Fans have their favorite plays of all time, but what about coaches? Do they have a favorite call they’ve ever made? The Daily Chronicle asked each of the five head football coaches in its area about the favorite call of their careers.

In this installment, Hiawatha head coach Kenny McPeek recalls a halftime call he made in 2021 as the team’s defensive coordinator, switching out a 300-pound nose tackle for a 140-pound one and how it sparked a comeback in a shootout.

Eight-man or 11-man, it wouldn’t seem to matter. Size on the defensive line is a boon.

But River Ridge was doing everything it could to negate Danny Fisher, Hiawatha’s 300-pound nose tackle. Kenny McPeek, defensive coordinator at the time and now the team’s current head coach, made the call to move Hayden Bingaman to nose tackle.

The Hawks were down 36-20 at halftime and ended up winning a crazy 76-62 Week 9 contest to finish 4-5 on the year and make the 8-man playoffs.

“Not too often do you think about a 140-pound guy over a 300-pound guy at nose tackle,” McPeek said. “It made a big difference. They weren’t able to cut-block him and he was able to stay on his feet and make plays.”

McPeek said Bingaman was able to get around the blocking of River Ridge using his speed and agility as opposed to the strength Fisher was bringing to the table.

One of his five second-half sacks, McPeek said, led to a fumble that was recovered by Cole Brantley and returned for a touchdown. The drive could have given River Ridge the lead or tied the game, but instead the Hawks went up two scores.

“They were beating us and kind of cut blocking our main guys,” McPeek said. “The biggest thing that changed for us was I decided to change our 300-pound D-tackle with a 140-pound D-tackle. Changed the whole game. That little guy didn’t get cut-blocked the whole game. He had like five sacks in the second half and we ended up winning the game.”

McPeek said even in the second half the Hawks had trouble stopping River Ridge, but forced enough turnovers to hold on for the win.

“Unusual call, you wouldn’t think it would change the game like it did,” McPeek said. “They were cut-blocking Danny all the time at nose. He wasn’t quick enough to get away from those. When I switched to Hayden he was quick enough to stay on his feet and get around them. He was free after that.”

He also said he was expecting an adjustment to account for Bingaman to come from River Ridge, but it never came.

“I’m kind of surprised they didn’t change but I’ll take it,” McPeek said.

The Hawks went 6-3 the next year in Nick Doolittle’s final year. McPeek took over in 2023 as the head coach and went 4-5.

The Hawks were 2-7 last year, including a 22-12 loss to River Ridge in Week 5.

McPeek said plays like that are what coaching is all about.

“It makes you feel like you do know what you’re doing sometimes,” said McPeek, also the girls basketball coach with the Hawks. “When it works, you have other people talk about it after the game, coaches tell you that you made a good call. It makes you feel really good when it works, in whatever sport. Basketball is the same way. You make adjustments, they pay off and it keeps you going. They don’t always work obviously. They’re hard decisions, but sometimes they work and make you feel real good about coaching.”