The Sabers out gained the Hawks for the game, 332-321 but were 15 points short in the only statistic that counts.

Destry Sperfslage, filling in for injured running back Ben McDonald had a great game as he rushed for 192 yards on 27 carries.

He scored three times for the Hawks on runs of 24, 30 and 10 yards.

DeWitt was led by running back, Michael Burke who rushed for 150 yards on 19 carries while scoring a pair of touchdowns for the Sabers.

The Hawks got off to a rather shaky start with a pair of turnovers in their first two possessions.

DeWitt’s Ben Lubben picked off a deflected BJ Hermsen pass on the Hawks first possession. DeWitt was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt.

West Delaware ran a pair of running plays before losing the ball to the Sabers via fumble at the Hawk 49 yard line.

DeWitt scored on their third play following the fumble recovery when Michael Burke raced 33 yards. The point after was no good giving the Sabers a 6-0 lead with 8:53 left in the first quarter.

The Hawks took the ensuing kick off and marched from their own 13 to the Saber 24 on eight rushing plays.

Destry Sperfslage capped off the 10 play, 87 yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.

Jamie Helmrichs added the extra point kick to give the Hawks a 7-6 lead.

DeWitt answered the Hawk score with an 11 play 65 yard drive of their own. Michael Burke scored his second touchdown of the game, this time on a 10-yard run to give the Sabers a 12-7 lead with 7:55 left in the first half.

Following a fine 36-yard kickoff return by junior Seth Engelken the Hawks had good field position at their own 47.

It took the Hawks just a little more than two and a half minutes to get on the scoreboard.

Facing second and 13 from the Saber 33 BJ Hermsen dropped back and hit Ben Lechtenberg in stride in the Saber end zone for his first TD pass of the game.

The point after attempt was no good leaving the Hawks with a 13-12 le ad at the 5:11 mark of the second quarter.

The first half would end with the Hawks leading 13-12.

Destry Sperfslage returned the second half kick off 41 yards to the Hawk 49.

Hermsen and the Hawks moved the ball to the DeWitt 30 where they found the going extremely tough.

Facing fourth and one from the 30 Hermsen handed the ball off to Destry Sperfslage and Sperfslage streaked 30 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the game.

Jamie Helmrichs converted the PAT to give the Hawks a 20-12 lead.

DeWitt scored their final touchdown of the game with 22 seconds left in the third quarter to pull to within two points of the Hawks, 20-18.

The Hawks would score on their first two possessions of the fourth quarter. The first on a 14-yard TD pass from BJ Hermsen to Ben Lechtenberg with 6:14 left in the game.

The second came on a 10-yard run by Destry Sperfslage, his third score of the contest with 4:03 left in the game.

The Hawks will open district play this Friday night when they host the Huskies of Oelwein on Brown Field.

Oelwein has started the season with two straight wins as well.

Game Stats
Vs. DeWitt Central
First Downs: WD 15, DC 20.
Rushing: WD 48-265, DC 51-292.
Passing: WD 5-12-1-56 yards, DC 2-17-1-40 yards.
Total Yardage: WD 321, DC 332.
Punts: WD 2-37 yard average, DC 3-21 yard average.
Penalties: WD 3-30 yards, DC 8-65 yards.
Fumbles: WD 3-1, DC 2-0.
Individual leaders
Rushing – Nate Lynch 14-64, Destry Sperfslage 27-192, BJ Hermsen 5-3, Dan Marshall 2-6.
Passing – BJ Hermsen 5-12-1-56 yards.
Receiving – Devon Alber 1-4, Ben Lechtenberg 3-53, Destry Sperfslage 1-minus 1.
Tackles (total stops) – Lucas Kafer 1, Nate Neuhaus 3, Adam Rave 2, Dan Marshall 2, Devon Alber 6, Seth Engelken 7, Nick Ronnebaum 3, Ryan Neuhaus 4, Wayne Miranda 3, Nick Trenkamp 5, Justin Wenger 5, Carl Broghammer 2, Justin Klein 11, Billy Connor 6, Adam Mossner 7, Nathan King 7, Justin Downs 1.

The Hawks kept the crowd on the edge of their seats in Marion on Tuesday. West Delaware put on a great show against a tough and experienced Marion team and came out on top after losing the first game 20-25.

They were hard fought games between the Hawks and the Indians, with neither team finishing a game with less than 20 points.

Following a tough first game loss, WD came out with a vengeance and took a quick 8-13 second game lead. The Indians answered right back and quickly cut the lead. After the score reached 18-17, head coach Brett Mather decided it was time for a chat, and the Hawks came back from the time-out to squeak by the Indians 25-23.

