Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn outscored Alta-Aurelia 22-0 in the second half to post a 36-14 victory over the Warriors September 6 at Hartley. The win gave HMS a 1-0 record in Class A District 1. Joining the Hawks there are Gehlen Catholic, which beat MMCRU, and Sibley-Ocheyedan which topped Akron-Westfield. South O’Brien has yet to play a District game. HMS evened its season mark at 1-1.
“We stayed the course,” stated Hawk head coach Jeremiah Delzer. “I think our halftime, the guys did the right job, they settled in and we got the job done in the way that we actually wanted.” The coach elaborated, “We wanted to run our base stuff and show that we can be really good at it and start getting our calls and things like that and that’s what we did. I think the second half I have a lot to build on. We’re still not there yet but we’re getting there. We’ll take this, celebrate it, but go find what we need to work on and be better for next week.”

HMS won the toss and chose to receive the ball. The Hawks were forced to punt and Alta-Aurelia drove down to take an early 7-0 lead. HMS responded with a scoring drive of its own. The Hawks overcame a blocking penalty that wiped out a big passing play and then kept the ball on the ground and scored on a one-yard plunge by James Gellerman. The kick by Mattis Octmann tied the game at 7-7.
After getting a stop, HMS mounted another drive but turned the ball over on downs. The Hawk offense was soon back in business as Jack Mastbergen stripped the ball from the Alta-Aurelia ball carrier and recovered the fumble on the Warrior 30. A pass from Mastbergen to Jackson Vogt carried to the three and Gellerman scored on the next play. Octmann’s kick put the HMS lead at 14-7.
Late in the half a Hawk fumble set up the Warriors in scoring position. They capitalized with a touchdown just before halftime to knot the score.
The second half began with an exchange of turnovers. HMS forced a punt on the second Warrior possession. The Hawks then started a scoring drive, converting a fourth-and-one situation along the way. Mastbergen got in to the scoring column with an 11 yard run. An Alta-Aurelia penalty on the PAT kick attempt caused HMS to go for two. The decision paid off when Gellerman ran it in to put the Hawks in front 22-14.
The momentum continued for the Hawks as Isaac Schierholz recovered an Alta-Aurelia fumble. After a penalty set HMS back to the Warrior 40, Gellerman ran for his third touchdown of the day. The extra point gave the Hawks a 29-14 lead.
After Octmann prevented a touchdown on a long kickoff return, the Hawks forced yet another turnover as Gellerman intercepted a pass. Later in the fourth quarter HMS put together one final scoring drive of 30 yards. It was capped off when Mastbergen found Vogt in the end zone. Octmann added one more point to complete the scoring.
Gellerman rushed for 148 yards to add to the 109 yards he gained on the ground in the previous game. Mastbergen contributed 133 yards on the ground and was 10-of-18 passing for 160 yards. Vogt caught four passes for 64 yards and the touchdown. Slayton McCarter had three catches for 55 yards and Schierholz three for 41.
Blake Meedering and Gellerman each made six tackles and David Wetrich added another five. Mastbergen recovered two fumbles and Schierholz one. Gellerman had the interception.
Up Next:
MMCRU fell to 0-2 with the loss to the Jays. The Royals scored the first six points of the game and Gehlen the final 34. MMCRU was not helped by its four turnovers.
Despite the winless start, their opponent this week has continued respect for the program. “They’re really well coached,” said the Hawks’ Delzer. “They’re a really solid team. They’re going to show a lot of things that we like to show on offense and on defense so I think it’s going to be a clash of two teams who are similar.”
This will be the first road test for HMS. “I always love playing on the road,” said Delzer. “It’s a little bit of a team time to get together, and kind of separate. It’s always fun to go to a different environment and nothing’s more fun than spoiling somebody else’s night at their place. Hopefully, we can get that done.”
Game time is 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 13 at Marcus.
A-A 7 7 0 0 – 14
HMS 7 7 15 7 – 36
First Quarter
5:06 A-A – Camden Reinert 8 yard run (Jordyn Hinrickson kick) 0-7
0:14 HMS – James Gellerman 1 yard run (Mattis Octmann kick) 7-7
Second Quarter
7:03 HMS – Gellerman 3 yard run (Octmann kick) 14-7
5:06 A-A – Peyton Meyer 30 yard pass from Reinert (Hinrickson kick) 14-14
Third Quarter
0:30 HMS – Jack Mastbergen 11 yard run (Gellerman 2 pt run) 22-14
0:00 HMS – Gellerman 40 yard run (Octmann kick) 29-14
Fourth Quarter
1:55 HMS – Jackson Vogt 17 yard pass from Mastbergen (Octmann kick) 36-14
Rushing: Gellerman 26-148, 3 TD; Mastbergen 16-133, 1 TD; Slayton McCarter 1-8, Vogt 1-1.
Passing: Mastbergen 10-18, 160 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving: Vogt 4-64, 1 TD; McCarter 3-55, Isaac Schierholz 3-41.
Leading Tacklers: Gellerman, Blake Meendering 6, David Wetrich 5, Mastbergen, Ricky Smith 4, Schierholz, Vogt, McCarter, Hunter Daggett, Alex Billings 3.
Fumble Recoveries: Mastbergen 2, Schierholz 1.
Interception: Gellerman 1 (24 return yards).
Punt returns: Gellerman 3-16.
Punts: Mastbergen 1-29.