Wednesday, September 11, 2019

‘Sledge’ stays in Tipton for another year

 TIPTON — The annual game between Tipton and Durant that both teams play for a sledgehammer went to the Tipton Tigers for the sixth straight year. Tipton improves to 2-1 on the season and will host Class 1A state ranked West Branch Friday night. The Bears are 3-0 and have scored 24 or more points in each of their first three games with a high of 39 points in last week’s 39-33 win at Williamsburg.

 Tipton wasted no time in scoring the game's first points. The Tigers got the football first and on their opening drive, marched 63 yards in six plays for the games first score. Frank Bierman rumbled up the middle for an 18-yard scoring run to open the score in the game and give THS a 7-0 lead. Durant’s first possession ended in a three and out where they punted back to the Tigers.

 On Tipton’s second possession, the Tigers began at their own 34-yard line. It didn’t matter. Another long methodical march down the field, this time for 66 yards, resulted in the Tigers second touchdown, an Austin Lenz 5-yard run. The score gave THS a 14-0 first quarter lead and gave Lenz his team leading fifth touchdown on the ground this year.

 Durant got on the scoreboard in the second quarter. The Wildcats answered the second THS score with a long scoring drive of their own on their second possession. Durant mixed the run and pass over their 9-play, 70-yard drive. Keagan Head waltzed into the endzone from two yards out to set the score at 14-7, a score that would hold until the halftime break.

 Each team would score again in the second half. Tipton extended their lead to 21-7 with a Blake Wilkins 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Durant pulled back within one score, 21-13, with a fourth quarter touchdown pass of 40 yards from Keagan Head to Jake Willkomm. The Durant score came after a Tipton turnover near mid-field. The Wildcats stayed in the game, giving themselves a chance. The defense gave the offense three more fourth quarter possessions, but the Wildcats did not cross mid field on any of them.

 The THS offense was led on the ground by a trio of seniors. Austin Lenz rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries for the Tigers. He averaged 6.5 yards a carry. Quarterback Blake Wilkins rushed for 64 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. He averaged 3.5 yards a carry. Frank Bierman rushed for 84 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. He averaged 6.3 yards a carry. Wilkins passed for 19 yards and Payten Elijah caught one pass for 19 yards.

 Defensively, Tipton came up big, allowing only 179 yards on 46 plays. It was the lowest yard total for the first three games. Connor Hermiston and Jessie Lieser led THS in tackles with 6 each while Kaleb Nerem had 5. Hermiston had two tackles for loss while Lieser, Nerem and Bierman each had a tackle for loss. Elijah added to his Class 2A leading interception total with two more pick offs for five total in three games.

 Coming off of a 5-5 season in 2010, Durant struggled to find wins in 2011. The Tigers had the same issue. The Tigers were looking for win No. 1 that year when head coach Josh Bahr tired motivating his team with a take from the University of Iowa. Iowa, who struggled under current legendary coach Kirk Ferentz used the mantra of keep hitting the rock and it will break, meaning keep working hard and wins will come. Bahr had a sledgehammer commissioned and it was brought to the 2011 game as a visual reminder. After the loss by THS, Bahr presented the ‘sledge’ to then Durant coach Casey Bouska, deeming his team didn’t earn it that night and Durant had. The two schools have played for the ‘sledge’ every since. The Wildcats have not won the ‘sledge’ since the 2011 season with the Tigers having won the last six meetings. Durant has not scored more than 13 points in the last seven meetings between the teams. The Wildcats beat THS 30 to 24 in 2010.

 The Wildcats beat THS 18-13 in the 2011 game. Juniors Brett Lilienthal and Tyler each rushed for touchdowns. Tribble also threw a touchdown pass. Cole Cook rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown and passed for 32 yards for THS in the game. Quentin Crock rushed for 68 yards and a score.

 The point total scored by Durant was their lowest this season through three games. The Wildcat offense scored 24 points in week one and 22 points in week two.

 Offensively, Durant quarterback Keagan Head threw for over 100 yards for the second straight game. He took over the reigns of the offense for 2019 graduate Bryce Lafrenz who threw for over 1,000 yards. Head completed 12-of-22 attempts for 133 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. On the season he had 390 yards and 5 touchdowns in three games. Nolan DeLong rushed for 44 yards on ten carries. He did not score a touchdown, but averaged 4.4 yards a carry. Jake Willkomm had quite a game. He caught five passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 27.0 yards per catch. Defensively, Durant was led in tackles by Marcus Engstler with 18, Lucas Callison with 11 and Brian Graves with 10.

