Tigers still standing after suffering tough loss to Comets, 14-13

Tigers In Playoffs For First Time Since 2015
 TIPTON — Blocked. That was the final story out of the winner-take-all district 5 defacto championship game last Friday in Tipton. The Tigers welcomed in West Liberty for a week nine match up after each team won in week eight. Had the Comets lost to Camanche in week eight the Tigers would have had the district title wrapped up. But, the Comets pulled out a 21-19 overtime win at home over Camanche to set up the high stakes contest. The two teams met in week nine last year with the same stakes at hand. There, the Comets won 34-8. Last Friday, in a closer game, the Comets won 14- 13. A blocked point after touchdown attempt by Frank Bierman with less than four minutes remaining in the game was the di erence in the Comets win. Still, the Tigers are still standing. THS has quali ed for the 2019 playo s as one of the Class 2A wild card teams in the 16-team eld. They will travel to Waukon Friday for the program’s first playoff game since 2015.

 Statistically, both teams were even. Tipton had 14 rst downs to the Comets 13. Tipton had more total yards in the game 250, to the Comets 217. The Tigers rushed for more yards than the Comets 205 to 148. The Comets passed for more yards than the Tigers 69 to 45. Still, the end of the game saw West Liberty one-point ahead.

 The Tigers fell to 6-3 overall and su ered their rst district loss to end the district season 4-1. It is the second straight 6-3 season for THS. The last time a THS team has had back-to-back seasons with at least six wins was the 2003 and 2004 seasons when Tipton went 9-1 in 2003 and 6-3 in 2004.

 The game was scoreless after the first quarter as each team tried to figure out where to attack the other. The Tigers got on the scoreboard first in the second quarter. An Austin Lenz 1-yard run and Bierman PAT gave Tipton a 7-0 lead. West Liberty would fight back and tie the score before halftime. A 26-yard touchdown pass from Talen Dengler to Gavin Chown tied the game at 7.

 The Comets took their only lead of the football game in the third quarter when Dengler scored on a 15-yard run to set the score at 14-7. Tipton would score their final touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a Frank Bierman 7-yard touchdown run to set the score at 14-13 Comets. On the PAT attempt by Bierman, Brodie Kilburn blocked the attempt, preserving a 1-point Comet lead.

 The Comets got the football back with less than three minutes remaining in the game. The Tigers held them and forced a punt. The Tigers took over near midfield, but could not get into position for a winning eld goal try or a go-ahead touchdown.

 Bierman led Tipton in rushing with 79 yards on 12 carries. Austin Lenz rushed for 64 yards on 2 carries and Connor Hermiston rushed for 48 yards on eight carries. Blake Wilkins passed for 27 yards and Payten Elijah 18 yards in the game. Bierman led THS receivers with four receptions for 35 yards.

 Defensively, Tipton was led in tackles by Bier- man and Brendan Leeper with eight each. Elijah had seven as did Hermiston, and Lake Anderson had six. Bierman had ve tackles for loss and Nile Schuett had two. Bierman had two quarterback sacks and Schuett had one. Payten Elijah had his sixth interception of the season. That total ties for the lead in Class 2A with Cameren Palmer from Oelwein.

Tigers 13th In Final RPI, Will Travel For Playoffs
 The Tipton football team will travel to top-ranked Waukon Friday night to open the 2019 playo s. The Tigers sat at No. 7 in the RPI after week eight, but after their loss to No. 11 West Liberty, THS tumbled to No. 13. West Liberty took the No. 7 spot and will host Monticello this Fri- day. The winners of those two games will play on Friday, November 8 for a trip to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls for the state semi nals in Class 2A. Waukon is 9-0 overall and are the champions of District 4. Waukon quarterback Creed Welch has passed for 1,807 yards on 109 completions with 24 touchdown passes. That total is fifth in Class 2A. Waukon has four running backs over 100 yards this season. Dawson Baures leads with 725 yards on 82 carries and 11 touchdowns. Ethan O’Neil had 571 yards on 59 carries and four touchdowns. Pat Hennessy rushed for 390 yards and three touchdowns. Brady Behernd and Baures lead the receivers with 408 yards and 327 yards. Behrend leads in receptions with 24 and touchdown catches with ve.

 Defensively, Waukon has two ball hawks in Av- ery Rocksvold and Creed Welch. Rocksvold has ve interceptions and Welch has four. LIncoln Snitker leads in tackles with 74 and Ethan O’Neil leads in tackles for loss with ten. Brennen Swee- ney has ve sacks and O’Neil has four.

 On special teams, Waukon has only gone for two PAT’s this season and made one of those attempts. Waukon has used two punters and have only averaged 31.8 yards per punt. No Waukon player has returned the ball on a kick-o or punt for a touchdown.