Jeff West 21, Hiawatha 16

In a battle of 1-0 teams from Meriden on Friday night, Jeff West used a couple outstanding plays by senior quarterback Ian Mullins to rally and hold on for a 21-16 victory against Hiawatha.  The Tigers led 7-0 before Hiawatha scored 16 straight points, but Jeff West got the final two scores and held the Redhawks on four goal-to-goal plays in the final two minutes to improve to 2-0 in Big 7 play.  

Jeff West scored first on a 66 yard pass play from Ian Mullins to Brett Ricklefs with 2:23 to play in the opening quarter.  Hiawatha, who had fumbled away their first possession for the only turnover of the night, then went on a 14 play drive that included a trio of fourth down conversions and tied the score with a four-yard run by Parker Hasenkamp.  Later in the second quarter after a penalty at the Tiger one-yard line, Hiawatha settled for a 29 yard field goal by Conner Bigham to take a 10-7 halftime lead.  

The Redhawks scored in the third quarter on a 76 yard quick slant as Ryker Smith found Bigham across the middle and hit broke a tackle and outrun the coverage to put Hiawatha ahead 16-7 with the extra point blocked.  After only 2 first downs the first half, the Tigers evened out the battle in the trenches in the second half and got three huge plays from their senior leader to rally for the win.  

Mullins somehow avoided a sack and found Drew Slimmer in the endzone on a fourth and goal play for a 25 yard TD pass to pull Jeff West within 16-14 late in the third quarter.  Then after forcing Hiawatha on a fourth possession without a first down, the Tiger senior quarterback scrambled for a 21 yard gain on fourth and four to convert and later capped the drive with a six yard run to put JW back ahead 21-16 at the 11:03 mark in the fourth quarter.  Hiawatha drove to midfield before being stopped on the ensuing drive, but the Redhawk defense forced a three-and-out for the fourth time on the night and the Hawks drove downfield in the final minutes for a chance at the win, thanks in part to a pass interference penalty on a fourth and four play.  Hiawatha had first and goal at the 7 and second and goal at the 5, before a penalty and two incomplete passes ended the game.

Jeff West had only one rushing yard total on the night, but Mullins scored on the ground and had a pair of passing touchdowns with 210 yards of 9 of 15 accuracy to earn Citizens State Bank and Trust Company of Hiawatha, "Player of the Game" honors.  The Tigers (2-0) host Nemaha Valley (2-0) for another huge league matchup in week three.  

Brendan Steele had all but three of his 103 rushing yards in the first half and Hasenkamp added 88 yards on the ground before Hiawatha dropped to 1-1 on the season.  Bigham had 136 yards receiving on 4 catches and the Redhawks finished with 6 more first down and 130 more yards of offense than Jeff West.  Hiawatha will host Royal Valley (0-2) in week three.