Week 5 Preview: (1A) #9 South Hamilton vs. Nodaway Valley

The South Hamilton Hawks football team returns home to Bill Taylor Field on Friday night for a homecoming matchup with the Wolverines of Nodaway Valley in Class 1A, District 7 action. The Hawks entered ranked 9th in this week’s Radio Iowa poll, sitting at 3-1 after their 56-8 win over West Central Valley. Nodaway Valley is sitting at 0-4 after a 46-0 road loss to Woodward-Granger.

South Hamilton is coming off of a big bounce-back performance following their loss to Roland-Story, as the Hawks churned up 512 yards rushing against the West Central Valley Wildcats. The 512 yards was the most South Hamilton had racked up on the ground since a 500-yard performance over South Central Calhoun last season. Nick Severseike was, surprisingly, the Hawks only 100-yard rusher against the Wildcats with 104 yards on 10 carries and 4 touchdowns, giving the junior 470 yards and 8 touchdowns on the season. Running backs Ashton Williams and Kolby Hodnefield, as well as quarterback Tjerdan Johnson also rushed for 80+ yards as well. Defensively, tackle Carter Stolee was the standout, with 4 tackles, 2 TFL and a fumble recovery in the win.

Nodaway Valley has had to fight trials and tribulations since the start of the season, when there first-year coach was arrested, jailed and subsequently fired. Brad Honnold has taken the helm to try a navigate the turbulence, as the Wolverines try to rebuild their program. The Wolverines top rusher is sophomore Ashton Honnold, who’s run for 111 yards, while fellow sophomore Titus Hamer has 2 rushing touchdowns. Junior quarterback Eli Harris has thrown for just 44 yards and 6 interceptions, along with 1 rushing touchdown. Defensively, Honnold, along with fellow defensive lineman Trenton Warner and linebacker Carmine Shaw have combined nearly half the teams tackles, as Warner has 6.5 tackles for loss and a sack to his name, as well as 2 fumble recoveries.

Kickoff is slated for 7 PM on Friday night for South Hamilton and Nodaway Valley, at Bill Taylor Field in Jewell.