Manchester Press, Manchester, Iowa

The Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Hawks squeak by Indee for Homecoming 2006 victory
Hawk volleyball girls run unbeaten streak to 29 straight

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Hawks squeak by Indee for Homecoming 2006 victory
by Ken Boesenberg

The fourth rated in Class 3A West Delaware Hawk football team upped their record to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in district play with a 28-26 win over the Mustangs of Independence last Friday night on Brown Field.

It was after all, Homecoming week which is always full of off the field distractions; be it pep rallies, float making, parades or the Homecoming Dance on Saturday night.

The Hawks Nathan King (#78) and Steven Broghammer (#75) assists an unidentified Hawk defensive player in bringing down the Mustangs Nick O’Loughlin during the Hawks 28-26 win over the Mustangs. O’loughlin ran for 145 yards on 29 carries during the game.

Those things being said, one must still give credit to the Mustangs for showing up and playing very hard in a game that many people thought would not be as close as it was.

There is also a very good rivalry with Indee in any number of sports, including football. The Hawks may hold the edge on the gridiron but they in no way could afford a let down.

The Hawks took the lead for good when junior quarterback BJ Hermsen connected with senior wide out Ryan Hauser for a 21-yard touchdown pass at the 7:48 mark of the second quarter.

That made the score West Delaware 14, Independence 7 after Mark Messerly converted his second straight PAT of the game.

Messerly made all four of his PAT’s in the contest to provide the final margin of victory as the Mustangs were able to convert just two of their four extra point tries.

Hauser’s 21-yard TD catch was his second of the game. The first came on the very first play of the game when Hermsen hooked up with Hauser on a pretty 60-yard catch and run.

Hauser split a pair of defenders and was off to the races, giving the Hawks a 7-0 lead with just 22 seconds gone in the game.

For the night Hauser caught 4 passes, good for 111 yards and the two touchdowns.

BJ Hermsen had a good night throwing the ball as he completed 11 of 20 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns, he threw one interception.

The Hawks rolled up 358 yards of total offense, 173 through the air and another 185 on the ground led by Zach McCool with 11 carries and 72 rushing yards.

Hermsen rushed for 54 yards while Brett Appleton had 25 yards on five carries and Nate Lynch 29 yards on nine carries.

After the Hawks had electrified the Homecoming crowd with the long 60-yard touchdown on their first play the Mustangs quieted the huge throng of Orange and Black with nine play 78-yard scoring drive of their own to knot the score at 7-7 with 8:21 left in the first quarter.

Zach McCool took the ensuing kick off and returned it to the Mustang 42 before he was run out of bounds.

As they have done a number of times this season the Hawks scored on a three play drive that took just 33 seconds, culminated by Hermsen’s pass to Hauser.

The Hawks were aided in the drive by a 10-yard pass interference penalty against the Mustangs.

Once again Independence came right back, marching 82 yards in 17 plays to score with 29 seconds left in the first quarter.

Their try for the point after kick was no good, leaving the Hawks with a 14-13 lead.

During the first quarter the Hawks had the ball for five plays and just one minute and 25 seconds of possession time. By contrast the Mustangs ran 27 plays that ate up 10 minutes and 35 seconds of the first quarter.

West Delaware’s third possession of the game resulted in the Hawks third score of the game for a 21-13 lead.

The drive started on their own 20 as time ran out in the first quarter and culminated with a four yard TD run by Nate Lynch at the 6:15 mark.

The Hawk drive was kept alive when punter, BJ Hermsen was ran into while punting on fourth and four from the Hawk 39.

The Hawks took advantage of the penalty, covering the final 44 yards in nine plays. The longest play of the drive was a 13 yard pass on second and seven from the Mustang 41 to Ryan Hauser from BJ Hermsen.

BJ Hermsen’s one yard sneak on fourth and one from the Mustang five yard line set up Nate Lynch’s touchdown run from the four to give the Hawks an eight point lead, 21-13.

Following the Hawk kick off the Mustangs again moved the ball down the field as they mixed up the pass and the run. They were also aided by a pair of West Delaware off sides penalties during the drive.

The Mustangs got to the Hawk seven before the drive stalled out, an incomplete pass on third and four and a loss of a yard on a fourth and four running play from the seven gave the Hawks the ball with the first half winding down.

The Hawks were unable to move the ball and were forced to punt. BJ Hermsen’s 50-yard punt was downed at the Indee 15 where the first half came to an end.

The Hawks kicked off to start the second half. The Mustangs Thomas Faust fielded the ball on his own four yard line and raced 96 yards for and Indee touchdown, cutting the Hawk lead to 21-19.
The Mustangs point after conversion was foiled by the Hawk defense leaving the score, West Delaware 21, Independence 19 with 11:43 left in the third quarter.

After Zach McCool returned the ensuing kick off 55 yards, the Hawks were guilty of a 15-yard penalty back to the West Delaware 46.

Just over three minutes later the Hawks increased their lead to 28-19 when BJ Hermsen connected with senior Austin Cole for a seven yard touchdown pass. Mark Messerly added his fourth straight PAT for a nine point Hawk lead.

Neither team would score on their next two possessions as the third quarter ended with the Hawks up by nine points.

The Mustangs scored the final points of the game with 6:54 left on a 24-yard pass from Brad Arnold to Rick McGill to make the score 28-26.

That’s where it would end, although both teams would have two more possessions.

Hawk volleyball girls run unbeaten streak to 29 straight
by Ken Boesenberg

The West Delaware Hawk girls volleyball team continues to leave no doubt why they are ranked as one of the top two teams in Class 3A.

Last week they powered past Maquoketa on Thursday night in the West Delaware High School Gym, three games to none; winning by scores of 25-6, 25-6 and 25-14.
On Saturday the Hawks ran through the competition at the Monticello Panther Invitational.

