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Tipton freshman Nile Schuett leaves a West Branch defender in the dust on his way to the end zone Friday night for the second of two
touchdown receptions Friday night in the Tigers 30-20 loss to 6th ranked West Branch. Schuett’s two second half touchdowns, helped the
Tigers overcome a 27-6 halftime score to make the game a one-score, 27-20 game in the fourth quarter. Photo by Darren Miller.
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Sports Editor
TIPTON — Trailing 27-6 at halftime at West Branch usually means pack up the gear and get ready to head home because the Bears finish you off in the second half. For the Tipton football team, they had other ideas last Friday. West Branch entered the football game ranked #6 in class 1A. A 21-point deficit is hard to overcome at any point of a high school football team, let alone at halftime, but the Tigers nearly did it. Add to that, the football game was at one the most iconic venues in Iowa High School football and the odds were definitely stacked in West Branch’s favor. No one told the Tigers though as Tipton chipped away at the Bears lead and got to within one score in the fourth quarter before falling 30-20. The loss dropped the Tigers record to 3-5 overall and 2-4 in district 3. The Bears clinched the district title with the win and improved to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in district play. The Bears can complete an undefeated regular season Friday when they travel to Clayton Ridge. Tipton will conclude their season at North Cedar Friday.
The Tigers had 245 yards of total offense and 16 first downs in the game including 148 yards rushing and 97 passing yards. Tiger quarterback Ben Emrich passed for 97 yards on five completions with two touchdowns. He is nearing 600 yards passing for the season and has passed for 221 combined yards in the past two weeks.
Quinten Mesick topped the 400-yard mark for the season, leading the Tigers in rushing at West Branch with 72 yards on 17 carries. Keith Penningroth added 64 rushing yards on 16 carries. Freshman Nile Schuett caught two passes for 38 yards and two touchdowns. John Crowley, Penningroth and Frank Bierman each had a reception in the game.
Defensively, Tipton’s Skyler Harroun led THS in tackles with 11 including five solo tackles. Emrich had 8 and Keith Penningroth and WIll Avey each had 7. Avey, Emrich and Logan Stolte each had a tackle for loss and Avey and Emrich each had sacks in the game. The Tigers had a tall task in front of them in the football game with the Bears skill position players. Quarterback Beau Cornwell entered the game leading class 1A in most passing categories and was closing in on the West Branch school record for passing yards. Receiver Ben Thompson also was a state leader in most receiving categories. Add to that running back Jacob Graves who stepped in for the injured Tanner Lukavsky in week 7 with 179 yards on the ground in his first start of the season.
Cornwell got his yards, 176 on 18 completions, 60 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns, but the Tigers blanketed Thompson and Graves. Cornwell’s 4 touchdown passes came in the first half.
Thompson caught three passes for 50 yards and a touchdown while Graves had 88 rushing yards and no touchdowns. Graves did do damage in the passing game, catching five passes for 51 yards and two touchdowns. Brett Schiele stepped up for the covered Thompson to lead West Branch in receiving with seven receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown.
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| Tipton’s Will Avey blows up a West Branch play by wrapping up the Bears player during the Tigers district 3 football game last Friday. The Tigers travel to North Cedar Friday. Photo by Darren Miller. |
Defensively for West Branch the Bears had three players with double digit tackle totals. Andrew Black had 13, Dakota Kaalberg had 11 and Cameron Howsare had 10. John Hatfield had 9 while Dalyn Pedersen and Brett Schiele each had 7.
West Branch scored the game’s first points when Beau Cornwell connected with Ben Thompson for a 29-yard touchdown pass. A 2-point try by the Bears was no good and West Branch took a 6-0 lead. Tipton answered the score with one of their own. Ben Emrich crossed the goal line from 1-yard out to tie the score at 6. The Tigers own two-point try failed.
West Branch took a 13-6 lead early in the second quarter on a Cornwell to Brett Schiele touchdown pass for 6 yards. Cornwell would connect on touchdown passes of 8 and 35 yards to Jacob Graves as well in the quarter to give West Branch a 27-6 halftime lead. Cornwell also kicked three PAT’s in the first half.
The Bears had all of the momentum going into the halftime break, but Tipton came out in the second half and created momentum of their own. Two Nile Schuett touchdown passes from Ben Emrich, one each in the third and fourth quarters, as well as a renewed defensive spirit and the Tigers found themselves trailing by one score, 27-20 in the fourth quarter.
West Branch would dash the Tigers hopes later in the quarter when Beau Cornwell kicked a 42-yard field goal to make the game a 10-point, two score ball game. The Tigers tried to get in position to cut into the lead, but could get no closer than the 10-point margin.
