The South Hamilton Hawks football team opens their 2025 season on Friday night, as they host a perennial-power of small-school football in northern Iowa in the Saint Ansgar Saints in non-district action at Bill Taylor Field. Friday’s meeting will be the first time that these two programs have ever met on a football field.
Saint Ansgar enters Friday game as the #2 team in Class A, following a 10-2 campaign in 2024 that saw the Saints advance to the semifinals. The Saints offense has an identity as a smash-mouth, ground-and-pound approach, but have been able to put the ball in the air the last couple of seasons. A new quarterback will step in for 2025 with a battle between junior Gavin Squier and sophomore Porter Schwiesow, while the Saints bring back one of the top running backs in Class A in senior Korben Michels, who rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns. Joe Clevenger is expected to emerge as a #2 option to carry the ball after 332 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2024. Michels and Connor Mullebach also proved themselves to be capable receivers in the passing game as well. Saint Ansgar will have a large chunk of their offensive line back, which includes Braden Halvorson, Jaxson Vroom, Adyn Bissen and tight end Chase Haugen.
The strength of the Saint Ansgar defense appears to be in the trenches, with stars such as Chase Haugen and Derek Hemann back on the defensive line. Haugen tallied 37.5 tackles, 17.5 TFL and 4 sacks last season, while Hemann recorded 35 tackles, 10 TFL and 5.5 sacks. The linebacking core will be stout once again, as the Saints return their top 2 tacklers in seniors Korben Michels and Joe Clevenger, as Michels had a team-high 76 tackles, with 14 TFL, while Clevenger had 73.5 tackles, 5.5 TFL and 2 sacks. The defensive backfield will take a little time to solidify, but bring back a solid pieces in cornerbacks Seth Shotts and Connor Mullenbach.
South Hamilton is in a unique spot of breaking in an entirely new offensive line, but a young and inexperienced backfield. In theory, it should help the young Hawk backs to have a veteran line to navigate them, but a stout front seven such as Saint Ansgar’s could make that difficult. In a battle of wishbones, execution will be what wins a ballgame of this style.
Kickoff is slated for 7 PM from Bill Taylor Field in Jewell on Friday Night.