Iowa Nite Hawks are hungry for the big win

Jul. 12—The players on the Iowa Nite Hawks football team have proven themselves to be top contenders in the amateur sporting league, but every time they get close to clinching a championship game they fall short. They have won conference titles and consistently make deep playoff runs, but they’re hungry for that big win.

Iowa Nite Hawks have a 6-2 record in the Southern Plains Football League South Conference, making them the No. 2 seed behind the Tri-State Tridents, who have clinched a 7-1 record this season. The Newton-based team is fired up for their first playoff game this weekend on their home turf at H.A. Lynn Stadium.

Drew Harford, special teams coordinator of Iowa Nite Hawks, said the team will be playing the No. 3 Midwest Raptors at 7 p.m. July 12. Even though he has been involved with the team for about a year, the Nite Hawks have a special place in his heart. His grandfather watched Nite Hawks games many years ago.

Formerly known as the Newton Nite Hawks, the amateur football club rebranded to the Iowa Nite Hawks in its 2024 season. The Newton Nite Hawks began as a semi-pro football team in the 1970s and was revived in 2019. Back then, Newton News reported the team played in the Midwest Football League.

Despite a change in conference, the team remains competitive and continues to draw players from around the area. Harford said the team even has a few players who commute from Kansas City. But no matter where the players call home, they all have a genuine adoration for their Nite Hawks fans.

“We’re in a world right now where the pros are getting more and more distant from the common person,” he said. “We are here. You can see us, you can talk to us. We’re not going to shrug people off. We’re not going to be after your money to get you to watch us. We are here to be for the community by the community.”

Tickets for the games are $10 for every person over the age of 12. Contacting the team through its Facebook page will also net spectators with punch cards for $25, which Harford said is great for larger groups. Games are also live-streamed on the team’s YouTube page.

If Nite Hawks win their playoffs game this weekend and the No. 1 seed wins its game against the No. 4 seed, the Newton-based team will be traveling to Walthill, Neb., for what will surely be a tough game. The Tri-State Tridents are the only team the Nite Hawks have lost to this season. And they were close games.

Nite Hawks lost to the Tridents 34-27 in May and 20-19 in June.

“They were nail-biters,” Harford said.

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