The South Hamilton Hawks football team returns to action on Friday night, as they make the drive into northwestern Iowa to take on the East Sac County Raiders in Class 1A, District action at the Wall Lake Athletic Complex in Wall Lake. South Hamilton enters at 0-4, while East Sac County enters at 1-3. Friday’s meeting is the first all-time meeting between the two programs on the gridiron.
East Sac County enters at 1-3 with their lone win over Alta-Aurelia, and losses to IKM-Manning, MVAOCOU and Manson-Northwest Webster. The Raiders offense is led by sophomore quarterback Weston Julin, who’s thrown for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns with 4 interceptions, while also rushing for 249 yards and 4 touchdowns. Julin’s favorite target has been out of the backfield in junior Dawson Allen, who’s caught 10 passes for 80 yards, while Ryan Peterson has 5 catches for 35 yards and a touchdown, as Zach Jacobsen has 6 catches for 31 yards. East Sac’s rushing attack is led by junior Carson Schmitt, who’s rushed for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Gabe King has rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown as a backup. The Raiders are thin at offensive line, but do have a stallwart in senior Kade Snyder to lead the way.
On the defensive side, the Raiders linebacking core has been high-producing to start the season, as junior Gabe King leads the team in tackles with 41.5 and 5.5 TFL. Junior Dawson Allen has added 24.5 tackles, 2 TFL and a fumble recovery, as Brooks Ludwig has 13 tackles as well. Weston Julin leads the Raiders defensive backfield with 12 tackles and a pick six, while freshman Beckem Kluver has 2.5 tackles and an interception. East Sac’s defensive line has been high-producing as well, as Cal McCollough leads the Raiders defensive front with 14.5 tackles, while Kade Snyder has 10.5 tackles.
South Hamilton is still in search of win #1 on the season, but a promising second half against South Central Calhoun could serve as a springboard for the 2nd half of the season. The Hawks offense will need to avoid turnover and needs the offensive line to open the lanes for the running backs, as the Hawk defense will need to make life difficult for the East Sac backfield.
Kickoff is slated for 7 PM on Friday Night from the Wall Lake Athletic Complex.