FOOTBALL: Wolverines exhibit growth in setback to Hawks

Nodaway Valley/OM football returned home for their district opener on Friday after falling at Shenandoah the previous week.

Last Friday saw a spirited effort on both sides of the ball, especially defensively, which made the Hawks earn every point that they scored in a 48-8 win.

The Wolverines fell to 0-4 and 0-1 in district play with the loss. The game was the first of two straight home games for the Wolverines. NV/OM will be at home this week for homecoming against South Hamilton.

The eight points for the Wolverines gives NV/OM 34 as a team through four games, the most since the 2021 season. The Wolverines scored 42 and 41 for eight games of the 2023 and 2022 seasons and are likely going to top those totals soon as four games remain on the 2024 schedule, including a pair of home games.

“Defensively we made it difficult on them and we had some differences in defense. They took some shots on us and had big kids that could run. They got on the edges, and they made some adjustments,” NV/OM co-head coach Jack West said. “I liked our effort and how hard we played on defense, especially after last week. It wasn’t a perfect game. We gave the team the message that it was a much better performance than the week before, and that is what we will need each week.”

The Hawks switched a turnover into points for their first touchdown of the game, a 2-yard Ethan Dunlavey rush for a 7-0 lead with 7:11 left in the first quarter.

The Hawks extended their lead to 14-0 with 2:51 left in the quarter on a 64-yard drive that ended in a Talon Fuson 4-yard scoring run. The Hawks took a 21-0 lead into halftime.

In the second half, a 4-yard run by CJ Petersen in the opening three minutes gave the Hawks a 28-0 lead.

The Wolverines punted on their first possession of the third quarter, but they got an interception from Paul Berg, who returned it 17 yards, and set the Wolverines up at the Hawks’ 20 yard line. It was the first of two interceptions for Berg in the game. A short time later, the Wolverines scored on an 8-yard Eli Harris quarterback keeper that put the score to 28-8 after an Ashton Honnold 2-point conversion run.

Woodward-Granger took a 35-8 lead into the final quarter, scoring again in the third. A pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns finished the scoring. The 35-point mercy rule didn’t go into effect until 3:30 left in the game.

Harris completed four passes for 24 yards and was intercepted three times. The Wolverine run game had a tough night with no positive yards on the ground in 19 carries. Titan Foster made two receptions that led NV/OM, while Garrett Welsch led in receiving yards with 17.

The Wolverines got a first hand look at one of the top passes in the district in junior Talan Fuson. Fuson passed for 230 yards on 19 completions with two touchdown passes. He went over the 700 yards passing mark for the year with the game, however the Wolverines were able to pick him off twice in the game. Fuson also rushed for 88 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown. CJ Petersen had two rushing touchdowns for 75 yards on 12 carries. Chandler Drake caught three passes for a team-high 105 yards with two touchdowns. Max Dalton caught five passes for 52 yards.

Caleb Christensen led the Wolverine defense with 10.5 tackles while Titus Hamer had 6.5 and Berg six. NV/OM had 7.5 tackles for loss in the game with Hamer recording 2.5 of them. Each starting defensive lineman for the Wolverines had at least one tackle for loss on the evening.

Berg returned seven kickoffs for 214 yards with an average of 30.6 yards per return, which repeatedly set the Wolverines in good condition for field position. Berg also punted well in five attempts, averaging 35.6 per boot. He is top-5 in total yards in the district through four weeks and is the district’s second-best punter for average and is first for total punt yards. He additionally leads the district in kick-off return yards by more than double the second-place returner.

South Hamilton comes to town this week for homecoming at Nodaway Valley. Last year, Nodaway Valley/OM lost 66-14 to the Hawks up in Jewell. This year, the Hawks picked up their first win of the season last week, a 30-7 decision over West Central Valley in Jewell, after beginning the year 0-3.

Senior quarterback Braden Young has passed for 247 yards on 15 completions with a pair of touchdowns and five interceptions. The Hawks have three rushers with over 125 yards, led by junior Kolby Hodnefield with 221 yards on 36 carries with a touchdown and a 6.1-yard average.

Ashton Williams and Nick Severseike have rushed for 174 and 134 yards with average per-carry totals of at least 3.8 yards a carry. Landon Sogard leads in receiving yards with 103 and two scores while Severseike leads in receptions with seven.

Defensively, the Hawks are led by Hodenfield with 24.5 tackles, followed by Young with 18 and Jose Babcock with 14. Five different Hawks have recovered a fumble and four different players have intercepted a pass.

“Records don’t mean anything. Ogden beat Grand View Christian last Friday and South Hamilton is tough and has been banged up this season. If we start looking at records and sizing up where we would land if this or that happened, that’s dangerous,” West said.

West said he wants his team to enjoy each week, especially since the season calendar turns to Week 5 this week.

“You have to enjoy it, you don’t have many Friday nights left this season,” he said. “However, it is more fun if you win the football game. Winning the game has to be a priority Friday and then see what happens.”