(Sentinel photo by Bethany Kroeze) Hinton's Tim Youtzy battles Hawk defenders as he rushes downfield for the Blackhawks Friday night in Hinton. [Click to enlarge]

It all came down to extra points for Hinton and Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Friday night. After each team missed a PAT in the first half, the game remained tied 6-6 through the second half, forcing overtime. But it was the Hawks who came out on top, sealing their victory in overtime with a two-point conversion to take a 14-6 lead. The Blackhawks failed to match the two-point attempt on their next score, falling 14-12 in the end.

"Those missed extra points always come back to haunt you," Hinton coach Bruce Held said.

HMS was the first to score Friday night. After going three and out on their first drive, the Hawks took over on downs when the Blackhawks failed to turn their 13-play drive into points. On the second play of their drive, the Hawks ran 66 yards to the end-zone to take a 6-0 lead.

Down 6-0, the Blackhawks capitalized on an HMS fumble, turning it into a five-play, 21-yard drive capped off with a two-yard touchdown run by Tim Youtzy with 9:58 to play in the second quarter.

A missed extra point left the Blackhawks and Hawks tied at 6.

"That was the first [extra point] we missed this year," Held said of the PAT. "We have to try to overcome those the best we can. Otherwise, we shut them out."

The second half was a defensive battle between the two squads, with a pair of scoreless quarters forcing overtime.

"After we scored in the second quarter, I don't think anybody got inside the other one's 30 [yard line]," Diediker said.

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In overtime, Hinton won the flip and started on defense. HMS scored on their fourth play, converting the PAT for two points to take a 14-6 lead.

The Blackhawks responded on their drive, with a touchdown run by Youtzy on the fourth play of the drive. However, this time, the two-point attempt came up just a yard short, leaving the Blackhawks with a 14-12 loss.

Friday night marked the third meeting between the two teams, with the Hawks joining Hinton's district two years ago. With the win, HMS takes a 2-1 lead in the Hawk-Blackhawk series. "They've got a nice ball club," Diediker said. "I think we're pretty evenly balanced. The total yardage was maybe five or 10 yards difference, so it was a pretty evenly played ball game all the way through."

Held also remarked on the even match-up. "I was encouraged by our play," he said. "We played a good opponent pretty even. It seemed like we held the ball longer than they did, had longer drives and more possessions, we just didn't finish them."

Diediker commented that one reason the Blackhawks struggled to finish their drives was a number of penalties.

"We had a couple of chances, but a penalty would end up making it more than we could finish off," Diediker said. "It seemed like we had a holding penalty whenever we got close and that was difficult for us to overcome."

Offensively, the Blackhawks were led by Youtzy. The senior wing-back racked up 113 yards on the ground on 23 carries and scored both of Hinton's touchdowns.

According to Diediker, Friday was Youtzy's first 100-plus yard rushing night in his career. "Every week he's getting a bit better," he said.

Adding to the ground game for the Blackhawks, which produced 204 yards of offense for Hinton, was Aaron Book. The senior rushed seven times for 42 yards. Senior quarterback Jordan Sitzmann recorded 27 yards on 13 carries for Hinton while Zach Yoerger added eight yards on three carries and Stephen Koithan rushed five times for 11 yards. Eric Held got four touches for five yards.

On defense, Diediker credited the Blackhawks for their outstanding effort. "I think [HMS] was averaging 400-something rushing yards per game and we held them to 160-something," Diediker said. "We did something right to slow them down a bit."

Leading that defensive effort was sophomore Kole Vondrak. The Blackhawks' leading tackler had 10 solo tackles and six assisted stops to pace the defense.

"Kole is really coming along," Diediker said. "He's one of those kids that started out the season trying to grow in the position. He's really coming along and as a sophomore, he'll be a big part of our plan over the next three years. He had a nice game Friday night."

Adding to the defensive effort, Kevin Huggenberger totaled nine stops on the night, including five solo tackles and one for a loss. Kyle Huggenberger nearly matched his brother with eight tackles on the night (thee solo).

Youtzy proved his worth on both sides of the ball as he came up with five solo stops on defense. Koithan assisted on six stops to total seven tackles on the night while Adam Struve had two solo and four assisted tackles.

Koithan and Kevin Huggenberger each recovered fumbles for the Blackhawks.

On special teams, Keegan Bak punted four times to total 141 yards. Youtzy had one kickoff return for four yards and Sitzmann had one kickoff return for 17 yards.

"I was really proud of our guys," Held said. "They played good enough to win, just one long run [HMS] had in the first half, otherwise we shut them out."

"I felt pretty good about our overall play," Held continued. "I'm sure we got better this week, and that's what we're looking for each and every week. It's disappointing to lose like that. But we'll regroup and get better next week."

As district play continues, Hinton plays host again Friday night as Lawton-Bronson comes to town.

"We've got a tough stretch here," Held said of the next couple weeks.

The Eagles are 1-1 in district play with a 2-2 overall record. But L-B is coming off a huge 50-13 win over Westwood. While two losses this early can make L-B look like a middle-of-the-road team, those losses were quality, coming to Class 3A No. 1 Heelan and Class 1A No. 3 West Lyon.

"They're for real," Diediker said of the Eagles. "They've got a couple losses to quality ball clubs. They had a couple kids rush for a couple hundred yards. We thought going into the season that West Lyon and Lawton would be the top two in the district and they haven't done anything to disprove that."

West Lyon and HMS remain at the top of Hinton's district with a pair of 2-0 records. The Hawks remain undefeated on the season, while West Lyon has a loss to Class 2A No. 2's Central Lyon/George-Little Rock.

With the loss, Hinton falls to 1-1 in district play with a 2-2 record on the season. But Diediker is positive that an early district loss won't hinder the Blackhawks from the playoffs. "The top four in the district make it in," Diediker said, describing the new playoff situation this year. "The old way, if you had a loss you were really up against the wall because another one was going to put you out. I think [the change] is good - it gives everyone something to play for. If you get beat early or have an early slip-up, you can still make it."

So this week, the Blackhawks look to put the loss to HMS behind them as they prepare for back-to-back district match-ups with Lawton-Bronson and West Lyon.

"Whatever happened last week happened last week," Held said.

"You have to learn from your mistakes, but you can't let that loss beat you again the next week. We just have to do the best we can to get ready for next week."