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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
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Hawks fall to Benton, look to rebound against Vinton on Homecoming
by Ken Boesenberg
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With the injury bug continuing to bite the West Delaware Hawk football team the Hawks knew that they would have to put forth an extra amount of effort last Friday night against Benton Community.
After losing leading ground gainer, Destry Sperfslage to a torn ACL a week ago against Independence, the Hawks had two more players go down last week.
Justin Klein hurt a knee during practice late in the week and junior defensive corner/wide receiver Devon Alber was lost during the game with Benton Community with a knee injury.
The Hawks did a great job a fighting through all the injuries and to keep the game close during the first half before the Bobcats took control in the second half to pick up a 28-13 victory on Brown Field.
Both the Hawks and the Bobcats had to punt on their first two possessions as neither team could move the ball.
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Jake Nordaas (#22) and Nate Neuhaus (#3) combine to stop this Benton Community Bobcat runner for a short gain last Friday night. The Hawks played the Bobcats tough in the first half before faltering in the second half of action. |
West Delaware broke into the scoring column first when they marched 74 yards on 12 plays to start the second quarter.
The drive featured the running of Nate Lynch and Jake Nordaas. Lynch carried the ball six times for 29 yards and Nordaas logged 10 yards on three carries.
With the Hawks facing third and 10 from the Bobcat 32, junior quarterback Dan Marshall found junior wide receiver Ben Lechtenberg down the left sideline for 19 yards and a Hawk first down at the Benton 14.
On second down from the 14 Marshall connected with Lucas Kafer for a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead with 6:26 left in the first half.
Jamie Helmrichs converted the PAT to make it 7-0.
The Hawk had held the Bobcats in check on their first four possessions, however things were about to change.
Benton’s first play from scrimmage following the Hawk kick off was good for 30 yards to the West Delaware 40 yard line. The next play was a run by the Bobcats Andrew Wagner that covered 40 yards to pay dirt.
With the successful PAT the Bobcats had knotted the score at 7-7 just 23 seconds after the Hawks had taken a 7-0 lead.
The Hawks would get three more chances with the ball over the final six minutes of the first half but could not capitalize on them.
Two of the three possessions came via West Delaware interceptions, one by Lucas Kafer and the other by Adam Rave.
Statistically the Hawks owned the first half. They amassed 188 total yards, 80 rushing and 108 through the air while holding the Bobcats to a total of 97 yards; 70 on just two plays.
During the first half the Bobcats would record just four first downs while the Hawks were racking up 10 first downs.
The second half was an entirely different story.
Benton Community would score 21 fourth quarter points while racking up 225 yards of total offense to the Hawks 85 yards.
The Hawks had the ball just four times during the second half. Two of those possessions resulted in punts while one stalled on the Benton 10 yard line where the Hawks turned the ball over on downs.
The fourth possession resulted in a score with 3:59 left in the game to cut the Bobcat lead to 21-13.
Lucas Kafer scored his second touchdown of the game via the pass, this time from 13-yards out.
Benton made their last possession of the game count towards the 13-point rule as they drove 58 yards on 10 straight rushing plays to score with 21 seconds left in the contest.
The Hawks were bitten by the penalty bug as well this week as they had 10 flags thrown against them for 78 yards. The Bobcats were only whistled for three infractions.
It seemed that until the side judge finally threw a flag for illegal motion midway through the fourth quarter the Bobcats never really came set at the line of scrimmage all night long.
No one would ever use that as an excuse for losing a game, however, it does allow for an unfair advantage for the offense over the defense.
It was interesting that once they (Benton Community) did get flagged they then became set at the line of scrimmage for the remainder of the game.
Referees calls aside, as they did not cause the loss, the Hawks still have four big games left in a district where there are going to be some more upsets.
Oelwein travels to Grinnell this week. Grinnell already owns a win over Williamsburg. South Tama is on the road to Williamsburg and the Raiders don’t want to pick up their second district loss with West Delaware and Benton Community still on their plate.
