The West Delaware Hawk football team had less than an auspicious start last Friday night in Oelwein.

Three of the Hawks first four possessions on the game ended in turnovers with the Huskies taking advantage of a Hawk fumble to score the game first points with 4:29 left in the first quarter.

After that the Hawks settled in and outscored the Huskies 58-7 over the remaining 40 and one half minutes of the game to improve their overall record to 3-0, 1-0 in Class 3A District 5 action.

In the end the Hawks would roll up 448 yards of total offense, 288 yards on the ground and another 160 through the air.

Leading the ground attack were Zach McCool 11 carries for 101 yards, Brett Appleton 10 carries for 83 yards and Nate Lynch 10 carries for 79 yards.

Quarterback BJ Hermsen completed 11 of 15 passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns, he did throw a pair of interceptions.

Hermsen’s 11 completions were split between Zach McCool (5 for 76 yards) and Austin Cole (6-84 yards) with Cole catching a pair of TD passes and McCool 1.

Defensively the Hawks gave up 308 yards, 195 rushing and 113 passing.

After the Hawks first possession of the game ended with an interception Oelwein put together a 14 play 52 yard drive that stalled out when the Hawk defense made a great goal line stand at their own one yard line.

The Hawks had forced the Huskies into a field goal attempt earlier in the drive but a roughing the kicker penalty gave Oelwein new life at the Hawk 10.

After gaining nine yards on their first two rushing attempts the Hawks stuffed the next two to thwart the drive and take the ball on their own one.

On the first play from the one the Hawks fumbled the ball with the Huskies recovering it in the endzone for the first score of the game.

Following the Huskie kick off the Hawks answered right back with a fine 65 yard drive that took just seven plays.

The drive was capped off by a Nate Lynch 11-yard run, Mark Messerly’s PAT tied the score at 7-7 with 1:52 left in the first quarter.

The Hawks recovered the ensuing kick off at the Oelwein 39 but on the first play the Huskies picked off a BJ Hermsen pass intended for Ryan Hauser at the Oelwein two yard line.

The Huskies committed their first turnover of the game when Devon Alber intercepted an Oelwein pass to give the Hawks the ball back at the Huskie 46. Just six plays later the Hawks took the lead when Zach McCool scored from three yards out to make the score 14-7 with 11:21 left in the second period.

Oelwein came right back on their next possession to march 65 yards in just four plays to tie the game at 14-14 with 9:37 remaining before halftime.

It was then that you could see the fire in the Hawks eyes.

Starting their next possession at their own 43 West Delaware quickly moved the 57 yards to pay dirt when Nate Lynch scored his second touchdown of the game. This time from four yards out to give the Hawks a 21-14 lead with 7:13 left in the second quarter.

The Huskies found themselves going in reverse on their next possession.

They started at their own 20 and moved to their own 45 when the Hawks were called for roughing the passer. At that point Oelwein was called for four straight penalties that resulted in them facing a first and 50 from their own five yard line.

Devon Alber picked off his second pass of the game and returned the ball to the Oelwein 45 where four plays later BJ Hermsen connected with Austin Cole from 26 yards out to give the Hawks a 28-14 lead.

Oelwein’s last possession of the first half resulted in yet another interception, this time by Destry Sperfslage to end the first half.

The Hawks would have four second half possessions and would score on each one of them as they totally dominated the game over the final 24 minutes.

Quarterback BJ Hermsen would connect with Austin Cole from nine yards out with 7:00 left in the third quarter for a 35-14 Hawk lead.

Just one minute and 39 seconds later Hermsen would fire his third TD pass of the game, this one to Zach McCool from 28 yards out for a 42-14 lead.

That touchdown was set up by another Hawk interception of a Huskie pass, this time by Corey Hood.

Hermsen would make the score 49-14 when he ran in from three yards out with 1:09 left in the third quarter.

The defense put two points on the board when Alex Ryan tackled Oelwein quarterback, Jordan Roberts in the endzone for a safety on the first play of the fourth quarter making the score 51-14 in favor of the Hawks.

West Delaware’s final score would come on a four yard run by Nick Ronnebaum with 9:11 left in the game.

Game stats
vs. Oelwein
First downs - WD 20, O 12; rushing - WD 36-288, O 38-195; passing - WD 11-15-2-160 yards, O 10-19-4-113 yards; total yardage - WD 448, O 308; punts - WD none, O 2-22 yard average; fumbles - WD 1-1, O o-o; penalties - WD 5-50, O 10-82.

Hawk individual leaders
Rushing - Brett Appleton 10-83, Zach McCool 11-101, BJ Hermsen 3-10, Nate Lynch 10-79, Nick Ronnebaum 2-15; passing - BJ Hermsen 11-15-2-160; receiving - Zach McCool 5-76, Austin Cole 6-84; tackles (total stops) - Zach McCool 3, Lucas Kafer 5, Dan Petersen 1, Adam Rave 2, Chris Harbaugh 4, Destry Sperfslage 6, Jake Nordaas 2, Tyler Manternach 3, Nate Lynch 4, Nick Ronnebaum 4, Brett Appleton 5, Corey Hood 5, Wes Marbach 4, Tim Murphy , Bryce Ogea 12, Ryan Neuhaus 2, Billy Connor 5, Alex Ryan 2, Adam Mossner 6, Steve Broghammer 1, Nathan King 5, Paul Broghammer 6, Jordan Cabalka 1, Austin Cole 6, Devon Alber 1, Cody Kolka 1.

This week is the Hawks will host the Mustangs of Independence for Homecoming 2006.

The Mustangs lost to Williamsburg 24-0 last week and are 0-1 in district play and 2-1 overall.