A patch on the back of West Hancock football coach Mark Sanger's jacket shows the number of times the Eagles made it to state. Mark's brother, Kevin Sanger, will be inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Football Hall of Fame, as the All-State player helped lead West Hancock to two consecutive state runner-up finishes in 1986 and 1987.
West Hancock head coach Mark Sanger runs practice on Friday in Britt.
After the Eagles' season-ending loss to Grundy Center on Friday, West Hancock coach Mark Sanger said, "You can't hang your head with this. I'm proud of our season."
For the second consecutive year, West Hancock head football coach Mark Sanger has added a coach of the year award to his home trophy case.
On Thursday afternoon, the Iowa Football Coaches Association (IFCA) named Sanger as the Class A, Region 1 Coach of the Year for 2020. The award comes after a season in which the Eagles finished 9-2 and made it to the state quarterfinals, where the team lost to Grundy Center, 20-14.Â
Sanger took over the head coaching duties before the 2019 season, after longtime Eagles head coach Bob Sanger, his father, underwent treatment for leukemia. That season, West Hancock went on to win the Class A state title, and the Sangers were named the Class A Football Coaches of the Year.Â
After the elder Sanger's death in February of 2020, Mark was named the team's full-time head coach.Â
In his two seasons calling the shots for the Eagles, the team has a 22-2 overall record, and finished first and third in the state in rushing yards in 2019 and 2020, respectively, with a total of 125 rushing touchdowns.Â
At West Hancock, few things have changed on the football field in the past several decades. With an offense focused on running the ball, and a defensive line that has historically shut down opposing teams, there isn't much that Sanger needed to change.Â
"If it isn't broke, don't fix it," Sanger said. "That's an old adage, and that is the way we've been. We've thrown some wrinkles in, and we've done a few things different, but nothing that would be changing things."
While the award is his, Sanger deflects credit to his fellow coaches and the successful system they have put in place.Â
"It feels good, and the thing is, it's the product of a system," Sanger said. "We had a great group of kids coming through, and to be honest, it's probably our veteran coaching staff that we have. We've got guys that have been coaching for 20 something years, two or three of our assistants have. That is where the program really takes stride."
2020 IFCA Regional Coach of the Year Winners
8-Player: Region 1- Brian Wilken, Newell-Fonda; Region 2- Jeremey Christiansen, Fremont-Mills
Class A: Region 1- Mark Sanger, West Hancock; Region 2- Duane Matthess, Nodaway Valley
Class 1A: Region 1- Mike Swieter, SE Valley; Region 2- Eric Trudo, Van Meter
Class 2A: Region 1- Cody Hackett, West Marshall; Region 2- Dustin Colt, Camanche
Class 3A: Region 1- Derrick Elman, Humboldt; Region 2- Mark Hoekstra, Carlisle
Class 4A: Region 1- Sam Anderson, Urbandale; Rusty Vanwetzinga, Pleasant Valley
Shane Lantz covers sports for the Globe Gazette. You can reach him at Shane.Lantz@GlobeGazette.com, or by phone at 641-421-0526. Follow Shane on Twitter @ShaneMLantz.
