Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn delighted the home crown September 24 at Hartley with a 66-14 victory over Alta-Aurelia. It was the fourth straight win in Class 1A District 1 following a season-opening non-district loss to West Sioux.
The Hawks built a 24-0 advantage early in the second quarter and led 46-6 at halftime.
HMS quarterback Kooper Ebel rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns. He also completed scoring passes to Mason Brinkman (26 yards) and Connor Dodd (12 yards). Dodd rushed for a pair of touchdowns as part of his 120 yard total.
It was the defensive effort, however, that had Hawk head coach Jay Eilers talking following the game. “I think our kids did what we asked them to do,” said the coach. “We felt like we could create some turnovers tonight and that was one thing that we kind of preached throughout the week is creating turnovers, and that’s what our kids did. I appreciate that they trust the coaching staff – the vision that we have within our scheme.”
Ebel intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble to go along with his 10 combined tackles. There was also an interception by Dodd and a fumble recovery by Lance Berends.
Up Next:
The Hawks venture out of the District for the second time this season. And again it’s a top notch opponent as HMS travels to Britt to take on West Hancock. The 5-0 Eagles are ranked number one in Class A. West Hancock’s staple on offense remains the ground game. “They are what they are,” stated Eilers. “They’re going to line up in double tight, ‘bone, and they might have one receiver wide. They’re going to run the ball, and they’re going to run the ball, and they’re going to run the ball and they’re going to run the ball some more.” He indicated that through their first four games the Eagles had put the ball in the air only 10 times. “We’re going to have to come off the ball and be successful,” declared Eilers. “And then on the other side of it, we’re going to have to value the plus three and the plus three-and-a-half yard runs and just continue to stack those things up together.”
Game time is 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 1 at Hartley.

A-A 0 6 0 16 – 66
HMS 16 30 6 14 – 14
First Quarter
8:35 HMS – Mason Brinkman 26 yard pass from Kooper Ebel (Connor Dodd 2 pt run) 8-0
3:22 HMS – Ebel 9 yard run (Dodd 2 pt run) 16-0
Second Quarter
10:07 HMS – Dodd 12 yard pass from Ebel (Dodd 2 pt run) 24-0
7:50 A-A – Carson Reinert 1 yard run (2 pt pass fails) 24-6
4:59 HMS – Ebel 4 yard run (Dodd 2 pt run) 32-6
3:23 HMS – Ebel 60 yard run (2 pt pass failed) 38-6
0:20 HMS – Ebel 41 yard run (Travis Kamradt 2 pt run) 46-6
Third Quarter
7:17 HMS – Dodd 10 yard run (2 pt pass failed) 52-6
Fourth Quarter
10:27 HMS – Ethan Diehm 5 yard run (2 pt run failed) 58-6
6:30 A-A – Cale Brechwald 5 yard run (Brechwald 2 pt run) 58-14
4:15 A-A – Hayden Garlow 7 yard pass from Brechwald (Sam Colerick 2 pt run) 58-22
4:00 HMS – Diehm 88 yard kickoff return (Aiden Espeland 2 pt run) 66-22
Rushing: Ebel 13-212, 3 TD; Dodd 15-120, 2 TD; Kamradt 5-35, Ryan Borden 2-22, Diehm 3-13, 1 TD; Gellerman 2-12, Aiden Espeland 2-2.
Passing: Ebel 7-11, 119 yards, 2 TD.
Receiving: Brinkman 3-62, 1 TD; Keevyn Jacobsma 3-45; Dodd 1-12, 1 TD.
Leading Tacklers: Ebel 10 (7 solos); Kamradt 9.5 (7); Dodd 6 (5); Lance Berends 5 (4); Brenton Thomas 4 (3); Keaton Graves 4 (3); Gellerman 3 (3); Elijah Groeneweg 3 (2).
Fumble Recoveries: Ebel 1-38, Berends 1-0.
Interceptions: Ebel 1-52; Dodd 1-3.
Kickoff returns: Diehm 2-93, 1 TD; Ebel 1-20; Gellerman 1-12.