Easton Valley handed Central a 52-36 loss in an Eight-man - District 4 football match-up in Elkader on Oct. 10. The loss put Central at 4-3 overall and 3-2 in district play.
The Warriors hung with the River Hawks through the first half, trailing just 14-12 after the first quarter and 36-28 at halftime. However, Easton Valley pulled away 44-28 by the end of the third quarter, and although the teams traded touchdowns in the game’s final minutes, the Warriors couldn’t overcome the deficit.
“It was a battle until the very end,” said Central head coach J.W. Downs. “Our boys played with full hearts and were able to play together with passion. We were able to establish the run game early on and throughout most of the game offensively. The fact that we achieved our weekly goal, and were able to compete with a top-10 ranked team in the state, gave us a good feeling of where we are as a program.”
Owen Hammersland had a phenomenal game on offense, rushing for 159 yards and four touchdowns.
“Our offensive line did a great job in the trenches and controlled the line of scrimmage to open up some great running lanes for him,” Downs said.
Easton Valley was able to limit Central’s passing game, but quarterback Griffen Hammersland rushed for 56 yards on 12 carries and scored the team’s other touchdown. Additionally, Mason Loan racked up 88 yards on 14 carries.
The River Hawks came at the Warriors with a balanced offensive attack, earning 215 yards and three touchdowns through the air on 16 of 19 passing by senior quarterback Keagan Lee. They also put up 215 rushing yards, led by 160 yards and a pair of touchdowns from senior Callan Messerich.
Downs said Warrior Max Fettkether did a great job on all sides of the ball, flying around and laying down some big hits.
“He was able to force two fumbles on defense, which both were recovered by us,” the coach added. “George Reimer also had a phenomenal game on defense, starting in a new position as a freshman and taking advantage of the opportunity. He also was flying to the football, and recorded 7.5 tackles and had two fumble recoveries.”
Other leading tacklers included O. Hammersland with 8 and G. Hammersland with 4. Loan netted 3 tackles for loss—2 of which were sacks.
Downs gave a shout out to all eight seniors on the team—Fettkether, Jake Hertrampf, Braxton Bormann, Preston Kulper, Garrett Burns, Braden Taylor, Kabrien McDonald and Shelton Keene.
“I am so thankful for how much they have done for this program, and for me as a coach. They’re some of the most coachable and respectful young men I’ve had the pleasure of coaching. They have made my job so enjoyable, and I will be forever grateful for this group. I will definitely miss them,” Downs said.
He also showed appreciation for the high school coaching assistants, Blake Rodenberg, Jamie Hammersland, Mitch Seitz and Josh Embretson, as well as Peter Thompson and Hazen Loan at the junior high level.
Central will wrap up the regular season on Friday, Oct. 17, at undefeated and sixth-ranked Edgewood-Colesburg.
“We need to make some adjustments on defense for this week, as well as be able to convert in the red zone on offense,” Downs said.
The coach said the team’s main focus last week was to have fun together, ignoring external factors and remembering why they do what they do. That carried over from practice into the game.
“Even though we didn’t get the result we wanted, the boys came together and enjoyed the moment,” Downs said. “We want to continue this moving into week eight. We know that Ed-Co is a good football team, but we want to learn from the mistakes we made since week one and continue to improve. We don’t want to focus on the outcome of the game, rather judging success on if we improved and enjoyed the game.”
