Tigers match 2018 win total, and go for district title Friday night at home

Tigers match 2018 win total, and go for district title Friday night at home 

LETTS — The Tipton Tiger football team won their fourth game in a row and remained perfect in district play with a 28-14 win at Louisa-Musca- tine last Friday. The win gave Tipton an overall record of 6-2, matching their win total in 2018 when they were 6-3. The Tigers also remained unbeaten in district play at 4-0 and can win the district with a win in week nine. The Tigers have scored 28 or more points in three of their four district games.

Tipton scored the rst points of the game in the opening quarter. A 30-yard touchdown pass from Blake Wilkins to Frank Bierman gave THS a 6-0 lead. That score would stand at the end of the rst quarter. The Tigers extended their lead to 14-0 after a big play on the ground. Tipton senior Connor Hermiston dashed 50 yards for the second Tiger touchdown and Payten Elijah ran in the two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead. The Falcons cut Tipton’s lead in half, 14-8 later in the second quarter when Chase Kruse scored on a 5-yard run. Kruse added a two-point run. The 14-8 score would be the score at halftime.

Tipton swung the momentum to their side and did not let it go with two scores in the third quarter. The big swing came after a defensive touchdown. Senior lineman Jesse Lieser returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown. The score gave the Tigers a 20-8. Tipton took their big- gest lead of the game, 28-8 after an Austin Lenz 24-yard run and Blake Wilkins two-pont run.

Cruse scored the only points for the Falcons and for either team in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard run to set the score to 28-14.

The Tigers could have won the outright district title if Camanache could have beaten West Liberty, at West Liberty. However, the Comets beat Camanche 21-19 in overtime. The win sets up a winner-take-all game this week in Tipton for the district 5 title and automatic bid in the Class 2A playo s.

The Tigers had 273 yards of total yards on 44 plays. Tipton passed for 95 yards and rushed for 178 yards. Tipton had ten rst downs. The Tigers came into the game with three of the top-5 rushers in district 5 in seniors Austin Lenz, Connor Hermiston, and Frank Bierman. The Falcons held the trio and THS team to 178 team rushing yards. Hermiston led THS in rushing with 72 yards on four carries and a touchdown. Lenz rushed for 45 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown while Bieman rushed for 25 yards on nine carries. Blake Wilkins passed for 95 yards on 6-of- 7 pass attempts with a touchdown. Bierman caught three passes for 56 yards and had a touchdown.

Defensively, Tipton was led by Bierman with 11 tackles, including seven solo tackles, Payten Elijah with
10 and Lake Anderson and Kaleb Nerem with nine each. Bierman had four tackles for loss and a sack while Jesse Lieser and Andrew Comstock each had fumble recoveries.

The Falcons had 309 yards of total o ense on 70 plays. Louisa-Musca- tine had 105 passing and 204 rushing yards and 19 rst downs. The Tigers held Falcons leading rusher, and district 5 leading rusher, Chase Kruse to 131 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns. Kruse topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season with that total. Kruse passed for 105 yards on eight completions. Brock Jeambey caught a team high three passes for 57 yards. Defensively, the Falcons were led by Gabe Hayes with nine, Maxwell McCulley with seven and Kruse with ve.

The Tigers beat the Falcons 32 to 16 in week eight last year at home. 2019 seniors Blake Wilkings and Conner Hermiston had good games. Wilkins passed for 60 yards and Hermiston rushed for 132 yards on 12 carries and had a touchdown.

West Liberty Comes To Town
The Tigers and West Liberty will meet for the second straight year for the District 5 title. Last year, the Comets beat Tipton 33-8. The Tigers nished 6-3 overall and missed the playo s. The Comets nished the season 8-4 and marched to the UNI-Dome and the Class 3A semi nals where they lost to PCM.

Talen Dengler leads the Comets in passing with 614 yards, four touchdowns, and six interceptions. Will Esmoil is the Comets leading rusher with 649 yards and eight touchdowns. He averages 6.2 yards a carry. Koby Simon is West Liberty’s leading receiver with 17 receptions for 284 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, West Liberty is led by Esmoil with 66 tackles. Both he and Simon each have 10 or more tackles for loss. The Comets are dangerous in the return game with two touchdowns returned o of kick-o s and one returned o of a punt.

Tigers Move Up Again In RPI
For the third straight week, Tipton has moved up in the latest RPI rankings. The Tigers were No. 11 in the rst RPI rankings after week six. Last week, after week seven, Tipton was No. 8. This week, Tipton moved up to No. 7. The Tigers are 6-2 and one of only two teams in the top-10 RPI rankings this week with their opponents record a winning one.

Tipton’s week nine foe West Liberty is now No. 11 in the 2A RPI, making their week nine game with the Tigers all the more interesting. Other Class 2A District 5 teams in the RPI this week are No. 21 Camanche, No. 29 Louisa-Muscatine, No. 30 Mount Vernon, and No. 45 West Burlington.