The matchup the pollsters, fans and players have been waiting for most of the season is set for Friday afternoon at the UNI Dome. Boyden Hull Rock Valley and Harlan get together for the 3A Championship with the scheduled kick off set for 1:00 pm.
All year the Nighthawks and Cyclones have run one and three in the Radio Iowa and AP Polls. When it came time to seed the quarterfinals Boyden Hull Rock Valley drew the top seed as the team with the highest RPI. Harlan came in at number two in the seedings. The Nighthawks got the the title game with a 42-0 shut out of Solon. Harlan posted a 45-19 win over Humboldt in the other semifinal.
Boyden Hull Rock Valley pitched the shutout versus the Solon Spartans Saturday night at the UNI-Dome. Landyn Van Kekerix put three scores on the board for the Nighthawks two of them in the first quarter. Landyn’s first score came on 4th and 1 at the Solon 45 yard line, Van Kekerix took it to the house on a direct snap. He followed that up with a 33 yard reception from Tanner Te Slaa for 33 yards to make the score 14-0.
At the start of the 2nd quarter he finished off his trio of scores with a 68 yard reception from Te Slaa to make it 21-0 with 9:12 left in the 2nd quarter.
Sam Remmerde got in on the action with a touchdown reception of his own. Tanner Te Slaa was able to find Remmerde across field for a 25 yard touchdown with 4:58 left in the 2nd quarter. Te Slaa put together his 4th touchdown pass of the evening with a 55 yard touchdown pass to Vance Katzfey.
The Nighthawks added one more score on the first drive of the 2nd half on a 15 yard touchdown run by Lane Schmidt making the score 42-0.
Humboldt turned a 14-6 halftime lead into a 35-12 third quarter lead with a 21 point third quarter as they went on to win their semifinal 45-19. Junior quarterback Teagon Kasperbauer completed 18 of 30 passes for 338 yards and four touchdowns. Junior Aiden Hall was on the receiving end of 5 balls for 147 yards and a touchdown. Hall led the ground game with 14 carries for 55 yards.
Nighthawks Head Coach Corey Brandt on the much anticipated matchup with Harlan.
The two teams met in the semis last year but even with a number of returning players Brandt feels each year and each team is different.
The Nighthawks coach says the Cyclones are a very complete team.
In the opinion of Harlan Head Coach Todd Bladt his dynamic offense begins with the offensive line.
Game planning Boyden Hull Rock Valley is not an easy proposition.
Coach Bladt says the real strength of his team is the bond the players share with each other.
Nighthawks senior quarterback Tanner Te Slaa has rolled up 2264 passing yards on 115 of 172 passing for 66.9 percent. He averages 19.7 yards per completion with 32 touchdowns against just 4 interceptions. Senior Landyn Van Kekerix leads the ground game with 59 carries for 649 yards and 17 touchdowns with a long of 67. He’s averaging 11 yards per carry. Van Kekerix is the leading receiver with another 715 yards on 29 receptions for 14 touchdowns with a long of 67 yards. He averages 24.7 per reception. Senior Caleb Kats has contributed 633 yards for an additional 9 touchdowns.
On defense Van Kekerix leads the team with 65.5 tackles including 3 sacks and 11.5 tackles for a loss. As a team the Nighthawks have recovered 18 fumbles with 8 players combining for 14 interceptions. In the kicking game senior Gael Enciso has converted 62 of 69 PATs.
For Harlan, Kasperbauer is a 65 percent passer who has put together a 3034 yard season with 44 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. His yardage total is the highest in the state. Aiden Hall is the leading rusher with 760 yards on 87 carries. He’s scored 16 times with a long of 70 yards and averages 8.7 yards per carry. Hall also has 725 yards receiving on the season with 7 touchdowns averaging 24.2 yards per catch. His longest TD reception was a 75 yarder. Senior Connor Frame is a thousand yard receiver with 1020 on the season with 21 touchdowns and averages 22.2 yards per catch with a long of 72 yards. Frame leads 3A in touchdown receptions.
On defense senior Jameson Bieker is the leading tackler with 54 including 7 sacks and 11.5 tackles for a loss. As a team 6 Cyclones have combined to pick off 10 passes. In the kicking game Junior Stephen Leinen has converted 6 of 8 field goals with a long of 47 yards. He’s 76 of 80 on extra points.
Kick off is set for 1:00 pm Friday at the UNI Dome.
