Hartley-Melvin Sanborn’s football team made it all the way to the playoff quarterfinal round last year, but no one’s resting on their laurels this fall. Said HMS head coach Jay Eilers, “I think the focus has just been continually getting better, from the winter to spring, being in the weight room. We just had a tremendous summer participation, tremendous summer activities, from 7-on-7 with teams to team camps and team bondings.”
With 39 players, this year’s roster is similar in number to last season’s. “Truly, the thing that I am so impressed with is all of our kids are rooting for each other,” said Eilers.
The HMS offense will again feature the venerable single wing formation. “We still run it, man,” joked the head coach. “The history books are still available.” Eilers wasn’t joking when he continued, “I just think it fits our kids, from a physical characteristic to their understanding of the offense. The positive of that offense is to be physical up front and to have multiple blockers leading the way through the hole. With the experience that we’ve had, we have been able to add things that will help us spread teams out. If we can minimize the defenders in the box, that’s going to help everybody.”
The coach stated that one of the goals established by this year’s senior class is to be the number one rushing team in the state. He commented, “As a former offensive lineman, we’re going to run the ball. But we also know we need to throw the ball better. That goes on the offensive line from protection to receivers catching the ball. We want to make some major improvements in that area.”
HMS lost Connor Dodd (and his 1636 rushing yards last season) to graduation. “The only way you replace players like Connor Dodd is that everybody gets better, and I do feel that we’ve done that,” remarked Eilers. He especially mentioned running back Travis Kamradt’s character, leadership and willingness to do all he can to help the team. “I’m going to say he looks very good with the football in his hands,” shared the coach. “And it’s nice to have a fullback the size (6’1” and 288 pounds) of Elijah Groeneweg.”
Another common sight in the hole on running plays will be the pulling guard, who is a new starter this season. “Ethan Baker is a young man that from the first Saturday our season was over, I’ve not seen a kid work harder,” praised Eilers. “With his athleticism, his strength, he’s made our o-line better.
The head coach touched on other offensive line contributors. “Ethan Huberg is 6’7”, 250 pounds and gifted beyond measure and has a real desire to become a great football player,” said Eilers. “Bradley Van Beek came in and played some critical, key games for us last year and I think he’s looking impressive. Evan Eilers is stepping up in the offensive line playing center. He’s doing some really good things for us. And then you have your cornerstones. You have Lance Berends (voted top lineman in the District last year), you have Keevyn Jacobsma, you have Adam Schierholz. I feel very blessed that we have some of the key cornerstones we have and then extremely proud of the efforts and the commitment of those guys coming in to fill roles, because they are coming in not just to fill them, but to dominate.”
Back at quarterback for his senior season is Kooper Ebel, who was the Offensive MVP of the District in 2021. “He plays the game at a different speed than I’ve ever imagined playing,” marveled his coach. “The game slows down for him to a level that he’s having fun every play.” Eilers notes that his QB’s contributions extend beyond the physical gifts. “I compliment Kooper’s leadership,” said the head man. “He demands greatness. He demands your best. When your quarterback is in that position of holding players accountable and pushing players to their fullest potential, obviously that’s going to make your football team better.”
When the quarterback puts the ball in the air, he’ll be looking toward several options. “Ethan Diehm’s doing a great job for us,” reported Eilers. “His athleticism and his speed is to desire. Ryan Borden, who played wing for us last year, will have multiple hats to wear on Friday nights. But he’s done some really good things. Two track athletes that run well. As a football coach when you find kids that run well you want to get them the ball in open space and we’re going to be able to do that with those two young men. At this time last year Trenton Vollink was out injured and how awesome it is to have a senior that is as physically strong and talented as he is. A huge target was Keevyn Jacobsma. The kid is one of the best offensive tackles in the state with hands that are just so impressive. Sometimes our tight ends are glorified offensive tackles.”
Even though defensive coach Steve Waechter has moved to coaching at the junior high level, Eilers feels his strong impact will still be felt. “He makes us so much better because I know those seventh and eighth graders are organized,” he said. “I know they’re doing things right. I know they’re detailed. I appreciate everything he’s done for us and what he’s doing for us.”
Stepping up to call the defense is Korey Ebel, who returns to Eilers’ staff along with Mark Petersen. Coming on board this year to join them is Kyle Vogt. “I think coach Waechter’s DNA is within Coach Ebel from playing for him and coaching with him for many years,” ventured Eilers. “Korey is such an even-keeled, even-tempered great teacher, so I’m definitely excited for him to have his fingerprint on our defense.”
As for that defense, Eilers feels it starts up front. “Our defensive line is extremely talented and probably the deepest of any position we have,” he stated. “We truly believe we have eight defensive linemen that will see time every Friday night. It starts with Lance Berends. Elijah Groeneweg played great nose for us last year. Adam Schierholz has stepped up. His strength, speed and athleticism is something I’ve never seen in the defensive line. And then Keevyn Jacobsma. Those guys have done a tremendous job of being physical up front and understanding the rules and assignments. And then we have backups such as Ethan Huberg, Evan Eilers, Ethan Baker and Bradley Van Beek.”
