By: Con Marshall
The biggest 6-man football game of the season in the Panhandle will be played at Hay Springs at 7 p.m. Friday (Oct. 25) when the Arthur County Wolves visit for both teams’ final regular-season game.
Arthur is ranked second and Hay Springs fifth by the Lincoln Journal Star this week.
Both are 7-0 and have overwhelmed most of their opponents. Arthur’s closest game was on Sept 13 when the Wolves defeated the Southwest Roughriders, located at Bartley, 40-28. All of the other wins were by at least 34 points, the margin which the Wolves downed Sioux County.
Hay Springs’ closest game was the 28-14 win over Paxton in the season-opener on Aug. 30. The Hawks bested Potter-Dix by 35 points (88-53) in their second game and topped Cody-Kilgore by 33 (52-19) on Oct. 11.
All the other wins for both teams have been by at least 50 points. They’ve had four common opponents—Cody-Kilgore, Crawford, Minatare and Sioux County. Hay Springs downed them by a 266-49-point margin and Arthur won the four tilts by a 249-37 difference.
Hay Springs and Arthur met twice last year. The Wolves won the regular-season contest on Sept. 15 by an 80-7 score, but the Hawks won the Nov. 3 quarterfinals playoff game 58-47. Much of the difference was because Hay Springs standout Gage Mintken and a few of his teammates were injured and did not play in the first game. But they were going full-blast during the playoffs and Mintken was named Nebraska’s 6-Man Offensive Player of the Year.
After stopping Arthur, the Hawks also won their semifinals game over Parkview Christian of Lincoln 65-41, before being edged 21-20 in the 6-Man championship game versus Sumner-Eddyville-Miller when their extra point attempt was blocked.
Mintken is now on the Chadron State College football team and another all-stater, Jordyn Anderson, also graduated. The same is true of Arthur’s top guns from a year ago, Dane Pilakowski and Justin Wenzel. But both teams still have plenty of firepower or they wouldn’t have been so successful this fall.
The Hawks are averaging 314.6 yards a game rushing. The leading ball carrier is senior Dylan Raymer, who has rushed 59 times for 691 yards for an 11.7-yard average and has scored 13 touchdowns. Sophomore Tripp Buettner is next on the rushing list with 22 carries for 408 yards for an amazing 18.5-yard average and seven TDs.
The Hawks don’t pass a whole lot, but senior quarterback Dylan Young has completed 19 of 38 tosses for 473 yards and 11 TDs. He’s been intercepted once. His favorite receivers have been seniors Hunter McDonald, who has caught six passes for 180 yards, and Talan Smith, who has grabbed seven for 157 yards. Both have four TD receptions.
Arthur’s rushing leader is Grady Gorwell, who has carried 72 times for 653 yards (9.1 average) and 11 TDs. The Wolves also have a big back. Kegan Allen is 6-1, 225 pounds. He has run for 214 yards and is said to also be an outstanding kicker.
Arthur passes more than most 6-man teams. Senior quarterback Talar Storer has completed 54 of 89 passes for 916 yards and 16 scores. He has thrown just two picks. He’s also rushed for 224 yards and four TDs. The team’s leading receiver is Tucker Rut, who has caught 20 passes for 326 yards and seven TDs.
There’s a third undefeated 6-man team in the Panhandle. That’s the Garden County Eagles at Oshkosh. They’ve also blasted all of their opponents, including Potter-Dix 78-12 and Leyton 83-49 their last two games. Strangely, neither Hay Springs nor Arthur, which is located only 60 miles via paved highways, from Oshkosh, was on the Garden County schedule this fall.
The Eagles are seventh in the Lincoln newspaper’s top 10.