The Tigers travel to North Cedar Friday in their last game of the season. The Knights are 1-7 overall and hope to find success against the Tigers. Quarterback Ethan Sahr has passed for 471 yards and 3 touchdowns. Shane Weber is North Cedar’s leading rushing with 331 yards and 2 touchdowns. Tyler Alexander and Mason Minar are the Knights leading receivers. Alexander has caught 13 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown and Minar has caught 12 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Logan Thimmes leads the Knights with 53 tackles and Greg Hansen is next with 44.
Team Statistics:
Tipton WB
First downs 16 16
Rushing-att-ave. 44-3.4 29-5.1
Rushing yards 148 148
Pass C-A-I 5-15-1 18-29-1
Passing-yards 97 176
Punts-avg. 2-30 1-31
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-60 2-20
Total yards 245 324
Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Tipton 6 0 7 7 20
West Branch 6 21 0 3 30
Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr - WB – Ben Thompson 29-yard pass from Beau Cornwell (2-point pass failed)
1st Qtr - TIP – Ben Emrich 1-yard run (2-point pass failed)
2nd Qtr - WB – Brett Schiele 6-yard pass from Beau Cornwell (Beau Cornwell kick)
2nd Qtr - WB – Jacob Graves 8-yard pass from Beau Cornwell (Beau Cornwell kick)
2nd Qtr - WB – Jacob Graves 35-yard pass from Beau Cornwell (Beau Cornwell kick)
3rd Qtr - TIP – Nile Schuett 3-yard pass from Ben Emrich (Keith Penningroth kick)
4th Qtr - TIP – Nile Schuett 36-yard pass from Ben Emrich (Keith Penningroth kick)
4th Qtr - WB – Beau Cornwell 42-yard field goal
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Tipton - Quinten Mesick 17-72, Keith Penningroth 16-64, John Crowley 4-11, Ben Emrich 7-1. West Branch - Jacob Graves 20-88, Beau Cornwell 9-60.
Passing: Tipton - Ben Emrich 5-for-15 97 yards 2 TD’s, 0 INT’s. West Branch - Beau Cornwell 18-for-29 176 yards 4 TD’s, 1 INT.
Receiving: Nile Schuett 2-38, John Crowley 1-38, Keith Penningroth 1-12, Frank Bierman 1-9. West Branch - Brett Schiele 7-54, Jacob Graves 5-51, Ben Thompson 3-50, Dakota Kaalberg 2-7, Brady Lukavsky 1-14.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Tipton - Skyler Harroun 5-6 11, Ben Emrich 7-1 8, Keith Penningroth 1-6 7, Will Avey 4-3 7, Frank Bierman 1-5 6, Connor Hermiston 2-2 4, Dylan Mente 3-1 4, Blake Wilkins 2-1 3, Ben Thompson 1-2 3, Andrew Roling 1-1 2, Logan Stolte 1-1 2, Blaise Thumma 1-1 2, John Crowley 0-1 1, Jared Hightower 1-0 1, Quinten Mesick 0-1 1, Kyle Priebe 1-0 1, Nile Schuett 0-1 1.
West Branch - Andrew Black 6-7 13, Dakota Kaalberg 4-7 11, Cameron Howsare 4-6 10, John Hatfield 3-6 9, Dalyn Pedersen 2-5 7, Brett Schiele 1-6 7, Jacob Barnhart 3-3 6, Jacob Graves 0-4 4, Billy Friis 2-1 3, Jeff Bowie 1-1 2, Levi Kleinmeyer 1-1 2, Brady Lukavsky 1-0 1, Javier Zamudio 0-1 1.
Tackles For Loss: Tipton - Will Avey 1, Ben Emrich 1, Logan Stolte 1.
Sacks: Tipton - Will Avey 1, Ben Emrich 1. West Branch - Jeff Bowie 1, Billy Friis 1.
Interceptions: Tipton - Connor Hermiston 1. West Branch - Ben Thompson 1.
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Tipton - Frank Bierman 3-82, Keith Penningroth 1-10. West Branch - Javier Zamudio 6-313 yards.
Kick-Off Returns: Tipton - Logan Stolte 3-9, Ben Emrich 1-8. West Branch - Jacob Graves 2-26, Brett Schiele 1-20.
Punts: Tipton - Blaise Thumma 2-31 yards. West Branch - Beau Cornwell 1-31 yards, 31.0-yard ave.
Punt Returns: Tipton - None. West Branch - Jacob Graves 2-19.
PAT’s: Tipton - Keith Penningroth 2-for-2. West Branch - Beau Cornwell 3-for-3.
Field Goals: Tipton - none. West Branch - Beau Cornwell 1-42 yards.
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