The #2 (1A) Dike-New Hartford football team will look to keep up its playoff momentum when it hosts South Hamilton in a 1A second round playoff game Friday. It’ll air on 104.9 KLMJ.
The Wolverines (8-1) are coming off last week’s 54-0 home win over Ogden, which was put away early with six first half touchdowns and an efficient night in all phases. Head Coach Don Betts says remaining balanced, as has been the case all season, is a key to success in this game.
“Number one, we’ve got to continue to be balanced,” Betts says. “We’ve got playmakers on the outside, gosh, Carson Costello and Devin Lotts and Jack Hoehns, and we can bring guys in off the bench. And then our running game with Noah Borcherding and Tyson Bennett, we can put him back there in the backfield and run the ball. And it all starts up front with that offensive line. And those guys, most of them are in their second year starting, and they’ve done a great job with that. I think this week we need to make sure that we stay balanced with what we do. That I think keeps people off balance when you’re that way, and that’s what we’re going to try to do Friday night.”
South Hamilton (5-4) was the runner-up in District 7, and enters off a 22-21 home win over Sioux Central last week, where it came down to a late missed field goal. An extremely run-heavy team, the Hawks have thrown 52 passes on the season and only three last week. They have the fifth-most rushing yards in Class 1A, with three ball carriers with more than 500 yards on the season. Betts says it’ll be the complete opposite of last week’s pass-heavy Ogden offense.
“Kind of a whiplash from last week. They threw the ball all over the place, and South Hamilton’s going to run it until they’re tired of running it, and then they’re going to run it some more. It’s a quick switch for us. We’ve had teams that have done both things to us this year, so it’s been a fairly easy transition. It’s just getting into the right mindset that this week, people are going to run the ball at us, and we’re not going to be pass rushing. We’re going to be defending the run. And the kids have done a great job this week in practice with that. I’m excited to see where we’re at Friday.”
Meet the Wolverines will begin at 5:00 on 104.9 KLMJ, which includes player interviews. Pregame coverage will begin at 6:15 p.m. with the Roling Ford Road to the Dome Warmup Show, followed by the kickoff at 7:00 with Jon Mohwinkle and Chad Bixby on the call. The winner will advance to next week’s quarterfinal against either #5 (1A) South Hardin or Emmetsburg.
Don Betts pregame interview:
