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Swenson rushes for 170 yards, No. 7 Hawks handle Hudson

Just winning big not enough for SH anymore though

South Hamilton fullback Lane Swenson (15) breaks free in the open field during the second half against Hudson Friday night in Hudson. The No. 7-ranked Hawks ran over the Pirates and improved to 5-0 with a 40-8 victory. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

HUDSON — Winning big has become the norm for the South Hamilton football team this season, but that alone isn’t enough anymore.

So while head coach Corey Klemp was content with the latest rout — a 40-8 shelling of Hudson on the Pirates’ home turf Friday night — he wasn’t necessarily impressed with everything he saw, particularly in the first half.

“I thought we were really flat in the first half,” he said. “I didn’t see the emotion that we have to play with if we want to get where we want to be. We were making plays, but we were flat.”

Seventh-ranked (Class 1A) South Hamilton has bigger fish to fry than a single regular season game. Loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, the unbeaten Hawks (5-0, 3-0 District 3) have a deep postseason run in mind. And in the playoffs, Klemp knows his squad has to go full bore all of the time, not just some of the time.

That was the message he gave his players at halftime Friday night, and they responded.

South Hamilton linebacker Tycin Barkema (5) and assistant coach Dan Brodie celebrate an interception by Barkema during the Hawks’ 40-8 victory over Hudson Friday night in Hudson. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

“The guys really stepped up their intensity level and everything was just 10 percent better in the second half,” he said.

It’s not like Hudson (2-3, 1-2 District 3) kept it competitive in the first half though. South Hamilton scored on its first three possessions, out-gained the Pirates 139-1 in the opening period, and owned a 20-0 lead at the intermission. The Hawks tacked on three more touchdowns on their initial three possessions of the third quarter and then gave the starters the fourth quarter off.

Hudson managed just one first down against South Hamilton’s first team defense and had fewer than 50 yards of total offense on the night. Kyler Hodnefield and Tycin Barkema both intercepted Pirates’ quarterback Bryce Griffin.

Griffin completed just 2 of 11 passes for — are you ready for this? — negative-1 yard.

“We played pretty disciplined and executed the way we had prepared for,” Klemp said of his defense.

Hawks’ halfback Brock Galetich runs to the outside against Hudson on Friday. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

South Hamilton accumulated 422 yards of total offense, 369 from its vaunted rushing attack and 53 courtesy of the right arm of quarterback Freddie Lewis, who was perfect on three passing attempts.

Fullback Lane Swenson rushed for a career-high 170 yards, highlighted by a 56-yard burst through the middle midway through the second quarter. He had an unobstructed route to the end zone, but the ball slipped out of his hands and Hudson recovered the fumble to avoid a four-touchdown deficit before the break.

“Lane had a heck of a game, really on both sides of the ball,” Klemp said. “Hudson was leaving the inside a little softer and I think that opened things up in the middle.”

Halfbacks Trevor Thompson and Brock Galetich chewed up 126 and 80 yards, respectively, and combined for three touchdowns. Lewis also ran in a pair of scores and threw another on a play-action 14-yard toss to 6-foot-6 tight end Carter Hewitt.

Hewitt hauled in a pair of passes for 48 yards and made an impact on defense with 21⁄2 tackles. He rejoined the team for the first time in three years this fall and has been a welcomed addition.

DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

“He adds more and more every week because you can really see his development,” Klemp said of Hewitt. “He’s been great on both sides of the ball and seeing him out on a pass route the other night, that’s a big body moving across the field. He’s not hard for Freddie to find.”

South Hamilton’s three scoring possessions in the first half were drives of 10, 7 and 14 plays. Lewis scored on a 4-yard run, and Galetich found the end zone from 1 and 10 yards out.

Lewis’ second TD, a 4-yard keeper on the option, made it 28-0 early in the third. Following the scoring pass to Hewitt, Thompson notched his only touchdown on a 2-yard burst with 6:50 remaining in the third.

Klemp had his choice of which back to feature throughout the contest. The triple threat talent has simply been too much for any opponent to contain so far this season.

“(Three talented running backs) is the reason I made the switch this year to having two tight ends,” Klemp said. “Pre-snap, everything is on the table and there’s nothing defensively you can read off. With those three backs, if teams want to load up and try to stop one thing, then we’re more than capable of doing something else.”

Swenson also made a team-high 41⁄2 tackles and Austin Busch tacked on four more.

Hudson avoided the shutout with 1:38 remaining on a 5-yard touchdown run by Ethan Vogt. The Pirates march down the field was aided by 45 yards worth of South Hamilton penalties on the drive.

The Hawks will face another road test in Week 6 when they travel to LeGrand to take on East Marshall (2-3, 0-3 District 3) on Friday at 7 p.m.

South Hamilton 40, Hudson 8

Friday at Hudson

S. Hamilton 12 8 20 0 — 40

Hudson 0 0 0 8 — 8

First Quarter

SH — Freddie Lewis 3 run (pass failed), 7:34.

SH — Brock Galetich 1 run (run failed), 3:04.

Second Quarter

SH — Galetich 10 run (Trevor Thompson run), 8:00.

Third Quarter

SH — Lewis 4 run (Austin Busch pass from Lewis), 9:32.

SH — Carter Hewitt 14 pass from Lewis (kick failed), 7:32.

SH — Thompson 3 run (kick failed), 6:50.

Fourth Quarter

HUD — Ethan Vogt 5 run (Vogt run), 1:38.

Individual Statistics

Rushing — SH: Lane Swenson 16-170, Trevor Thompson 20-126, Brock Galetich 15-80, Freddie Lewis 4-4, Gavin Swenson 2-5, William Mendoza 1-2.

Passing — SH: Lewis 3-3-0 53.

Receiving — SH: Carter Hewitt 2-48, Galetich 1-5.

Tackles — SH: L. Swenson 41⁄2, Austin Busch 4, Thompson 31⁄2, Dominic Summers 21⁄2, Carter Balvanz 21⁄2, Hewitt 21⁄2, Colton Willis 2, Nic Flaugh 2, Galetich 11⁄2, Preston Stoecker 11⁄2, Landen Skartvedt 11⁄2, Mendoza 11⁄2, Elijah Balderas 1, Aiden Johnson 1, Tycin Barkema 1⁄2, Blake Harris 1⁄2.

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