JEWELL — The South Hamilton football team has been as good as anybody in Class 1A this season.

And for their efforts, the Hawks earned themselves a second straight playoff game.

South Hamilton took care of Denver in the opening round this past Friday night here, advancing with a 24-8 victory. The Hawks (8-1 overall) now host Waterloo Columbus (7-2) this coming Friday, with the winner taking on either Sumner-Fredericksburg (8-1) or Emmetsburg (7-2).

Nick Severseike ran for 105 yards with a touchdown, Tjerdan Johnson had two rushing scores and South Hamilton won the turnover battle.

“That was the biggest thing we did, finishing plus-3 in turnover margin,” South Hamiton head coach Paul Skartvedt said. “They had two fumbles inside the 10 that we recovered. Those were big momentum killers.

“We also won the possession battle, running 64 plays on the ground to 45 by Denver. Home-field advantage was definitely huge for our kids; they really feed off of the crowd and it definitely helps.”

Kolby Hodnefield added 81 yards rushing, Noah Gunderson had 67 and Brayden Young registered a 53-yard touchdown run. In all, the Hawks racked up 351 yards rushing on the night, holding Denver to 83.

Johnson had a team-high 5.5 tackles on defense with Ashton Williams and Severseike recording 4.5 each. Johnson and Prestin Van De Pol each picked off a pass with Severseike and Carter Stolee both recording a fumble.

“Denver was a tough, very physical team and they were well coached and disciplined,” Skartvedt said. “I’m glad we got the opportunity to play another very physical team.

“Now, we need to clean up some blocking assignments that we missed and have another great week of practice to get prepared for our opponent.”

Waterloo Columbus knocked off Pocahontas Area last week to advance, 47-6.