title. It is the first outright championship for H-M-S since back-to-back crowns in 1996 and 1997.

Hawk coach Jay Eilers acknowledged the emotional impact of the loss to West Hancock and last week's show of "amazing school spirit" for Homecoming affected what happened on the field early against Hinton.

"I'm so thankful that our kids got to participate in all those things, but sometimes that's not on the field. The field is different," Eilers noted. "I think it took us a little bit before 'Hey, let's just play Hawk football.' And I think we did that. So I'm extremely proud of our response and I'm extremely happy for our kids."

H-M-S scored first on a 27-yard run by Connor Dodd. But Hinton answered when a tipped pass was caught by their receiver to tie the score a 6-6.

But the Hawks asserted themselves as the game progressed. On offense, Dodd scored on a 5-yard run to put H-M-S in front. The defense then stepped up with a fumble recovery by Keevyn Jacobsma and two plays later, Kooper Ebel scored on a 61-yard run.

Ebel later connected with Dodd for a 5-yard scoring pass and after an interception by James Gellerman, Dodd broke free for a 49-yard run to make the half time score 33-6.

Hinton's defense didn't quite do what Eilers expected, but H-M-S took advantage of some opportunities with strong line play.

"Our kids up front are starting to get into that rhythm of playing as one unit," he said. "We rotated some guys at the strong guard position with Bradley Van Beek and Adam Schierholz, and I think both kids just did an amazing job."

The second half started with Ebel scoring on a 75-yard kickoff return. When H-M-S next had the ball, Travis Kamradt scored on a 25-yard screen pass. Kamradt then intercepted a Hinton pass, setting up a 21-yard run by Ethan Diehm to push the lead to 55-6.

Hinton got back on the scoreboard with a 17-yard pass late in the third quarter. But a 60-yard run by Aiden Espeland set up H-M-S's final score by Gellerman.

Dodd led the offense with 204 rushing yards while Ebel rushed for 127 and Espeland added 90. Overall, H-M-S rushed for 455 yards.

Tyson Tessum's late interception was the fourth forced turnover for the defense.

"I think we do a nice job of taking the ball away when it is in the air and we kind of got back to that," Eilers noted.

Kamradt led H-M-S with nine tackles, including seven solos. Also topping the tackle chart (total/solo) were Lance Berends, 8.5/7; Ebel, 7/6; Keaton Graves, 5/4; Dodd, 4/4; Jacobsma, 3.5/2; Mason Brinkman, 2.5/2; Gellerman, 2/2; and Jordan Ortega, 2/1.

• Next up: at Akron-Westfield

The Westerners are in a logjam of four teams fighting for second place in the district. Their win last week causes Eilers to believe Friday's game at Akron will be physical.

MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS

Landon Elwood makes an open field tackle of Carter Worden to prevent Hinton from gaining a first down.

"They beat South O'Brien so I know they're ready to play physical football," he said. "I think they have some very talented young men and they're a physical brand of football, very similar to us. They're going to have our full attention."

Akron-Westfield has gained 1,500 yards through the air so that will be a focal point for H-M-S.

"Their quarterback is tremendous. He does a nice job of getting the ball where it needs to go," Eilers noted. "They have some playmakers in the receiving corps who do a nice job in open space. We're going to look at them and have a plan of action and go forward."

Eilers sees the final regular season game as a springboard into the postseason.

"We want to play our best football from here on out. That bar is only going to rise," he said. "I really appreciate our kids' intensity on the practice field. We will be physical this week of practice and we will be physical on Friday."