Efficient Hawk offense overwhelms MMCRU
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn demonstrated offensive efficiency in its 66-34 win over MMCRU September 16 at Hartley. The Hawks ran 43 plays from scrimmage, gaining 603 yards. That’s an average of over 14 yards per play. HMS had two touchdown “drives” of four plays, one of three plays, three of two plays and one consisting of just one play.
The Hawks improved to 3-0 in Class A District 1 and are 3-1 overall. With Hinton losing to Gehlen Catholic Friday night, HMS sits alone atop the District standings.
HMS scored touchdowns on all eight first half possessions and led 54-7 at halftime. For the game Travis Kamradt rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns. Korey Ebel gained 175 yards rushing and ran for three scores. Kamradt’s 34 yard catch and run on a pass from Ebel resulted in yet another score. Also getting into the act were Ethan Diehm with an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown and Aidan Espeland with a 70-yard touchdown jaunt.
“I felt like our kids got to play relaxed tonight,” commented HMS head coach Jay Eilers. “And when you play relaxed, it’s just smooth. I felt like that’s what we got to see tonight was a smooth operation. I tip my hat to MMCRU. I saw on film how much these guys have improved and that does not happen by accident. The hard thing is that sometimes these games come down to match-ups and this was just a rough match-up for them.”
The Hawks passed for 179 yards in the game. Ryan Borden caught four passes for 77 yards, Tyson Tessum three for 42 and Trenton Vollink two for 26. “I was very pleased that we were able to throw the ball tonight,” said Eilers. “We threw the ball in our heavy formation and we threw it in our spread formations.”
Up next: After two consective weeks at home, the Hawks head back on the road to take on Alta-Aurelia. The Warriors are 2-2 following a 14-7 loss to South O’Brien and 1-2 in District play. Eilers expects Alta-Aurelia to throw the ball and involve their backs in the passing game. “I think they’re going to be similar offensively to what we saw (from MMCRU) or they see things in our film and want to adapt a little bit,” said the coach. “I think our defensive line’s going to be able to be successful and do things up front for us next week. I think the biggest thing is to make sure our kids don’t overlook anybody. It’s a one-week process. We need to go 1-0 each week.”
Kickoff is 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 23 at Alta.
MMCRU 7 0 7 20 – 34
HMS 21 33 6 6 – 66
First Quarter
11:32 HMS – Kooper Ebel 27 yard run (kick failed) 6-0
3:12 HMS – Travis Kamradt 4 yard run (Ebel kick) 13-0
3:00 MMCRU – Jace Colling 84 yard kickoff return (Cody Evans kick) 13-7
1:59 HMS – Kamradt 73 yard run (Ebel 2 pt run) 21-7
Second Quarter
11:49 HMS – Ebel 72 yard run (Ebel kick) 28-7
11:28 HMS – Kamradt 34 yard pass from Ebel (kick failed) 34-7
10:10 HMS – Kamradt 65 yard run (kick failed) 40-7
5:35 HMS – Ebel 10 yard run (Ebel kick) 47-7
0:09 HMS – Kamradt 5 yard run (Ebel kick) 54-7
Third Quarter
2:29 MMCRU – Jonah Peterson 5 yard pass from Michael Peterson (Evans kick) 54-14
2:10 HMS – Ethan Diehm 80 yard kick return (2 pt run failed) 60-14
Fourth Quarter
11:51 MMCRU – Colling 29 yard pass from Jonah Petersen (Evans kick) 60-21
6:24 MMCRU – Mason Roberts 4 yard run (Evans kick) 60-28
4:09 HMS – Aidan Espeland 70 yard run (2 pt pass failed) 66-28
0:11 MMCRU – Gage Johnson 26 yard pass from Michael Schmillen (2 pt run failed) 66-34
Rushing: Kamradt 12-178, 4 TD; Ebel 11-175, 3 TD; Aidan Espeland 4-74, 1 TD.
Passing: Ebel 10-13, 179 yards, 1 TD; Jack Mastbergen 1-3, -3 yards.
Receiving: Ben Waddell 1-(-3).
Leading Tacklers: Kamradt 5 (4 solos); Jr Araiza 5 (4); Ethan Wiersma 4 (3); Lance Behrends 4 (3); Elijah Groeneweg 3 (3 solos, 2 sacks); Ethan Baker 3 (2); David Wetrich 2.5 (2).
Fumble recovery: Evan Eilers.
Kickoff returns: Diehm 2-92, 1 TD; Kamradt 2-22; Borden 1-13.
Kickoffs: Vollink 9-360.
Punts: Diehm 1-26.