STANWOOD — Football is back across the state of Iowa. So are high expectations for the Tipton football team. Excitement is high after the Tigers season-opening 34-0 road win at North Cedar last Friday. The shutout was the first since 2015 when that Tiger team shutout West Liberty 27-0 to begin a 7-3 season that year and playoff run. Only time will tell if the 2019 Tiger team has the same trajectory.
Tipton held the Knights to 219 yards of total offense, but more importantly, held the Knights to negative rushing yards (-10) in the game. The Knights returned most of their offensive line and starting tailback in senior Brody Hawtrey who rushed for 886 yards and averaged 4.6 yards a carry. Last Friday, the Tigers held Hawtrey to 32 yards on 14 carries for a 2.3-yard per carry average.
Defensively, Tipton has a stout defensive line. Their two defensive ends combined or 15 tackles in the game and six tackles for loss. Andrew Comstock led Tipton in tackles with nine followed by Nile Schuett with 8, Frank Bierman and Connor Hermiston 7 each, and Payten Elijah with 6. Elijah intercepted three North Cedar passes and leads all classes in that category through the first week's games.
North Cedar had a bad start to the game. The Knights had four first-quarter possessions. Of those, North Cedar turned the ball over twice and punted twice including a three-and-out situation. The Knights started the game with the football and put together a nice drive crossing midfield. The Knights established the running game with Brody Hawtrey and picked up a first down on a Kael Unruh 6-yard run on a 3rd and 2 from their own 40-yard line. Two plays later, Tipton forced a fumble that lineman Jessie Lieser recovered for the turnover. Tipton wasted little time scoring, stringing together a 7-play drive that ended in the first of two Austin Lenz touchdown runs for a 7-0 lead early.
The Tigers had three first-quarter drives and scored points on two of those drives and missed a field goal on the other drive. The Tigers were in Knight territory most of the opening quarter on offense. North Cedar took over after the missed Tipton field goal at the 20-yard line, but three plays into that drive, Payten Elijah intercepted Ethan Sahr setting up the Tiger's next drive with a short field. Three Tipton plays later saw Elijah scoot into the endzone from 15 yards out to give THS a 13-0 lead.
That score would stand to the halftime break, but not before North Cedar added some intrigue. The Knights drove twice within the Tigers 5-yard line before halftime only to come up short of points. North Cedar moved the ball through the air in the second quarter with Sahr going 4-for-7 for 120 passing yards on the Knights final two drives of the half. Sahr passed for over 1,000 yards last season and has a chance to get 2,000 career passing yards with a good season this year. Unruh had a big 66-yard catch on one drive and Hawtrey caught three passes for 54 yards on the Knights final first-half drive.
Tipton has a stable of running backs to deploy this year. Six ball carriers had the bulk of the carries, but nine Tigers carried the football at least once last Friday. Six ball carriers had runs of 10 or more yards in the game. Austin Lenz led Tipton in rushing with 88 yards on 17 carries and he scored two touchdowns. Blake Wilkins rushed for 64 yards on eight carries and ran the football hard in the game. Frank Bierman rushed for 43 yards and a touchdown, Payten Elijah rushed for 26 yards and two scores. Conner Hermiston rushed for 24 yards and Lake Anderson 9 yards.
Wilkins passed for 48 yards. He did have an interception. Bierman had one catch for 41 yards and Hermiston had a reception for 7 yards.
North Cedar had 16 first downs and 219 yards of total offense. Senior quarterback Ethan Sahr passed for 229 yards on 13 completions. Brody Hawtrey caught five passes for 74 yards Kael Unruh caught two passes for 88 yards and Gage Walshire caught two passes for 26 yards. Defensively, North Cedar was led by Tyler Thurston with 14 tackles, Gage Walshire with 8 and Ethan Sahr with 7. Thurston, Walshire, and Brennan Kreel each had two tackles for loss in the game. Sahr had a pass interception and James Garner had a fumble recovery.
The Tigers extended their lead to 21-0 in the middle of the third quarter. THS 7-play drive that spanned 63 yards. The Tigers did not pass on the drive and used the legs of Blake Wilkins, Frank Bierman, and Austin Lenz to score the touchdown. Lenz went into the endzone from three yards out to give the Tigers a 21-0 lead. To that point, each team started the half with a turnover and a three-and-out series.
The Tigers scored twice in the fourth quarter. Frank Bierman and Payten Elijah scored on touchdown runs of 15 yards and 5 yards to set the score at its final of 34-0.
North Cedar had a 4-6 record in their last ten season openers before this game and now have lost their last five season-opening games. North Cedar won back-to-back season openers in 2013 and 2014 against Anamosa (22-0) and Alburnett (14-6). The Knights beat Tipton in back-to-back season openers in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Tipton also came into the game having a 4-6 record in their last ten openers.
