Blackhawks blast Rebels 49-0

Hinton co-head coaches Bruce Held and Steve Diediker are thanking their lucky stars they have so much depth.

So when their first four tailbacks go down with a variety of injuries and illnesses, the Blackhawks trot out fullback Kole Vondrak.

The junior may have only carried three times for 28 yards, but he did take two of them for touchdowns as Hinton defeated Westwood - a team even more banged up - 49-0 on Friday in Sloan.

"That's kind of one of the differences between us and a 3A or 4A school," Diediker said. "We were kind of fortunate last week with all of our running backs out to have (fullback) Kole Vondrak step up. Lots of teams will have a guy go down and they have to put in a kid who is a sophomore or a freshman and doesn't have any experience."

Keegan Bak led Hinton with 61 yards on five carries and Zach Yoerger carried three times for 41 yards and a touchdown as no fewer than eight players had rushing attempts against Westwood.

"I was really pleased with the changes we've made," Held said. "We're trying to spread the wealth around a little bit. I'm sure the kids had fun."

Quarterback Joe Popken completed 5-of-7 passes for 129 yards and touchdown passes to Tyler Stuerman and Josh Schreck.

"We were very efficient," Held said. "Joe Popken didn't throw much last week, so this week we opened up the spread a little bit."

John Timmins and Stephen Koithan added rushing touchdowns for Hinton, which used its entire healthy roster.

"It was one of those games where the kids who usually stand on the sidelines got to get some action," Diediker said. "It's a good situation."

Staying healthy was of great concern to the Hinton coaching staff as starting wingback/kick returner Brady Schindel is still sidelined with a hip injury. Yoerger played with a cast on his arm and Nick Becker played defense and some limited offense as he continues to recover from an illness.

Meanwhile, Diediker said the Rebels were down to about 22 healthy bodies.

"They were pretty depleted," Diediker said. "They've got kids playing positions they never expected them to play just because of their lack of depth. Their kids played hard and their coaching staff does a great job, but they've had a rash of injuries."

Stuerman - who finished with three catches for 61 yards - put the Blackhawks on the scoreboard with an 18-yard touchdown reception from Popken at the 9:33 mark of the first quarter.

Vondrak and Koithan followed with 1-yard touchdown run sandwiched around a 42-yard touchdown pass from Popken to Schreck as Hinton led 27-0 after 12 minutes of play.

Tanner Knop helped set up Koithan's run with a fumble recovery at the Westwood 20-yard line and was one of five Hinton defenders with four tackles. Vondrak led with eight as Jason Vander Kooi, Timmins, Koithan and Rick Vander Kooi each added four.

Vondrak added a 24-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and Yoerger scored on a 25-yard run in the third. Timmins wrapped up the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown scamper with 3:01 to play in the contest.

"Everybody on the team played and that was really cool," Held said. "That was one of our goals, obviously. You always want to stay healthy these days so that was a concern."

Hinton can secure the third seed in the Class 1A District 1 race with a win over surging Sioux Central at home on Friday. Sioux Central has won two straight district contests and scored 21 points in the final four minutes of their 21-12 win over Lawton-Bronson on Friday.

"I'm sure that was a big boost for (Sioux Central)," Held said. "I'm sure they'll be looking to come in here and qualify for the playoffs. But sometimes having a tough game right before the playoffs is good."

Diediker says the team welcomes the challenge.

"That's what anybody wants - you want to have your destiny in your own hands and we do," Diediker said. "Sioux Central is playing pretty good ball right now."