In what may be the ultimate team sport, the Class A First Round football playoff game played October 21 at Hartley seemed very much a battle between two players. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn’s Kooper Ebel and North Union’s Bryer Prochniak each produced huge stats, but in the end, it was Ebel’s Hawks who advanced with the 46-31 victory.
HMS, which improved to 7-2, now gets a rematch with 6-3 Hinton. Both are in playoff Pod A which also includes Gehlen Catholic (8-1) and Woodbury Central (9-0). The Round of 16 matchups are this Friday at Hartley and Moville respectively.
Ebel, who rushed for an HMS playoff record 307 yards (9.6 yards per carry), scored five touchdowns on the ground and fired a scoring pass to Ethan Baker. He was instrumental in the Hawks’ building a 39-7 lead midway through the third quarter.
“I just think his vision and his strength and, obviously, durability, makes it tough to tackle him throughout a four quarter game,” said Hawk head coach Jay Eilers of his star quarterback. “He has a vision and an understanding of angles and, as good as he is, not many people tackle him head up. He is making cuts and the thing is that sometimes, as a coach, you get worried about cuts, but he’s making cuts moving forward. He’s not making cuts to move east and west, he is making cuts to move north and south and work downhill.”
With the Warriors’ quarterback sidelined from the second quarter on, it was Prochniak who put his team’s comeback effort on his shoulders. In the game’s final 18 minutes he ran for three touchdowns and passed for another. During that span the Hawks were unable to come up with an onside kick and also lost a fumble. Prochniak’s 66 yard run on the game’s first play from scrimmage had staked the Warriors (5-4) to an early 7-0 lead. The North Union senior amassed 335 yards on the ground and 46 more through the air.
Eilers knew that Prochniak had the ability to run the ball to a gap but than take off anywhere he wanted. “They’re in a position where they’re really in empty formation so your two-by-two (flankers), you have to be responsible for them and you have to be responsible for the fullback and passing game,” explained the coach. “Ultimately, I wish we could have been responsible for passing game and I wish we had stopped number six (Prochniak) a little better but that kid is a stud. He’s what made them so scary along with their heart. You could see their heart when they’re playing. Those young men never gave up.”
Hawk supporters could breathe a little easier after Ryan Borden came down with an interception in the game’s final two minutes. “He’s a young man that we felt confident in playing both sides of the football this year going into the season and big time games, big time players make big time plays and he came up with a big one right there,” praised Eilers. “Super proud of him. He’s a young man that just brings his hard hat and lunch pail every day. He’s truly a leader by example. Ryan is willing to outwork and work at a level that is such a standard. Definitely blessed to have him on our football team.”
With Travis Kamradt still out with an injury, Spencer McCarter made ??????? tackles to lead the linebacking corps. “You don’t replace Travis, but let me say this, Spencer McCarter played a phenomenal football game for us at linebacker,” said Eilers. The senior notched eight total tackles, including six solos. The coach lauded another of his players, saying, “I thought Ethan Baker played the best fullback that I’ve ever seen in tonight’s game and our fullback is just an extension of the offensive line, until we sneak him out and he scores a touchdown. You can see the kids’ passion for him in the way that our sideline celebrated when he scored. I just couldn’t be more happy for a senior like that, that’s playing his tail off and played at a level tonight I’ve not seen many high school kids play at. He just played elite.”
Injuries have depleted the ball carrier depth, providing an opportunity for Aiden Espeland to step up. Said Eilers, “To have a young man out there playing running back tonight in his first career start and first varsity carries in a big-time game, Aiden did a nice job for us with 14 carries and 77 yards.”