Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn continued its recent domination of MMCRU by picking up a 66-14 win over the Royals September 17 at Marcus. The Hawks improved to 3-0 in Class 1A District 1 and 3-1 overall.
Six Hawk players scored touchdowns in the game. Quarterback Kooper Ebel collected three rushing touchdowns, one more than his backfield mate Connor Dodd. Ryan Borden added a touchdown run and defensive lineman Elijah Groeneweg tipped an MMCRU pass and returned it 54 yards for a score. Reserve players got into the act as Ethan Diehm notched a 65 yard touchdown run and James Gellerman scored from 13 yards out.
HMS head coach Jay Eilers was asked what the team takes away from such a one-sided win. “It was the week of the practice,” Eilers responded. “It was the process to get to the game. And that was the biggest thing that I wanted to see with our kids this week.” He said the result showed that the Hawks are the superior but noted that the process doesn’t change based on the quality of the opponent. “That’s what I’m proud of our kids about,” said the coach. “Our kids played hard and we talked to our kids before the game: there’s only one way to play the game of football. When you don’t play it the right way, that’s when you can get injured. And the right way is to go full bore and to play with your hair on fire. And our kids did that for us tonight.” He said the coaches emphasize to players that no one knows how many high school games they are guaranteed in their career so make sure you enjoy every one of them. “I’m proud of our kids,” said Eilers. “They’re not taking things for granted.”
The Hawks rushed for 413 yards and gained another 31 yards through the air. The Royals were held to under 200 yards total offense. Much of that total came with defensive reserves in the game for HMS. In addition to the Groeneweg pick, James Gellerman and Ethan Wiersma each came away with an interception. Ebel returned a fumble 50 yards and Dodd executed a long punt return with both plays setting up touchdowns.
The Hawk head man feels the team will need to continue to get production from all three phases of the game as the season continues. Said Eilers, “Like I told our kids: The opponents are going to be different, the skill levels are going to be different, but the process is the same and the process has all three facets in it – offense, defense and special teams. I think they definitely are on the same page and understand they’re all equal. There’s nothing that ranks above the other.”
The coach was tickled to be able to get so many Hawks into the game, saying, “I’ve coached a lot of different places. I’ve coached in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium. I’ve coached overseas. It does not get better than Friday nights. Friday nights is the atmosphere that everybody has a passion for.” He continued, “It was awesome to see those kids execute. You look at our coaching staff on the sideline and we’re coaching and we’re making sure that the kids understand assignments, techniques, and we’re going to stay on top of that and continue to coach those kids as hard as anybody.”
Up Next: After a pair of road games, HMS returns home Friday night to host District opponent Alta-Aurelia. Last week the Warriors suffered their first loss of the season, falling 36-14 at home to South O’Brien. Eilers has been impressed with Alta-Aurelia quarterback Carson Reinert, noting his knowledge of the game and the strong arm that allows him to throw the deep ball very well. “He is very talented and he’s got a nice group of receivers and they are much bigger in the offensive line than what we saw tonight,” said Eilers following the win over MMCRU. “They have some big, physical, thick kids. They’re a spread offense. They’re going to throw the ball around and be multiple formations.”
Game time is 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 24 at Hartley.
HMS 30 16 14 6 – 66
MMCRU 0 0 14 0 – 14
First Quarter
7:06 HMS – Kooper Ebel 4 yard run (2 pt pass failed) 6-0
4:32 HMS – Connor Dodd 1 yard run (Dodd 2 pt run) 14-0
2:30 HMS – Ebel 75 yard run (Ebel 2 pt run) 22-0
0:20 HMS – Connor Dodd 3 yard run (Ebel 2 pt run) 30-0
Second Quarter
11:07 HMS – Elijah Groeneweg 54 yard interception return (Ebel 2 pt run) 38-0
5:26 HMS – Ryan Borden 20 yard run (Dodd 2 pt run) 46-0
Third Quarter
6:18 HMS – Dodd 73 yard run (Borden 2 pt run) 54-0
3:22 MMCRU – Kyler Bork 31 yard pass from KC Nicks (PAT kick wide) 54-6
1:24 HMS – Ethan Diehm 65 yard run (2 pt run failed) 60-6
0:44 MMCRU – Nicks 53 yard run (Dawson Pick 2 pt run) 60-14
Fourth Quarter
6:03 HMS – James Gellerman 13 yard run (2 pt run failed) 66-14
Rushing: Ebel 9-134, 3 TD; Dodd 10-126, 2 TD; Diehm 1-65, 1 TD; Gellerman 6-45, 1 TD; R. Borden 3-23, 1 TD; Zach Pearson 2-13; Aiden Espeland 2-9.
Passing: Ebel 1-5, 31 yards.
Receiving: Mason Brinkman 1-31.
Leading Tacklers: Ebel 10 (7 solos); Kamradt 6.5 (5); Lance Behrends 6 (4 solos, 1 sack); Brinkman 4 (3); Keevyn Jacobsma 4 (3); Groeneweg 3.5 (2); Evan Eilers 2.5 (2).
Fumble Recoveries: Ebel 1-50.
Interceptions: Gellerman 1-0; Ethan Wiersma 1-3; Groeneweg 1-54, 1 TD.
Kickoff returns: Ebel 2-52, Dodd 1-19.
Punt returns: Dodd 3-97.
Kickoffs: Diehm 9-355.