Hawks rush to victory over Gehlen Catholic in District opener
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn relied on the running game in winning its District football opener and that running game has seldom looked more reliable. The Hawks rushed for 557 yards in outscoring Gehlen Catholic 50-35 September 2 at Le Mars. HMS joins Alta-Aurelia and Hinton with 1-0 records in the District.
Travis Kamradt toted the ball 21 times for 315 yards and four touchdowns. Kooper Ebel added 238 yards on 26 carries, running for three scores. The duo were also busy blocking for each other, and in so doing, aiding the three Ethans (Baker, Huberg and Wiersma) along with Lance Berends, Ryan Borden, Evan Eilers, Keevyn Jacobsma, Adam Schierholz and Bradley Van Beek.
“Our offensive line, again, was just tremendous up front,” lauded Hawk head coach Jay Eilers. “But it’s not just our o-line, it’s everybody we ask to block is just so willing to be ‘that’ person when they don’t have the ball. That’s how I value our team so much. The selflessness is just tremendous. I’m so appreciative.”
HMS scored touchdowns on its first three possessions of the game and missed a field goal as the half ended. The Jays put two first-half touchdowns on the board and trailed 23-15 at intermission. Gehlen nearly scored three times but the Hawks made a goal line stand, stopping the Jays at the HMS two.
Gehlen was also held on downs to begin the second half and punted on their next possession. Meanwhile, the Hawks added two more scores to push the lead to 37-15. The Jays scored on a kickoff return and took advantage of a fumble recovery and a short field to add another touchdown. The bottom line was that HMS outscored the Jays 27-20 in the second half.
Gehlen’s spread offense forced a lot of one-on-one matchups with the Jays’ receivers. That was reflected in the stats as the leading HMS tacklers were linebacker Kamradt and defensive back Ebel, each with 9.5, along with defensive backs Trenton Vollink and Ethan Diehm, who recorded eight and five tackles, respectively. Lineman Berends had the lone sack of Gehlen quarterback Connor Kraft.
“I thought our d-line played extremely hard,” said Eilers. “Our linebackers flew around. They forced our linebackers to truly play sideline to sideline. Within their scheme they force you to make plays in open space – and they’re going to force one person to make that play in open space. I know that’s difficult, especially when they have good players. At times I felt we were there. They had some drops. Whether they hear footsteps or not, our effort was just tremendous.”
Up Next: The Hawks are looking forward to some home cooking as they host South O’Brien in the home opener. The Wolverines fell to 1-1 after last week’s 17-0 home loss to Sheldon. HMS is the first District opponent on their schedule. Eilers does not expect to see a lot of footballs in the air, unless they are kicked. “I don’t think we’re going to see anything that we saw tonight,” said the HMS head man. “I’ve not looked ahead. We’ve respected our opponents this week and we’ll respect South O’Brien next week. I know that a hundred percent. Rival games, you throw out the record. I think they’re going to be physical. I think they’re going to be tough-nosed kids. When you’re only 23 miles from our place, I know the type of kid you have – you’re going to be tough as nails. I think that’s going to be a game our kids are going to enjoy. Our kids enjoy physical football. I’m excited. It’s going to be a great opportunity and our kids can’t wait.”
HMS 15 8 14 13 – 50
Gehlen 7 8 6 14 – 35
First Quarter
11:10 HMS – Travis Kamradt 75 yard run (Kooper Ebel kick) 7-0
6:14 Gehlen – Connor Kraft 1 yard run (Keaton Logan kick) 7-7
1:02 HMS – Ebel 18 yard run (Kamradt 2 pt run) 15-7
Second Quarter
6:06 HMS – Ebel 70 yard run (Kamradt 2 pt run) 23-7
1:58 Gehlen – Landon Reuter 34 yard pass from Kraft (Ryan Augustine 2 pt pass from Kraft) 23-15
Third Quarter
9:16 HMS – Ebel 32 yard run (Kamradt 2 pt run) 31-15
2:08 HMS – Kamradt 1 yard run (kick blocked) 37-15
1:57 Gehlen – Keaton Bonderson 75 yard kickoff return (2 pt pass failed) 37-21
Fourth Quarter
10:40 HMS – Kamradt 2 yard run (Ebel kick) 44-21
4:16 Gehlen – Aiden Spangler 3 yard run (2 pt pass failed) 44-27
3:21 HMS – Kamradt 51 yard run (kick failed) 50-27
1:04 Gehlen – Bonderson 26 yard pass from Kraft (Augustine 2 pt pass from Kraft) 50-35
Rushing: Kamradt 21-315, 4 TD; Ebel 26-238, 3 TD; Trenton Vollink 1-4.
Passing: Ebel 1-2, 10 yards.
Receiving: Ethan Diehm 1-10.
Leading Tacklers: Kamradt 9.5 (8 solos); Ebel 9.5 (8); Trenton Vollink 8 (7); Diehm 5 (4); Lance Behrends 4.5 (3 solos, 1 sack); Ethan Wiersma 4 (3); Keevyn Jacobsma 2.5 (2).
Kickoff returns: Diehm 2-63.
Punt returns: Ebel 1-12.
Kickoffs: Vollink 7-220, Ebel 1-35.