The third game was the Indians all the way in the first phases of the game. The Hawks lit up the offense when the score put them behind 14-8 and stepped it up to tie it 19-19. After a Marion time-out, West Delaware took advantage of the quick rest and finished off the game 25-20.

Game four was reminiscent of the first three. Back and forth and back and forth to put the score at an even 11-11. Both teams had determination in their eyes, but the Hawks took a slight lead before letting the Indians once again tie it at 20-20. WD took a needed time-out and came back to win the nail-biter 25-23 on an Emily Heffernen kill.

On Saturday, the Hawks competed in the Aplington-Parkersburg Invitational, and walked all over the competition.

The Hawks beat Grundy Center 25-22 and 26-24, Tripoli 25-15 and 25-16, Nashua-Plainfield 21-11 and 21-13 and Grundy Center (2nd match) 21-15 and 21-14. In the championship match against AGWSR, the Hawks won the first game 21-19, dropped the second game 15-21, and came back to take the third game 15-11, and the championship.

The Hawks host Maquoketa on Tuesday and hold the Hawk Invitational on Saturday.
WD vs. Marion

Kills: Emily Heffernen 17; Tessa Reinig 12; Emily Havertape 6; Ashlee Allison 4; Allison Pasker 2
Assists: Tess Wegner 36; Emily Heffernen, Kayla Bries, Emily Havertape 1
Aces: Tess Wegner, Tessa Reinig 2; Kayla Bries, Emily Havertape 1
Blocks: Emily Havertape 3; Emily Heffernen, Ashlee Allison, Tessa Reinig, Allison Pasker 1
Digs: Kayla Bries 17; Emily Heffernen 16; Emily Havertape 11; Tessa Reinig 6; Tess Wegner 4; Ashlee Allison 2; Kayla Vaske 1

WD @ A-P Invite
vs. Grundy Center
Kills: Emily Heffernen 14; Emily Havertape 9; Tessa Reinig 7; Tess Wegner, Ashlee Allison, Allison Pasker 2
Assists: Tess Wegner 31; Emily Heffernen 2; Tessa Reinig, Emily Havertape 1
Blocks: Emily Heffernen 2; Tessa Reinig 1
Digs: Emily Heffernen, Kayla Bries 9; Tessa Reinig 8; Tess Wegner, Emily Havertape 2; Ashlee Allison
vs. Tripoli
Kills: Emily Heffernen 10; Emily Havertape 7; Tessa Reinig 6; Ashlee Allison, Allison Pasker 2
Assists: Tess Wegner 24; Emily Heffernen, Kayla Bries 1
Aces: Tessa Reinig 2; Emily Heffernen, Tess Wegner, Kayla Bries 1
Blocks: Emily Heffernen 2; Allison Pasker 1
Digs: Kayla Bries 12; Tessa Reinig 8; Emily Havertape 7; Emily Heffernen 6; Tess Wegner 5; Kayla Vaske 1
vs. Nashua Plainfield
Kills: Emily Heffernen 6; Joslyn Sailer, Allison Pasker 4; Ashlee Allison, Tessa Reinig 2; Emily Havertape, Abby Flannagan 1
Assists: Tess Wegner 20
Aces: Tessa Reinig 2; Tess Wegner, Kayla Bries 1
Digs: Emily Heffernen 12; Tessa Reinig 6; Kayla Bries, Emily Havertape 5; Joslyn Sailer 3; Tess Wegner 1
vs. Grundy Center (2nd)
Kills: Emily Heffernen 9; Emily Havertape 7; Tessa Reinig 5; Ashlee Allison, Allison Pasker 2
Assists: Tess Wegner 23; Ashlee Allison, Allison Pasker 1
Aces: Emily Heffernen, Tess Wegner, Kayla Bries, Tessa Reinig 1
Digs: Tess Wegner, Kayla Bries, Emily Havertape 4; Emily Heffernen 3; Allison Pasker 2; Tessa Reinig, Joslyn Sailer, Kayla Vaske 1
vs. AGWSR
Kills: Emily Heffernen 11; Tessa Reinig 5; Ashlee Allison, Emily Havertape 3; Allison Pasker 2
Assists: Tess Wegner 12
Aces: Emily Heffernen, Tess Wegner, Kayla Bries, Joslyn Sailer 2
Blocks: Allison Pasker 3; Emily Heffernen 2; Ashlee Allison, Tessa Reinig 1
Digs: Kayla Bries 6; Emily Heffernen 5; Tessa Reinig 2; Kayla Vaske 1