Huron seniors embracing last ride together

HURON — Donni Hartley wishes he and his classmates could take a look back at some of their seventh-grade football film. Now a senior, Hartley figures it'd be amusing. The Tigers have sure grown up. "I think it'd be funny to watch one of our seventh-grade games, to be honest," Hartley said. "We weren't very good. I always thought about this. I remember going to varsity games as a little kid wondering what it'd be like to be out there." It's a group of 16 seniors now, most of whom began their tackle-football tenures together on that seventh-grade team after some had already played flag football together. The biggest task of their careers is up next: a trip Friday night for a Division V regional quarterfinal at top-seeded Liberty Center (11-0). Huron (8-3), the No. 8 seed in Region 18, will head west hoping to keep this senior group's run going just a little bit longer. "It's especially cool to see how each one of us has grown," quarterback Cody Scroggins said. "... That's special, and doing that with (the other seniors) has been really fun." No matter what happens Friday night, this has already been a strong tenure for Huron football's class of 2024. The Tigers won a playoff game in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013-14 after securing a 28-21 win over Genoa last week. "It's a lot bigger than on the field, too," Hartley said. "We all hang out off the field. We're super good friends. It's just like, this is what we do." Hartley pointed to their sophomore winter as the turning point. After so-so seasons at the younger levels and a learning year as underclassmen exposed to varsity football, they knew it'd soon be their turn to lead. "We wanted to become the ones to lead the younger kids," Scroggins said. Combined with a strong crop of seniors last fall, the Tigers went 9-3. They were within an overtime two-point conversion stop of a league title. They've added another eight wins so far this season. "Growing up, we were never that good," Scroggins said. "It's helped sticking together, and that chemistry we built as younger kids has carried through to being seniors now." This fall, too, has allowed them to return to what the picture looked like at the beginning of middle school. Cody Scroggins, the quarterback then and now, had to wait his turn behind standout Dylan Hohler. Scroggins and his classmates knew he'd be the QB this year. The timing just worked out so that he'd have only one chance at it. "Right when the offseason began, I had the mindset that I was gonna be the starting quarterback, so I had to start preparing like that," Scroggins said. "All through May, June, July, I was really focused." Scroggins (24 passing TDs) has gotten to rekindle his connection with star wideout Beau Harkelroad (1,062 receiving yards, 14 TDs), who has been his No. 1 target since the beginning. "He's just himself," Harkelroad said of Scroggins. "He doesn't try to be anyone else. We've had that chemistry since seventh grade." Scroggins and Harkelroad go even further back on the Huron football field. They were both team managers in elementary school. "I miss those days," Scroggins said. "It was fun, doing it four years. It was a great four years that really helped me grow into this program." "I remember when we were little asking Cody to hang out," Hartley added. "He'd be like, 'No, I've got practice.' He was more dedicated than some of the players." The seniors make plays all over the field for Huron. Hartley leads the SBC Bay in tackles with 134. Andrew Delaney runs through tacklers at running back and brings down his opposite number when he's at linebacker. Dawson Bowen and Owen Cantu show off their quickness out wide and in the defensive backfield. Evan Trevino, Vinny Majoy, Kyle Lehman, Ayden Bartzen, Ashton Perdue and Ben Fantozzi are among the big guys who help Huron win games in the trenches. "It always seemed like a dream," Hartley said. "When I was younger watching the games, they seemed like they were an age I'd never be. They seemed so big. It's crazy to think that that's us now." They know the task ahead is a tricky one. Liberty Center went to the state final four last fall and hasn't lost yet this year. But Huron feels like it's getting better each week and putting things together at the right time. And you can never count out a hungry, senior-heavy group this time of year. "In our program, like a lot of small communities, you get a lot of the same families," Huron coach Sam Hohler said. "These kids are really familiar with one another and our program and how we do stuff." In some ways, their time together doesn't feel like it began all that long ago, and they don't want it to be over yet. "It's just kind of weird how I was a little kid, and then here I am as a senior," Harkelroad said. "The time just flies by."