North Cedar will look for their first victory this Friday at Durant. The Wildcats come in off a big 24-0 win over rival Wilton. It was the first time since 1999 that the Wildcats have defeated the Beavers on the gridiron. Durant has a new quarterback in junior Keagan Head. Head passed for 59 yards and two touchdowns against Wilton. The Knights will have to contend with the DeLong brothers. Freshman Nolan rushed for 159 yards while senior Drew rushed for 95 yards on 22 carries. Both also are impact defenders.
Tipton will travel to Vinton-Shellsburg on Friday night. The Tigers beat Vinton-Shellsburg 27-17 at home last year. V-S beat Alburnett 23-14 Friday night snapping a 13-game losing streak. V-S did not win a game last season. Quarterback Brooks Erickson passed for 75 yards and rushed for 23 yards and a touchdown. Maximo Vasquez and Jose Wilson each averaged 7.0 yards a carry. CJ Rickels caught three passes for 34 yards. Sam Griffin had two interceptions including returning one for an 80-yard touchdown.
The Tigers look to go 2-0 for the second straight year. It would be the first time since the 2014-15 seasons that the Tigers would accomplish the feat. The next time that has happened was the 2002-03 seasons.
Tipton 34, North Cedar 0
Friday, August 30
At Stanwood
Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr - TIP - Austin Lenz 2-yard run (Kael Jauron kick)
1st Qtr - TIP - Payten Elijah 15-yard run (Kael Jauron kick no good)
3rd Qtr - TIP - Austin Lenz 2-yard run (Kael Jauron kick no good)
4th Qtr - TIP - Frank Bierman 15-yard run (Kael Jauron kick no good)
4th Qtr - TIP - Payten Elijah 5-yard run (Frank Bierman kick)
Individual Statistics:
Passing: Tipton - Blake Wilkins 2-for-8 48 yards, 0 TD’s, 1 INT. North Cedar - Ethan Sahr 13-for-30 229 yards, 0 TD’s, 3 INT’s.
Rushing: Tipton - Austin Lenz 17-88, Blake Wilkins 8-64, Frank Bierman 6-43, Payten Elijah 6-26, Connor Hermiston 4-24, Lake Anderson 3-9, Jaxon Murphy 1-13, Carter Hill 1-4, Brandon Hines 1-(-9). North Cedar - Brody Hawtrey 14-32, Ethan Sahr 6-(-35), Tyler Thurston 4-(-11), Kael Unruh 2-8, Kole Murray 1-(-4).
Receiving: Tipton - Frank Bierman 1-41, Connor Hermiston 1-7. North Cedar - Brody Hawtrey 5-74, Kael Unruh 2-88, Gage Walshire 2-26, Tyler Thurston 2-7, Devonte Crist 1-28, Jaxon Sander 1-6.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Tipton - Andrew Comstock 1-8 9, Nile Schuett 5-3 8, Frank Bierman 2-5 7, Connor Hermiston 2-5 7, Payten Elijah 3-3 6, Jaxon Murphy 0-4 4, Skyler Schmidt 2-1 3, Lake Anderson 1-2 3, Kaleb Nerem 1-2 3, Levi Daniel 1-2 3, Jesse Lieser 1-2 3, Jack Boldt 0-2 2, Carter Hill 1-0 1, Kael Jauron 1-0 1, Galin Hoenig 1-0 1, Collin Chambliss 1-0 1, Nolan Ohrt 0-1 1, Cody Koch 0-1 1.
North Cedar - Tyler Thurston 8-6 14, Gage Walshire 4-4 8, Ethan Sahr 4-3 7, Brody Hawtrey 3-3 6, James Garner 3-2 5, Brennan Kreel 1-4 5, Kael Unruh 3-1 4, Jaxon Sander 2-2 4, Brayden Kreel 1-2 3, Luke Crock 0-2 2, Tyler Jackson 1-1 2, Jacob Sander 0-2 2, Braden Wink 1-1 2, JT Kash 0-1 1, Sam Brand 0-1 1.
Tackles For Loss: Tipton - Nile Schuett 3, Frank Bierman 3, Andrew Comstock 2, Nolan Ohrt 1, Galin Hoenig 1, Levi Daniel 1, Jesse Lieser 1, Kaleb Nerem 1, Connor Hermiston 1, Cody Koch. North Cedar - Tyler Thurston 2, Gage Walshire 2, Brennan Kreel 2, Kael Unruh 1, James Garner 1, Caden Wendt 1, Jaxon Sander 1.
Interceptions: Tipton - Payten Elijah 3. North Cedar - Ethan Sahr.
Fumble Recoveries: Tipton - Jessie Lieser 1. North Cedar - James Garner.
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Tipton - Kael Jauron 6-231 yards, 38.5-yard ave. North Cedar - Tyler Thurston 1-42 yards, 42.0-yard ave.229
Kick-Off Returns: Tipton - N/A. North Cedar - Jaxon Sander 3-40, Tyler Thurston 1-15.
Punting: Tipton - Payten Elijah 4-172 yards, 43.0-yard ave. North Cedar - Brody Hawtrey 7-201 yards, 28.7-yard ave.
Punt Returns: Tipton - Payten Elijah 3-7 yards. North Cedar - N/A.
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