The #5(1A)South Hardin football team rushed for 357 yards and secured two takeaways enroute to a 40-7 Class 1A first round win over Pella Christian on Friday. It was the Tigers first home playoff game and playoff win since 2020.
The Tigers set the tone for the game early with two first quarter touchdowns and a 14-0 lead. The Tigers extended their lead to 26-0 at the half with two endzone trips in the second quarter. South Hardin punched in single touchdowns in the third and fourth to go up 40-0. Pella Christian scored a touchdown inside the final 15 seconds of the fourth quarter to avoid the shutout.
South Hardin Head Coach Nick Eller on imposing their will in all three phases in the win and the community support in playoff run.
“We really set the tone and played a lot more physical football. We thought that we could do that coming in and we did. I was really proud of the guys for just imposing their will,” says Eller. “We didn’t stop our running game most of the night. It was a good three phase game by our full team, and that’s when we’re playing our best. Our offense is clicking, our defense is clicking. It’s good to be playing your best football this time of year, and I thought we were playing some of our best tonight. It was a lot of fun. We had a great crowd. We’ve had great support from our community. Great support, home and away, you name it, we’ve had everything. That’s been really fun to see, this community rally around these guys.”
Jaxon Drury on 19 carries rushed for 250 yards and three touchdowns, Peyton Welch was 5/9 for 90 passing yards and a touchdown, and Sam Benson had three receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown to lead the Tigers.
Ethan Lindsey tracked down five tackles and a fumble recovery for the Tigers defense.
South Hardin (8-1) will host Emmetsburg (8-1) in the second round on Friday.
