Hawks thrilling comeback tops 2023 dramatics

Why are you so sweaty?
I asked myself this question more than I’d like to admit during the 2023 sports year, featuring a ton of high-pressure situations where our local stars delivered in the clutch.
Here are your top 10 games from 2023:
1. ‘Heart attack Hawks’ rally at Sterling. 
At one point late in the game, Hampton coach Jereme Jones and myself helped hold one another upright and may have asked the other about potential heart medication. 
Down 12 at halftime, Hampton rallied for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and a huge defensive stand to defeat Sterling 35-34 in an instant classic and possible program-defining win for the Hawks.
Hampton was down 34-22 entering the fourth quarter when the Hawk defense stiffened up in a goal-to-go situation as Evan Pankoke blew up the Jets’ scoring chance.
Jack Bullis threw a rare TD pass to Eli Arndt before another Hampton defensive stop. That led to one of Bullis’ highlight reel runs, setting up a Brayden Dose TD pass to Wyatt Dose.
Up one, Hampton forced a four and out highlighted by a huge open field tackle by Evan Pankoke to give Hampton the win.
2. Brei’s postseason heroics for Aurora softball.
Adrianna Brei had been to the plate just 16 times this fall before becoming Aurora’s postseason hero.
The sophomore came off the bench with a one-run lead and smoked a solo home run to left field to lead off the top of the seventh.
It was part of a wild inning as No. 3 seeded Aurora held off No. 2 York 5-4 before eventually winning the entire tournament for a district final spot. 
Brei’s solo shot in the seventh versus York kickstarted a three-run inning as Hannah Janda added a RBI single ahead of Kaelin Sparr’s RBI double, leading 5-1 entering the bottom of the seventh.
York scored three runs and had the tying score at third base with Zoe Johnson slammed the door shut with back-to-back groundouts.
3. Huskies oust Crete in 2-1 thriller.
In thrilling fashion, Aurora’s boys soccer team picked up a program-defining win last spring.
The Huskies scored two first-half goals and held on in the final moments to defeat top-10 rated Crete, 2-1 at home. 
Aurora’s first score came on the toe of Jacob Ostdiek, shielding off the last Crete defender and poked a crafty outside-the-foot shot past the rushing Crete goalkeeper to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Alex Wheeler scored the second, going south paw on the shot across his body from just outside the box to find the right edge. 
After making a few dramatic saves early in the game, much of the last 40 minutes, for better or worse, belonged to Aurora’s defense and Devin Otto in goal. 
4. Hornets hold off Hawks in another nail-biter.
For the third time in a row dating back to a season ago, a rivalry game between Giltner and Hampton came down to the final second. 
For a third time in a row it was the same result -- a Giltner victory. The Hornets, in front of a jam-packed home crowd, held off a feisty Hampton bunch in the fourth quarter and final moments to pick up a 47-45 win. 
Hampton led 37-36 entering the fourth quarter before a huge Giltner rally, eventually leading 46-40.
Down four, Hampton got the ball back after a Giltner turnover as Eli Arndt electrified the purple fan base with a three, making it a one-point game, 46-45 with 1:30 left. 
Both team struggled at the free throw line late as Giltner held on for the two-point victory.
5. Storm comeback falls short at Lourdes.
High Plains made the playoffs as a standalone program for the first time since 2016 and nearly stole the road opener. 
Down two scores, High Plains had a couple chances to tie late, but ultimately fell to Lourdes Central Catholic, 28-20.
It was a defensive game for most of the night, including an unreal one-handed INT by Ayden Hans, one of three in the game for HPC. 
Wyatt Urkoski scored on a one-play, 47-yard run to make the score 28-20 with the fourth quarter remaining, as well as one of the biggest defensive hits this sports reporter has ever seen. 
With a chance to go tie the game, HPC couldn’t get any offensive momentum. The Storm did get the ball back with less than 30 seconds, but couldn’t do much with zero timeouts.
6. Aurora rally falls short in Schuyler.
The Aurora girls soccer team dug a huge hole it nearly crawled out of in less than 20 minutes. 
