Sibley-Ocheyedan twice took advantage of a short field to secure the halftime lead against Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and then kept rolling in the second half. In the end it was a 48-14 victory for the Generals October 11 at Sibley.
HMS dropped to 3-4 on the season and 3-2 in Class A District 1. The Hawks are in fourth place with one game to play, trailing Gehlen Catholic (5-0), MMCRU (4-1) and Sibley-Ocheyedan (4-2). The top four teams in the District qualify for the playoffs.
“We’ve got to find a way where we’re not getting on our heels on either side of the ball,” remarked HMS head coach Jeremiah Delzer. “At times tonight we got on our heels and we weren’t being the aggressor. We were taking the punches rather than giving the punches. We’ve got to find a way as coaches to put them in a spot to do that (be the aggressor). As players we’ve got to have the drive to say, ‘Alright, we’re going to go out and win our rep one on one.’”
With the score tied 7-7, the Hawks faced a fourth-and-one situation at heir own 27. A running play came up just short and Sibley-Ocheyedan was able to move the short distance to the end zone to take the lead. Although the extra-point kick was blocked, the Generals soon got the ball back on a fumble recovery. They converted the turnover into a touchdown with just 30 seconds left in the first half to take a 20-7 lead into the break.
“There are different situations where, if we’re going to do what we do, we’ve got to be the winners on that, like that fourth down conversion (attempt) down there,” said Delzer. “We gave them a short field. That was one where it was a gamble and we thought we were going to get it. We’ve got to find a way to come through.”
The Generals scored to start the second half but HMS responded. Facing another fourth down, this time at at the Sibley-Ocheyedan 40, Hawk quarterback Jack Mastbergen scrambled out of danger and found Jackson Vogt in the end zone for the touchdown. Mattis Octmann added his second PAT kick of the game and HMS trailed 27-14.
Sibley-Ocheyedan was able to add another touchdown before the end of the quarter. A high snap in punt formation gave HMS the ball on the Generals’ 22 yard line. The Hawks moved it to the two but Sibley-Ocheyedan turned them away as a fourth down pass into the end zone was broken up.
The Generals tacked on two more touchdowns. The second one came after an interception.
“There are lots of different positives that we had,” noted Delzer. “There are a lot of different situations where we’re going to watch the film and say, ‘Man, we were right there.’ Like always, it feels like, we were this close, but not quite there.”
HMS was outgained 428-186 in the game. Mastbergen threw for 68 yards and the touchdown while gaining 80 yards on the ground. James Gellerman rushed for 37 yards, including a first quarter touchdown run of three yards. Vogt had the one 40-yard reception. Jayden Leth caught two passes for 25 yards.
Gellerman recorded nine tackles with Vogt and Hunter Daggett each making six stops. Mastbergen and Alex Billings had five tackles apiece. Slayton McCarter intercepted a pass.
Up Next:
The Hawks close out the regular season with a road contest against Gehlen Catholic. The Jays, ranked eighth in Class A, ran past South O’Brien 56-21 on Friday night. At the conclusion of the game with Sibley-Ocheyedan, Delzer looked ahead to the Jays, saying, “I’ve watched a little film on them – a lot of common opponents – and I know they’re going to do what they do and they’re going to do it really well so we better come out with a good gameplan, have some courage and be ready to go play some football. They’ve got a really good running back and a really good quarterback so we’ll have to find a way to stop them.”
Game time is 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 18 at the Le Mars Community School field.
HMS 7 0 7 0 – 14
S-O 7 13 14 14 – 48
First Quarter
7:34 HMS – James Gellerman 3 yard run (Mattis Octmann kick) 7-0
2:00 S-O – Dominic Marco 19 yard run (Marco Macias kick) 7-7
Second Quarter
2:14 S-O – Hunter Kauffman 5 yard run (kick blocked) 7-13
:31 S-O – Marco 39 yard pass from Kayne Julius (Macias kick) 7-20
Third Quarter
9:42 S-O – Julius 29 yard run (Macias kick) 7-27
7:43 HMS – Jackson Vogt 40 yard pass from Jack Mastbergen (Octmann kick) 14-27
4:26 S-O – Marco 4 yard run (Macias kick) 14-34
Fourth Quarter
6:52 S-O – Dawson Kreykes 8 yard pass from Julius (Macias kick) 14-41
2:38 S-O – Tanner Gries 13 yard pass from Kauffman (Macias kick) 14-48
Rushing: Mastbergen 11-80; Gellerman 17-37, 1 TD.
Passing: Mastbergen 7-17, 68 yards, 1 TD, 1 int.
Receiving: Vogt 1-40, 1 TD; Jayden Leth 2-25; Gellerman 2-6; Isaac Schierholz 2-(-3).
Tackles: Gellerman 9, Vogt, Hunter Daggett 6, Mastbergen, Alex Billings 5, Blake Meendering, Dominic Tripp 4; Schierholz, Slayton McCarter 3, Ricky Smith 1.
Interception: McCarter.
Punts: Mastbergen 3-91 (30.3 yard avg.).