The coach feels that any discussion of the linebacking corps has to begin with Kamradt, last year’s Defensive MVP in the District. “His knowledge of offensive schemes, formations and tendencies and the alignment and assignment, not just for him, but for everyone around him, is amazing,” lauded Eilers. “He’s just got a nose for the football.” The coach continued spotlighting the linebackers saying, “In week two of fall camp you would have never guessed that Ethan Wiersma was not a starter last year. Our summer helped build success but it starts with that young man, his commitment and willingness to get better. Landon Elwood, I thought, was one of the best linebackers at the high school level that gets unnoticed. To have Trenton Vollink back is awesome. We’re also deep at the linebacker position. JR Araiza’s done a great job coming out for football and you can see his athleticism making up for his lack of experience. Spencer McCarter is just doing an amazing job for us rotating in and understanding formations, knowing where he’s supposed to be and then Spencer’s never afraid to hit people.”
Eilers noted that the key to the defensive secondary is the ability to move safety Ebel around in so many different positions and spots. Borden becomes a two-way starter this season, joining Diehm in bringing speed to the cornerback position. Noted the head coach, “We want to keep the ball in front of us and make sure that we’re forcing offenses to execute play after play after play. We feel that our d-line is so good that we will get there and we’ll have tackles for losses. That secondary is doing a tremendous job of understanding responsibility.”
The head man termed special teams vital and critical to success on the field and will be striving to keep the players fresh. “I think it’s got to be a position where we do get kids breaks,” said Eilers, “but we’ve got to make sure that whoever we put out there can be trusted to do their job. We’ve done a nice job installing special teams. Repetition is something that’s going to amp up as we continually rep special teams and develop those at a higher rate.”
Ebel is slated to handle both the punting and place kicking chores. “The good thing about the punting aspect is that it’s obviously going to give us the freedom to do some things with him back there as punter,” said the coach. He expressed increased trust in the extra-point operation this season. “We’ve spent extra time on extra-point kicks in fall camp and we feel confident we can go out and get that one point,” said Eilers. “Travis Kamradt is one of the best snappers I’ve seen. He snapped for us all last year and just did a tremendous job.” Working as holders are Jack Mastbergen and Tyson Tessum.
Overall, the coach feels blessed for those positions that have the most depth and is working to strengthen those that are lacking. “Obviously when you’re playing Class A football some positions are going to have more depth than others,” he said. “It’s important as a coaching staff to recognize those positions that don’t and how do we create that. We’ve tried to do our due diligence in that area and teach good athletes multiple positions and that base understanding that they can go in and execute.”
Even though the same schools appear in Class A District 1, which was owned by the Hawks last season, Eilers doesn’t expect any Friday night in the district to be easy. “It starts with coaching,” he said. “I think Gehlen Catholic is going to be a tremendous football team. They do a phenomenal job coaching and they are very talented right now with speed and great quarterback play. They’ve got many offensive linemen back. South O’Brien, they’re going to play South O’Brien physical football and they’re going to be coached very well. The team that we saw at camp this summer was Hinton and they were doing great things both offensively and defensively and did not look like the team that I saw last year, on film or on game night. So a huge compliment to their staff and what they’re doing.”
HMS lost on the road to eventual Class A champ West Hancock twice last season, once in the playoffs. The Eagles come to Hartley for a non-district showdown on September 30. “You don’t want to look ahead,” cautioned the Hawk head coach. “You never put a check mark by a team, as every team is critical and every team is important, but I’m not going to fib. I know our kids are excited for that game. I know our kids are eager to do what they know they can do.” He is confident the team will be ready to compete at an extremely high level and play great HMS physical football.
The Hawks open the season this Friday against their other non-district opponent, West Sioux, which was the 1A runner-up last season. “I think they’re exactly in the same boat we are” commented Eilers. “They had a tremendous football team last year. They’re extremely talented and are blessed to return a lot of that talent, a lot of that experience. I think there are going to be two outstanding football teams on the field that night. They’re Class 1A and we’re Class A and we hope to get to watch each other in the Dome.” Game time is 7:00 p.m. Friday, August 26 at Hawarden.
The coach talked about his vision for this year’s Hawk football team. “I’m a huge believer in: were not going to be result oriented, we are going to be process oriented and process driven,” explained Eilers. “And we’re going to focus on what we need to do today to get us prepared for the days in the future.”
Eilers went on to praise the team members. “Our senior class has allowed me to coach with my style,” he said. “My vision is very clear and they’ve done the best I’ve ever seen in supporting that vision and driving that thing forward with a sledgehammer. The thing that I am so impressed with is that so many of our goals are driven by our seniors and our players. I brag on our seniors a lot but the thing I’m most impressed with a lot is our freshmen, sophomores and juniors. They allow (the seniors) to be leaders and they look up to them for leadership. Our freshmen, sophomores and juniors are doing a tremendous job of setting the HMS Hawk standard and doing the things that they need to be doing also. It’s amazing that we have so many leadership characters in this program and in the community.”