By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor
CLARENCE — The North Cedar football team enters the 2018 season coming off of back-to-back 1-8 seasons. Head coach Adam Hadenfeldt and the Knights think that this year can be a year for more victories than the past two seasons. Back are three all-district players from a year ago and 15 returning letter winners who will make up the core of the Knights team this fall.
North Cedar coach Adam Hadenfeldt enters his third year as the Knights coach and will look to a stout offensive and defensive line to lead the way.
The Knights return their most experience on both sides of the football up front across the offensive and defensive lines. The Knights have many linemen returning and they have put the time in this summer and have bulked up. Caden Went and Alex Woodward are returning three-year starters. Tyler Thurston Chase Gallagher and Brennen Kreel also return with starting experience along the offensive line. The returners also return across the defensive line. Thurston slid back and forth between a linebacker and end spot where he had 69 tackles. That total is the second highest returning total. He had 14 tackles for loss. Wenndt had 43 tackles and four tackles for loss while Woodward had 27 tackles, Gallagher had 19 tackles and 7 tackles for loss.
As a team, North Cedar rushed for 3.3 yards a carry and scored eight rushing touchdowns last season. The Knights had a little over 1,600 yards of total offense (rushing and passing) last season with 1,608 yards with a 4.1-yard per play average.
North Cedar scored points in all but two football games and scored 7 or more points in six of those games. The Knights had a season-high 26 points scored in their week 9 game against Tipton.
Back to guide the offense is junior Ethan Sahr. Sahr, a year older and wiser, passed for 683 yards on 48 completions with four passing touchdowns. He had back-to-back games with 139 and 129 yards thrown in losses to Clayton Ridge (22-19) and Durant (48-21). He passed for a season-high 147 yards in the season finale against Tipton.
North Cedar rushed for 896 yards last season. Most of those were accounted for by 2017 senior Shane Weber who led the Knights ground game with 573 yards with a 4.4-yard average and 5 scores. Back for the Knights will be their second and third leading rushers in Brody Hawtrey and Logan Thimmes. Hawtrey rushed for 186 yards and a touchdown and averaged 5.0 yards a carry and Thimmes rushed for 180 yards and averaged 4.5 yards a carry. John Scheer also has been working out with the running backs.
Graduation also took the Knights leading receiver last year in Mason Minor. Minar caught 21 passes for 324 yards and 3 scores. Back is second-leading receiver Tyler Alexander who caught 13 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown. Logan Thimmes, Hawtrey, and Keon McCullough also return and each saw varsity time.
Defensively, North Cedar returns their leading tackler, Logan Thimmes. Thimmes had a team-high 87 stops and a sack. As a team, North Cedar had 433 tackles, 30 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Special teams will have some returners for the Knights. Tyler Thurston handled kick-off duty, averaging 38.6 yards a kick. He had 23 kickoffs for 887 yards. Brody Hawtrey returns to handle place-kicking duty. Last year, he was 8-for-12 in point after touchdown attempts. North Cedar will have to find a punter. Mason Minar graduated after averaging 30.6 yards a punt on 47 attempts with a long of 46 yards.
In the return game, North Cedar will also have some openings. Minar and Shane Weber handled most of the return duty, each leading punt and kick-off returns respectively. Two players return with kick-off return experience with Keon McCullough who had 217 yards and a 24.1-yard average and Brody Hawtrey who had 145 yards and an 11.2-yard average. Ethan Sahr is the only Knight on the roster that returns with a punt return to his credit.
North Cedar will play five home games this season. Home non-district games are Durant and Columbus Junction while home district games are against Cascade, Bellevue, and Dyersville-Beckman. North Cedar has road games at Tipton, Camanche, West Branch, and Northeast. The Knights open the 2017 season on the road at Tipton on August 24.
2017 All-District Selections: 1st Team - Shane Weber sr.; 2nd Team - Mason Minar sr.; Honorable Mention - Logan Thimmes jr., Caden Wendt soph., Alex Woodward jr.
Graduated Seniors From 2017: Miles McCullough, Mason Minar, Shane Weber, Austyn Sander, Greg Hansen, Brady Lehrman, Seb Curley, Dylan Welsch, and Danuel Moore.
Back From 2017 (16): Braden Wink, Ethan Sahr, Tyler Alexander, James Garner, Keon McCullough, Brody Hawtrey, Brady Burcum, Alex Woodward, Evan Patterson, Tyler Thurston, Chase Gallagher, Jon Scheer, Jacob Sander, Kael Unruh, Gage Walshire, Caden Wendt.
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