Tigers slow Indians to open district play

 Tigers slow Indians to open district play
CLINTON — Last Thursday was already a big night for the THS football team as they played 3-1 Camanche. The game was moved up a day due to weather. The Indians were 4-5 last year and flirted with a winning record. The 2019 Indians are looking to capture the program’s first winning season since 2010 when that Indians team went 8-3 and reached the playoffs. Camanche was 4-5 in 2011 when they were 4-5, but until last season, their best season was 2-7 in that time. The 3-1 record has them well on their way, needing two wins in their final five games prior to their game with THS. Last Thursday also saw a unique venue to host the 2A District 5 opener for both teams. The game was played at NelsonCorp Field, the home of the Clinton Lumberkings Class A Midwest League team.     
 There, the Tigers dominated the Indians, beating them, 48-13 to collect their third win to move to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in district play. The game was part of what was dubbed the LumberBowl doubleheader. Northeast played Dyersville-Beckman after the THS-Camanche game.
 After a slow start offensively, Tipton scored the game’s first points. A Connor Hermiston 50-yard touchdown run and PAT kick by Frank Bierman gave THS a 7-0 first-quarter lead, 16 seconds later, Camamanche would tie the game at 7-7 on the first play of their ensuing drive. Indian quarterback Caleb Delzell connected with Kyle DeWeerdt for a 69-yard touchdown pass.
 With the score tied at 7, Camanche took their only lead of the ball game when Raul Esparza intercepted Tipton quarterback Blake Wilkins and returned the ball 56 yards for a touchdown and 13-7 Camanche lead.
The Tigers tied the score at 13 on a defensive touchdown. The Tiger special teams and defense came up big for the next THS score. A beauty of a punt by Payton Elijah spanned nearly 50 yards and was downed at the 1-yard line. On the next play, the Tigers defense blew up the Indian's play, causing a fumble. Hermiston would recover the football in the end zone. Later in the quarter, Blake Wilkins found Hermiston through the air for a 27-yard touchdown pass to give Tipton a 20-13 lead. THS would not trail again.
 Tipton took command of the football game in the second half, outscoring the Indians 28-0 including
20 points in the third quarter. Touchdown runs in the third quarter by Payten Elijah, Jesse Lieser and Austin Lenz set the score at 40-13 after three quarters setting the Mercy Rule running clock in motion. The Tigers added a 3-yard Hermiston run in the fourth quarter to set the final at 48-13.
 Tipton had 463 yards of total offense with 326 rushing and 137 passing yards. The Tigers had 18 first downs in the game to six by Camanche. Austin Lenz topped 100 rushing yards in the game finishing with 126 on 15 carries. It was the first time for the Tigers leading rusher after coming close to 100 yards in each of the previous four THS games. Hermiston rushed for 69 yards on five carries and caught two passes for 59 yards. Wilkins threw for a season-high 111 yards on 5-of-9 completions with a touchdown and two interceptions. Frank Bierman caught three passes for 78 yards.
 Defensively, THS was led by Kaleb Nerem with 5 and a quartet of players with four tackles in Connor Hermiston, Jesse Lieser, Brenden Leeper, and Nile Schuett.
Caleb Delzell, filling in for injured quarterback Jordan Lawrence (497 yards 5 TD’s), threw for 117 yards on 7-for-24 attempts with a touchdown and an interception. The Tiger defense held the Indians leading rusher, Cade Everson to 30 yards on 12 carries for a 2.5-yard average. Ethan Buckley and Everson each shared the team-high in receptions with three each.
 Tipton will return home for the next two weeks and play at home in three of their final four district games this year. The Tigers will host Mount Vernon this week for homecoming. The Mustangs began the season 0-3, but have won their last two games over Maquoketa and West Liberty by giving
up only 27 combined points.
 The Mustangs gave up 86 combined points in their first three games and didn’t score more than 16 points in any of their three losses. The Tigers defense will be tested with an impressive
ariel attack. Mustang quarterback
 Brady Ketchem has thrown for over 1,000 yards with 1,117 yards and 10 touchdown passes. Noah Erickson (19 rec. 445 yards 5 TD’s), and Zach Baker (32 rec. 169 yards 1 TD) are the top Mustang receivers. The Mustangs will play on the road in three of their final four district games starting with Tipton. Road games at Camanche and Louisa-Muscatine bracket the last Mount Vernon home game on October 18 against West Burlington.

