GOWRIE — The South Hamilton Hawks football team returned to action on Friday night, as they made the short trip west on Highway 175 to take on the Southeast Valley Jaguars in their non-district finale at the Southeast Valley Football Complex in Gowrie. South Hamilton entered at 0-2, while Southeast Valley entered at 1-1.
Things started well for the Hawks, as they forced a Southeast Valley punt on their opening possession, which resulted in a drive capped by a Garrett Johnson quarterback sneak to put South Hamilton ahead 6-0. Southeast Valley would respond with a 43-yard touchdown run by Casey Hanson which tied the game at 6-6. After a promising South Hamilton drive stalled, the Jaguars went back to the air as Mason Bahr hit Logan Jaeschke for a 64-yard touchdown pass to put the Jaguars ahead 13-6. Following a Hawk turnover, Southeast Valley went back to the air as Mason Bahr found Bryce Harrison for a 40-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-6. The Hawks would push the football down inside the Southeast Valley 5-yard line, but were stopped short of the goal-line, as Casey Hanson took the first play of the ensuing drive for a 93-yard touchdown run to open the flood gates by a score of 27-6. Mason Bahr would find Alex Burger for another passing touchdown, as Casey Hanson scored his 3rd rushing touchdown of the half from 31 yards out to take a 41-6 halftime lead.
Southeast Valley started off the 2nd half well with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Mason Bahr to Bryce Harrison to go ahead 48-6, as the Jaguars would score another touchdown in the 4th quarter to cap a 54-6 victory.
South Hamilton would rush for 255 yards, as Wyatt Gelder led the way with 19 carries for 141 yards, as Jose Babcock had 15 carries for 87 yards. Ben Swenson tallied 3.5 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 TFL defensively.
South Hamilton football returns to action on Friday, when they open Class 1A, District 2 play by taking on the South Central Calhoun Titans at Bill Taylor Field with kickoff at 7 PM.