Just five games into their season, the Little Hawk Football team has already seen their fair share of ups and downs. After handedly defeating Linn-Mar in the first game of the season, the team lost Devontae Foster to an ankle injury for the next two games, including when they faced West in the Battle of the Boot. After three discouraging losses in a row, the Little Hawks bounced back last week to take down Clinton 41-29.

“[It’s all about] putting together the consistent effort and execution that it takes to beat good football teams. In football there are so many different plays and different things that happen out in the field and we haven’t been doing well enough at executing eleven players at the same time. We did better at that [when we played Clinton] so we got better results. [It’s just a matter of] getting everybody coordinated and doing their job,” Head Coach Dan Sabers said.

Up next on the Little Hawks’ radar is their home game against Davenport Central tonight.

“We have a very big ball game [tonight]. Davenport Central is coming and they have a running back that ran for 400 yards last night. They’ve got a big line, they’re big up front, and they’re pretty athletic. We’ve got our work cut out for us but I think if we continue to make progress then we’ll have a shot,” Sabers said.

Senior Quarterback Bryce Hunger also acknowledges that in order for the Little Hawks to pull away with the win they will need to tighten things up on the defensive side.

“We really focused on playing better and harder defensively this week in practice. We have to have better tackling because they have a very good running back,” Hunger said.

Although defense was the focus for this week’s practices, Coach Sabers doesn’t have a whole lot of concerns when it comes to his team’s offense.

“We’re explosive. We’ve got some playmakers out there. Especially on the offensive side. Last [week] we could throw a little quick screen to Zach Jones and he can go turn it into a 75-yard touchdown,” Sabers said. “Devontae Foster had a couple of nice runs and Bryce Hunger has proven that he can make people miss.”

When all of the pieces come together, the Little Hawks have shown that they can be a force to be reckoned with. Although they have had some bumps in the road this season, they still have their sights set high.

“We have to win this upcoming week if we want to go to the playoffs and I think we’re one of the best teams in our district so I’m excited to see what we can do against teams outside of our district in the playoffs,” Hunger said.

Sabers knows what his team is capable of and credits an insufficient level of focus at times as a barrier to his team’s success.

“The mind can only deal with so much and we let too many distractions interfere, so if we focus in on the game of football and what it takes to be successful, then we’ll get ten out of eleven guys doing their job at the same time, and hopefully eleven out of eleven, then I think we’ve got a chance to be a very good football team,” Sabers said.