Team Statistics:
TIP
CAM
Total Plays 62 49
Total Yards 463 165
Passing yards 137 125
Rushing yards 326 40
First Downs 18 6
3rd Down Conv. 5-for-10 1-for-11
4th Down Conv. 1-for-1 0-for-2
Turnovers 3 3
Fumbles Lost 0 2
Interceptions 3 1
Penalties-yards 4-21 2-29

Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Tipton 7 13 20 8 48
Camanche 7 6 0 0 13

Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr - TIP - Connor Hermiston 50-yard run (Frank Bierman kick)
1st Qtr - CAM - Kyle DeWeerdt 69-yard pass from Caleb Delzell (Logan Waltz kick)
2nd Qtr - CAM - Raul Esparza 56-yard interception
return (Logan Waltz kick no good)
2nd Qtr - TIP - Connor Hermiston 1-yard fumble return (Frank Bierman kick no good)
2nd Qtr - TIP - Connor Hermiston 27-yard pass from Blake Wilkins (Frank Bierman kick)
3rd Qtr - TIP - Payten Elijah 43-yard run (Frank Bierman kick no good)
3rd Qtr - TIP - Jesse Lieser 3-yard run (Frank Bierman kick)
3rd Qtr - TIP - Austin Lenz 2-yard run (Frank Bierman
kick)
4th Qtr - TIP - Connor Hermiston 3-yard run (Connor Hermiston 2-point conversion run)

Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Tipton - Austin Lenz 15-126, Connor Hermiston 5-68, Frank Bierman 10-48, Blake Wilkins 11-45, Payten Elijah 4-41, Carter Hill 1-(-1), Levi Daniel 1-(-2), Jaxson Murphy 1-(-2). Camanche - Caleb Delzell 7-for-24 117 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.
Passing: Tipton - Blake Wilkins 4-for-8 106 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT’s. Payten Elijah 1-for-2 31 yards, 0 TD’s, 1 INT. Camanche - Cade Everson 12-30, Raul Esparza 6-18, Eric Kinkaid 1-5, Caleb
Delzell 2-(-5).
Receiving: Tipton - Frank Bierman 3-78, Connor Hermiston 2-59. Camanche - Ethan Buckley 3-38, Cade Everson 3-10, Kyle DeWeerdt 1-69.

Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Kaleb Nerem 4-1 5, Connor Hermiston 3-1 4, Jesse Lieser 3-1 4, Brendan Leeper 2-2 4, Nile Schuett 2-2 4, Payten Elijah 1-2 3, Andrew Comstock 1-2 3, Carson Charves 2-0 2, Frank Bierman 1-1 2, Carter Hill 1-0 1, Levi Daniel 1-0 1, Skyler Schmidt 1-0 1, Brandon Hines 1-0 1, Levi Mohr 1-0 1, Jaxson Murphy 0-1 1, Lake Anderson 0-1 1.
Camanche - Mike Delzell 6-4 10, Ethan Buckley 4-4 8, Cade Everson 5-2 7, Payton Nicol 4-3 7, Logan Shaw 2-4 6, Raul Esparza 1-4 5, Logan Waltz 2-2 4, Zayne Feller 2-2 4, Kyle DeWeerdt 1-2 3, Morgan Butt 0-1 1, Jason Huling 1-0 1, Garrett Shaw 0-1 1.
Tackles For Loss: Tipton - Jesse Lieser 2, Frank Bierman 1. Camanche - Mike Delzell 2, Payton Nicol 2, Logan Waltz 1, Eric Kincaid 1, Cade Everson 1, Raul Esparza 1, Tucker Dickherber 1, Morgan Butt, Ethan Buckley 1.
Interceptions: Tipton - Kaleb Nerem 1. Camanche
- Raul Esparza 1-55 yards, Logan Shaw 1-15, Cade Everson 1-2.
Fumble Recoveries: Tipton - Andrew Comstock 1. Camanche - none.

Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Tipton - Frank Bierman 8-301 yards. Camanche - N/A.
Kick-Off Returns: Tipton - Austin Lenz 2-3.
Camanche - Cade Everson 2-27, Ethan Buckley
2-26, Logan Shaw 2-15, Raul Esparza 1-16.
Punting: Tipton - Payten Elijah 4-41.0-yard ave. Camanche - Caleb Delzell 6-255 yards, 42.5-yard ave.
Punt Returns: Tipton N/A. Camanche - Raul Esparza
1-15, Logan Shaw 1-15.