The Lady Huskies trailed Schuyler 3-0 before a ferocious comeback, scoring two goals in the span of nearly three minutes, but couldn’t get the equalizer in a 3-2 loss to open last year’s soccer campaign. 
Schuyler led 3-0 with 17 minutes to play when the Huskies went on a roll, as Madisyn Willis got the ball deep in the Schuyler zone as the keeper couldn’t handle it and Delaney Nachtigal finished with her knee, putting Aurora on the board, 3-1.
Just two minutes later, Aurora continued to cause chaos in the Schuyler zone and Briana Onnen found the net on a scramble play following a corner kick. Aurora nearly had the equalizer as Nachtigal found Willis at the top, but the Schuyler keeper denied the Huskies. 
Aurora had a couple more corner kicks in the final eight minutes, but none of them resulted in any serious threat as time ran out on the Lady Husky rally. 
7. Huskies fall short in district final loss.
Aurora came up short in its fourth district final in as many years, losing to Sidney in the C1-6 final 34-31 in gut-punching fashion.
Sidney led 33-27 midway through the fourth as Carlos Collazo made two at the line before Booker Scheierman scored on an in-bounds play, getting the lead back down to a pair, 33-31 with 2:11 left. 
The Huskies worked the ball around the top of the key for much of the remaining 30 seconds, as the Red Raider defense left little to be desired. 
Staehr drove the lane and kicked back out to Collazo in the corner. Collazo stepped back for a wing three that missed as Danielson desperately reached for the offensive board. 
The ball bounced around before Sidney snagged it just as the buzzer sounded, ending Aurora’s season.
8. Osceola’s fourth quarter bite haunts HPC. 
What a defensive masterclass this game was between two friends/rivals. At times, it seemed like a one-on-one matchup between HPC’s Wyatt Urkoski and Osceola’s Kale Gustafson. 
In the end, a fourth quarter touchdown from Osceola was the difference as the Bulldogs edged High Plains, 12-6. 
With two power run teams locked into battle, the game lasted less than two hours as the end result remained up in the air until the game’s final moments.
Gustafson and the Bulldogs wore down the Storm defense, this time converting a 4th down before the senior QB found room on a right sweep for an 18-yard score. The Bulldogs went out front 12-6 with 3:58 left.
Needing a score to tie or potentially win, HPC decided to throw on 4th and 4 from its own 21 and was unable to complete it. Without enough timeouts and 1:53 left, Osceola ran the clock out to win the game. 
9. HPC delivers final blow in slugfest with Giltner.
Here’s another area rivalry that continued to deliver in 2023. Just a couple weeks ago, HPC and Giltner went toe-to-toe, elbow-to-elbow all night long before the Storm held off the Hornets in its own gym, 52-44.
High Plains coach JT Hamm put it perfectly postgame. 
“This is how it’s supposed to be when High Plains plays Giltner. It’s always going to be a big game.”
First-year Giltner coach Michael Reinsch summed it up pretty well, too.
“This atmosphere was really fun. The Giltner fans are great. The High Plains fans are great. I just wish we could have gotten the win.”
Giltner led early on before a 10-0 run from HPC to begin the second half put the Storm on top. 
The two rivals shifted momentum back and forth from there, but the Storm ultimately held on thanks to a huge effort from Ayden Hans at the line, going 9 of 10 at the line.
10. Stuart wins district title over Hampton.
Aside from a disastrous three-minute stretch in the third quarter, Hampton and Stuart’s district championship tilt lived up to the billing.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, that detrimental three minutes in the third quarter wound up being the difference in a 59-46 win for visiting Stuart in the regular season finale.
Down three scores late, Hampton scored a TD, got the onside, scored again and had a potential chance to tie. 
The Hawks couldn’t get the ball back with that opporutnity, however. 
We also need to recognize our state champions from the 2022 calendar year, which includes our co-male athletes of the year.
Jack Allen won the heavyweight championship during wrestling season while Carsen Staehr won double track gold in the jumping events. 
What an impact those two have had. 
Here’s to another solid list of thrillers to come in 2024. See everyone on the sidelines -- backwards hat and all.  
RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.