 The Wildcats will return home this Friday to play Wapello. It's the first of four home games in the final six weeks. Home district games with Belle Plaine, Highland, and Pekin wait for later this season. Wapello comes in 2-1. Wapello has wins over Louisa-Muscatine out of Tipton’s district and Northeast out of North Cedar’s district. Wapello scored 26 or more points in each of those wins. Wapello’s only loss was to state ranked West Branch.

Tipton 21, Durant 13
Friday, September 13
At Tipton 

Quarter Scores:

1 2 3 4 Final

Durant 0 7 0 6 13

Tipton 14 0 7 0 21

Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr - TIP - Frank Bierman 18-yard run (Frank Bierman kick)
1st Qtr - TIP - Austin Lenz 5-yard run (Frank Bierman kick)
2nd Qtr - DUR - Keagan Head 2-yard run (PAT Kick)
3rd Qtr - TIP - Blake Wilkins 1-yard run (Frank Bierman kick)
4th Qtr - DUR - Jake Willkomm 40-yard pass from Keagan Head (PAT kick no good)

Team Statistics:

TIP DUR

First Downs 18 10

Total Plays 69 46

Total Yards 307 179

3rd Down Conv. 5-of-12 2-for-8

4th Down Conv. 1-for-3 0-for-1

Turnovers 1 3

Fumbles Lost 1 1

Interceptions 0 2

Penalties-yards 10-79 3-35

Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Durant - Nolan DeLong 10-44, Keagan Head 8-5, Marcus Engstler 1-(-3). Tipton - Austin Lenz 16-104, Frank Bierman 13-84, Blake Wilkins 18-64, Payten Elijah 2-13, Connor Hermiston 2-11, Jaxon Murphy 1-3, Lake Anderson 1-2.
Passing: Durant - Keagan Head 12-for-22 133 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT’s. Tipton - Blake Wilkins 1-for-5 19 yards, 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s. Frank Bierman 0-for-1 0 yards, 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s.
Receiving: Durant - Jake Willkomm 5-135, Nolan DeLong 4-1, Marcus Engstler 2-(-11), Tony Dillabough 1-8. Tipton - Payten Elijah 1-19.

Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Connor Hermiston 5-1 6, Jessie Lieser 5-1 6, Kaleb Nerem 4-1 5, Payten Elijah 2-1 3, Collin Chambliss 0-3 3, Andrew Comstock 1-2 3, Nile Schuett 0-2 2, Frank Bierman 2-0 2, Jaxon Murphy 1-1 2, Lake Anderson 1-0 1, Levi Daniel 1-0 1, Carson Charves 1-0 1, Skyler Schmidt 0-1 1, Cody Koch 0-1 1, Brendan Leeper 0-1 1, Carter Hill 0-1 1.
Durant - Marcus Engstler 11-0 11, Lucas Callison 7-0 7, Keagen Head 5-2 7, Kenneth Salemi 5-2 7, Nolan DeLong 6-0 6, Jake Willkomm 6-0 6, Carter Wichelt 4-2 6, Ben Orr 3-0 3, Brian Graves 2-1 3, Tony Dillabough 1-1 2, Brendan Paper 1-0 1, Joe Lilienthal 1-0 1.
Tackles For Loss: Tipton - Connor Hermiston 2, Jesse Lieser 1, Kaleb Nerem 1, Frank Bierman 1. Durant - Keagan Head 1, Nolan DeLong 1.
Interceptions - Tipton - Payten Elijah 5. Durant - none.

Kicking Statistics:
Kick Off Returns: Tipton - Austin Lenz 1-13 yards. Durant - Ethan Gast 1-13, Nolan DeLong 1-5, Tony Dillabough 1-0.
Kick Offs: Frank Bierman 4-137 yards. Durant - Marcus Engstler 3-119 yards.
Punting: Tipton - Payten Elijah 2-37 yards. Durant Jake Willkomm 3-40 yards.
Punt Returns Tipton - Payten Elijah 1-4 yards. Durant - Jake Willkomm 1-9.

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