The Hinton football team made their second-ever trip to the UNI Dome in 2024 and are hoping to build off that in 2025.
As part of that transition, a large senior class moved on leaving the Blackhawks with some spots to fill. Head coach Kadrian Hardersen says the guys have attacked that opportunity looking to pick up right where the previous class left off.
Hinton graduated a Division I athlete in Gabe Anderson from their quarterback position and have had to change things up to fill the role. Cole Friessen, who played running back last year, will be leading the offense under center this year. Coach Hardersen says there was a learning curve early, but Friessen has gotten more confident as the preseason has progressed.
With moving Friessen to quarterback, that opened up the running back position for Hinton’s offense. Most teams do not have an offensive lineman that could fill that void, but Hinton does. Coach Hardersen says Jackson Kounkel will be moving from the line to running back to better utilize his athleticism.
On defense, the Blackhawks graduated six of their top eight tacklers from 2024. Coach Hardersen says he will be looking for the new faces to adopt the same aggressive mindset last year’s class had to continue the defensive dominance.
The special teams side of football is not one that gets talked about much in high school, but it should be talked about with Hinton. The Blackhawks return Reese Stokes to do their kicking and punting. Stokes ranked statistically as one of the best kickers and punters in all of Class 1A last year. Coach Hardersen says he continues to be an asset to his team’s success.
Looking ahead to Hinton’s 2025 shows a gauntlet of games that will test Hinton’s resolve. The first five games for Hinton all feature teams that made the playoffs, and two of them are against defending state champions on the road. Coach Hardersen says the early season will show whether or not the Blackhawks have what it takes to make a run back at the Dome.
Hinton starts the year on Friday night with a non-district matchup in Le Mars against Gehlen Catholic. Kickoffs is set for 7:00 PM.