At left, The Hawks Emily Havertape puts down one of her three kills against WaMaC Conference opponent Maquoketa last Thursday night in Manchester. The Hawks defeated the Cardinals three games to none, 25-6, 25-6 and 25-14. At right, Hawk senior Katlyn Heiserman returns a serve from a Maquoketa player during the Hawks sweep of the Cardinals. Katlyn was busy this week with not only volleyball but also as the 2006 Homecoming Queen.

They defeated Bellevue Marquette 21-8, 21-10; Cascade 21-6, 21-9; Davenport West 21-8, 21-6, all in pool play.

In the semi-finals they downed Wilton 21-8 and 21-13, setting up a WaMaC Conference showdown in the finals with the Sabers of Central DeWitt.

DeWitt was fresh off of a big WaMaC Conference win over Marion which should have made this finals match up a pretty good one.

A good one it was, if your were a West Delaware Hawk fan; as the Hawks defeated the Sabers in two straight games, 21-8, 21-13 to claim the tournament team title.

As impressive as the 29-0 match record is the fact that the Hawks have only lost one game this season and now own an overall game record of 69-1.

This week will be a good one for the Hawks as they travel to Dyersville Beckman on Tuesday night before hosting the Bobcats of Benton Community on Thursday night.

Thursday night will be Senior Night and the last chance for fans to watch their second ranked Hawks in action at home.

Match stats
vs. Maquoketa
Service aces - Katie Murphy 3, Katlyn Heiserman 4, Lindsey McDowell 1, Kaylin Kelchen 6, Tess Wegner 4; digs - Katie Wessels 5, Katie Murphy 3, Katlyn Heiserman 14, Lindsey McDowell 4, Kaylin Kelchen 4, Emily Heffernen 3, Danielle Graybill 1, Tess Wegner 3, Tess Reinig 2; kills - Katie Wessels 11, Katie Murphy 3, Lindsey McDowell 5, Emily Heffernen 8, Emily Havertape 3, Tess Reinig 2; blocks - Katie Wessels 2, Nicole Neverman 1; assists - Katie Murphy 26, Kaylin Kelchen 1, Tess Wegner 1, Tess Reinig 1.

Match stats
Pool play at Monticello
Service aces - Katie Wessels 3, Katie Murphy 3, Katlyn Heiserman 2; Lindsey McDowell 6; Kaylin Kelchen 3, Tess Wegner 1; digs - Katie Wessels 13, Katie Murphy 12, Katlyn Heiserman 14, Lindsey McDowell 4, Kaylin Kelchen 4, Nicole Neverman 2, Emily Heffernen 4, Tess Wegner 2, Kayla Bries 2; kills - Katie Wessels 14, Katie Murphy 4, Lindsey McDowell 6, Emily Heffernen 16, Emily Havertape 3, Tess Reinig 2; blocks - Katie Wessels 6, Lindsey McDowell 2, Nicole Neverman 7, Emily Heffernen 4, Emily Havertape 1; assists - Katie Murphy 37, Nicole Neverman 2, Emily Heffernen 1, Katlyn Heiserman 1, Lindsey McDowell 1.

Match stats
semi-finals vs. Wilton
Service aces - Katie Wessels 2, Kaylin Kelchen 2, Kayla Bries 1; digs - Katie Wessels 2, Katie Murphy 2, Katlyn Heiserman 8, Lindsey McDowell 2, Kaylin Kelchen 6, Emily Heffernen 1, Tess Reinig 2; kills - Katie Wessels 10, Katie Murphy 1, Lindsey McDowell 2, Nicole Neverman 1, Emily Heffernen 3, Emily Havertape 1; blocks - Katie Wessels 1, Nicole Neverman 2, Emily Heffernen 2; assists - Katie Murphy 14, Kaylin Kelchen 1.

Match stats
finals vs. DeWitt Central
Service aces - Katie Wessels 1, Katie Murphy 1, Katlyn Heiserman 3, Lindsey McDowell 2; digs - Katie Murphy 3, Katlyn Heiserman 5, Lindsey McDowell 5, Kaylin Kelchen 4, Nicole Neverman 1, Tess Wegner 1, Kayla Bries 3; kills - Katie Wessels 12, Katie Murphy 2, Lindsey McDowell 6, Emily Heffernen 4, Emily Havertape 1; blocks - Katie Wessels 1, Lindsey McDowell 1, Nicole Neverman 2, Emily Heffernen 1; assists - Katie Murphy 23, Lindsey McDowell 1, Kayla Bries 1.

Class 3A Volleyball rankings
released Sept. 21

1. Dubuque Wahlert 15-0; 2. West Delaware; 21-0; 3. ADM 17-1; 4. Marion 17-4; 5. Sioux City Heelan 10-4; 6. Spencer 18-0; 7. Winterset 12-3; 8. Clarke 16-3; 9. Sergeant Bluff Luton 13-3; 10. Williamsburg 11-4; 11. Decorah 7-4; 12. Western Dubuque 10-4; 13. Fairfield 13-3; 14. Spirit Lake 9-2; 15. Harlan 11-7.

The Regional volleyball parings were released last week by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The West Delaware Hawks will compete in Region 5 and will start with a quarterfinal home contest on Monday, October 23 at 7:00 p.m. against WaMaC Conference foe South Tama. The winner of that match moves on to the Regional semi-final, Wednesday, October 25 in Manchester against the Vinton vs. Grinnell winner.

In the upper half of Region 5 Nevada will square off against Saydel on Monday with that winner facing the winner of the Webster City vs. Waverly Shell Rock contest.

The Regional Final will be held in Oelwein on Monday, October 30 with the winner advancing to the State Tournament to be held at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids on November 8-11.

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