Benton Community will host Independence in a game that should move the Bobcats to 3-1 in district action.
This week the Hawks will celebrate Homecoming 2007 as they host Vinton Shellsburg on Brown Field Friday night.
The Vikings are 0-3 in District 4 action and 0-5 on the season while the Hawks stand at 1-2 in District play and 3-2 overall.
Staying at the top of the heap in District 4 are South Tama 3-0 and Oelwein also 3-0. Williamsburg and Benton Community are both 2-1.
Game Stats
vs. Benton Community
First downs – WD 14, BC 16.
Rushing – WD 36-106, BC 43-267.
Passing – WD 12-24-2-167, BC 3-14-3-55.
Total yardage – WD 273, BC 322.
Punts – WD 6 – 43.3 yard average, BC 5 – 27.6 yard average.
Fumbles – WD 2-0, BC 2-0.
Penalties – WD 10 – 78 yards, BC 3-20.
Individual leaders
Rushing – Jake Nordaas 6-31, Lucas Kafer 5-7, Nate Lynch 15-68, Dan Marshall 8-minus 2, Ben McDonald 2-2.
Passing – Dan Marshall 12-24-2-167 yards.
Receiving – Devon Alber 1-26, Ben Lechtenberg 6-81, Lucas Kafer 4-54, Nate Lynch 1-6.
Tackles (total stops) - Lucas Kafer 7, Nate Neuhaus 7, Ben Lechtenberg 1, Adam Rave 7, Dan Marshall 1, Zach Hardin 1, Derek Klein 2, Seth Engelken 3, Jake Nordaas 10, Nick Ronnebaum 6, Ryan Neuhaus 10, Nick Trenkamp 11, Justin Wenger 1, Carl Broghammer 2, Billy Connor 6, Adam Mossner 6, Billy Domeyer 1, Nathan King 2.
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Hawk volleyball team continues to top Class 3A polls
by Ken Boesenberg |
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At left, junior Tess Reinig goes up for a successful kill against a Dyersville Beckman Blazer defender Tuesday night in Dyersville. The Hawks won the match 3-0. At right, the Hawks Emily Heffernen (left) and Tess Reinig (right) go up for a block during the Hawks WaMaC Conference match with Dyersville Beckman last Tuesday. |
The West Delaware girls volleyball team upped their record to 26-2 with a three game sweep of WaMaC Conference rival Dyersville Beckman last Tuesday night in Dyersville.
The Hawks remained undefeated in WaMaC play and continue to top the Class 3A rankings.
At Dyersville the Hawks dominated a Blazer squad that has given the Hawks some tough battles over the past few years.
The Hawks won game one 25-14 before claiming game two 25-19.
The Hawks put the match away in game three as they ran out to an early lead and cruised to a 25-13 victory.
Game stats
vs. Dyersville Beckman
Kills - Emily Heffernen 9, Ashlee Allison 7, Tessa Reinig 5, Emily Havertape 10, Allison Pasker 1.
Assists - Emily Heffernen 2, Tess Wegner 27, Ashlee Allison 2.
Service Aces - Emily Heffernen 2, Tess Wegner 1, Kayla Bries 3.
Blocks - Emily Heffernen 3, Ashlee Allison 1, Tess Reinig 1, Joslyn Sailer 1, Allison Pasker 1.
Digs - Emily Heffernen 6, Tess Wegner 4, Ashlee Allison 7, Kayla Bries 11, Emily Havertape 5.
This week the Hawks will host the Sabers of DeWitt Central on Tuesday night. It will also be Parents Night for the 2007 Hawks.
On Saturday the Hawks will travel to Cedar Rapids where they will play in the Cedar Rapids Jefferson Invitational Volleyball Tournament.
The Jefferson Tournament is always a very tough affair with pool play sometimes resembling a mini Class 3A, 4A State Tournament. |
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