Flying High

Hay Springs football coach Trevor Ginkens is a “six-man football” guy.

He played the game at Sioux County High School and was on two state finals teams in 2012 and 2013 — in the old coaches association days — before graduating in 2015.

After high school he did some rodeo before finishing his degree in Ag Education at Nebraska-Lincoln and got his first teaching and coaching job in Mullen. But that wasn’t close enough to home for Ginkens. Most of you reading this might find the irony in Mullen not being far enough “west.”

Not Trevor Ginkens.

So, when the ag job and a spot on the football staff opened in Hay Springs in 2021, he jumped. “A little closer to home,” the coach quipped.

The Hawks made the playoffs in those first two seasons and this year Ginkens —now with the head coach title — and his staff returned all but two players from last year’s quarterfinal team.

Hopes were high. Then, disaster. Players — and good one’s — were going down.

“We really had a team we thought would be able to make a playoff run. It just seemed like we couldn’t get anything to go our way,” he said, “and we started — me included — to feel sorry for ourselves.”

The injuries were real. Starting running back Gage Mintken was bothered by a hamstring for all of the first three games and has played fully healthy for four games total. Dylan Raymer hurt an ankle and was sidelined. Quarterback Dylan Young had to work through a concussion. Cutter Scott dealt with an LCL sprain.

On September 15th, 0-2 Hay Springs drove 131 miles to second-ranked Arthur County and played center Hunter McDonald at quarterback. They lost 80-7.

Like many first-year coaches, Ginkens needed a lift. So, he called his old coach, Barry Swisher at Sioux County. You’ll find Swisher does it all — principal, athletic director, head football and basketball coach — in Harrison. And, like any good coach, he’s there for a former player to play psychologist.

“The first thing he said was we have to stop feeling sorry for ourselves,” Ginkens said. “And, he was right. We had to really change our mentality after that Arthur County game. Instead of big picture stuff it was little picture stuff. Win the next play. Worry about one game.

“That’s how we have been playing ever since.”

The Hawks survived Garden County in week four, 30-26, for their first win. Senior Taden Tobiasson blocked two extra-point kicks — a four-point difference in six-man.

“Taden is a kid who has accepted his role on our team,” Ginkens said. “He might have saved our season in that game.”

Hay Springs hasn’t looked back since then. Six more wins, never scoring less than 50 points in any game, beating playoff teams Sioux County — the old coach — and Cody-Kilgore in the final two weeks to secure a home game after that 0-3 start.

“It feels like we have been the playoffs for eight weeks and not three,” Ginkens said.

After opening the playoffs with a 66-26 win over Hampton, Hay Springs got on the bus again to Arthur. This time, with a fully healthy group, they sprinted to a 30-0 lead and won 58-49, an 82-point reversal.

Only in six-man. Mintken ran for 253 yards on 27 carries with four touchdowns.

Last week’s road trip — 405 miles and six-plus hours — to Parkview Christian in Lincoln was just as fruitful. The Hawks were on point from the start in a 65-41 win over the defending champions.

Mintken was even better, 320 yards on 27 carries and six touchdowns. Raymer hauled in three catches for 81 yards, two for touchdowns.

“We have executed at a really high level,” Ginkens said of their playoff run.

Hay Springs final trip is happening now.

It’s a road trip to Kearney for the six-man state championship game against top-ranked and unbeaten Sumner-Eddyville-Miller on Friday night at Ron and Carol Cope Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:00.

Ginkens knows the Mustangs will be a formidable opponent. In 11 games they have yet to give up 30 points to any team while averaging 48.27 points per game on offense.

Running back Maddox Jones is over 1,500 yards and has 28 touchdowns. Clark Padrnos and Chance Daake have shared duties in the passing game — another common six-man trait — combining for 1,131 yards.

Defensively five players have over 45 tackles for the Mustangs.

“Honestly, we think they want to be like a lot of the teams we have played in the playoffs,” Ginkens said. “They are going to want to run it at us.

“We are going to have to play disciplined, physical football to have a chance to win. They are undefeated for a reason. We are going to have to play really well.”

On the road to a state championship game the Hay Springs football team has learned plenty.

You need some luck and to be healthy, and that you can’t get ahead of yourself. And that it’s silly to quit because you never know what might happen if you keep at it.

Those are lessons for life, really. No matter the kind of football you play. The result of a championship game will matter less and less as time passes.

Coach Ginkens knows.

“It’s been a fun season,” he said. “The memories we have made being with each other these last few weeks have been special.

“I am super proud and super happy for the guys.”

Tale of the Tape

No. 1 Sumner-Eddyville-Milller (11-0) vs. Hay Springs (8-3)

BELL COWS: Both teams want to run it. SEM with junior Maddox Jones (1,546 yards on 205 carries) and Hay Springs with Gage Mintken (1,280 yards on 116 carries) who has had about five fully healthy games.

THE OTHER GUYS: SEM has five players with over 100 yards receiving, led by Jace Rosentrader’s 499 yards on 24 catches with 10 touchdowns. Could their balance lift them to a first state football championship since they won Class D-2 in 1992?

MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE: Controlling the line of scrimmage will be key for each team, but SEM must slow down the Hawks leading tackler Jordyn Anderson who has 112 stops on the season. If he’s in the backfield, the Mustangs may have to go to Plan B.

SIX-MAN PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS