The South Hardin football team will host South Hamilton for the first time since 2021, as the two programs meet on Friday. The Tigers will also be on the hunt for their first win in the series since 2021.
South Hardin went 4-5 last season and included a Class 1A playoff berth. The Tigers return the 1,000 yard backfield duo of junior quarterback Peyton Welch with 1,293 passing yards and 17 touchdowns and Senior Jaxon Drury with 1,130 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
Head Coach Nick Eller on the Hawks style of play and similarities between the teams.
“Every year it’s just a knock down, drag out type game,” says Eller. “You know what you’re gonna get from them, they run the football with a very good power, option type football. They’re gonna line up and do it, you gotta go stop it and take them on man-to-man. It’s always a very good challenge, always a very good physical game. We gotta be very disciplined to beat them on both sides of the football, definitely a big challenge for us. They got some really good players coming back from last year. They lost a handful, like we did too. I think both teams might be trying to figure that out, game one. Definitely nice to have them here at Tiger field. We should know after that night, this is where we’re at, this is where we need to get to and work on.”
South Hamilton went 8-2 last season and reached the second round of Class 1A playoffs. A key returner for the Hawks is senior running back Nick Severseike who had 1,137 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, which tied for most in Class 1A last season.
Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. in Eldora.
