It's been an incredible season for the Redhawks beginning back on August 27 with their season opening win, 31-14, against Belle Plaine (pictured). This Friday, North Tama will take on 9th ranked, district-champion Lynnville-Sully (8-1) on the road in the Round of 16. Photo by Ruby F. Bodeker

The Redhawks just barely advanced out of the first round playoffs last Friday by beating the Wapello Indians, 23-22, and will next take on Class A No. 9 (AP poll/Week 8 ), South Iowa Cedar District Champion Lynnville-Sully (8-1) this Friday, October 29 in the second round.

The Redhawks are now 7-2 for the season with starting quarterback Gabe Kopriva still sitting atop the state leaderboard for passing yardage with 2,635 yards. Kopriva is also No. 2 in passing completions this season with 187 — behind only Dallas Sauser, Jr. of Class 5A Ames who leads with 194.

During the first round game against Wapello, Kopriva recorded 333 passing yards, connecting with six of his receivers including wide receiver Devin McKinley nine times for 97 yards and one touchdown, running back Michael Schrier twice for 86 yards, wide receiver Michael Bell five times for 74 yards, tight end Adam Greiner five times for 52 yards and one touchdown, running back Aiden Zook four times for 18 yards, and running back Logan Siemens once for six yards.

Kopriva rushed nine times during the game for 36 yards, while Aiden Zook carried the ball eleven times for 81 total yards and one touchdown.

The Redhawks defense logged 49 tackles across 13 different players. Standouts include Aiden Zook with nine tackles (five solo), Kopriva with seven tackles (six solo), Michael Schrier with six tackles (three solo), and Devin McKinley and Logan Rausch who each recorder 5.5 tackles — four solo for McKinley and three solo for Rausch.

Kopriva picked up two interceptions against the Indians, returning for 11 yards, while Bell recovered one Wapello fumble.

North Tama made good on two separate two-point conversions with Kopriva and Aiden Zook each putting two points up on the Redhawks’ scoreboard.

At halftime Friday night, the Indians were up by 7 points with a score of 22-15. But in the second half, North Tama took control of the game and recorded eight points in the third — putting the score at 23-22 for the remainder of the game and clinching the Redhawks a spot in the Round of 16 this week.

On Friday, North Tama will take on 9th ranked, district-champion Lynnville-Sully (8-1) on the road. The Lynnville-Sully Hawks beat the Highland Huskies 40-15 in their first round play. The Hawks have also clocked wins this season against North Mahaska (46-6), East Marshall (48-21), Wayne (48-8), Madrid (21-14), Colfax-Mingo (52-13), Ogden (51-15), and Belle Plaine (25-8).

North Tama has never encountered the Lynnville-Sully Hawks in its football history. The Redhawks were set to take on the Hawks last year for the first time but the game was canceled due to cases of COVD-19 on the part of Lynnville-Sully.

Kickoff on Friday, October 29 is at 7 p.m. at the Lynnville-Sully High School in Sully.