A Dozen Tigers Named All-District

Tipton's Frank Bierman (11), Austin Lenz (20), and Connor Hermiston (30) were three of the Tigers 12 players named to the Class 2A District 5 All-District list last week.  Photo by Darren Miller.

TIPTON — A dozen Tipton football players were named to the Class 2A District 5 All-District team last week when the district released their 2019 honors list. The Tigers had five players repeat getting honored on a All-District list. Those players were Nile Schuett, Frank Bierman, Connor Hermiston, Austin Lenz, and Jesse Lieser.

Tipton had seven first team selections on the all-district team. The Tigers had two running backs and two linemen on offense. The Tigers had two defensive linemen and a defensive back selected.

The Tigers swept the two running back sports on the first team All-district team. Tipton seniors Austin Lenz and Connor Hermiston were on the first team.Lenzled THS in rushing with 807 yards on 140 carries for a 5.8-yard average. He also scored 10 touchdowns. Defensively, Lenz had 26 tackles. He was second on the Tigers in return yards off of a kick return. He had 222 yards on 15 returns. Connor Hermiston was the other first team all-district running back. He rushed for 429 yards on 48 carries with five touchdowns. He averaged 8.9 yards a carry. Hermiston was second on the team in receptions and yards. He caught nine passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns. Hermiston was the Tigers leading tackler this season with 69. He had eight tackles for loss, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Tipton had two first team all-district offensive linemen. Juniors Nile Schuett and Jack Boldt were those selections. They helped the Tigers rush for a district high 2,557 yards on 458 attempts. The Tigers averaged 5.6 yards a carry. Schuett had 40 tackles on defense with 17 tackles for loss and four sacks. Boldt had four tackles on defense.

The Tigers had three players named to the first team all-district defensive unit. They were seniors Frank Bierman and Jesse Lieser and junior Payten Elijah. Bierman and Lieser were two members of the Tigers offensive line.

Bierman was the Tigers leading receiver with 20 receptions for 365 yards and two touchdowns. Bierman was the second leading rusher with 702 yards on 105 carries with seven touchdowns. Bierman averaged 6.7 yards a carry. On defense, Bierman was the third leading tackler on the Tigers this season from his defensive end spot. Bierman had 25 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. Jessie Lieser had 38 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and four sacks. Lieser also had a team high 5 fumble recoveries returning one for a touchdown. He also had a rushing touchdown this season. Junior Payten Elijah was a first team all-district selection at defensive back. He was also the district’s top punter. Elijah led Tipton and the district with seven interceptions. He returned those interceptions for 75 return yards. He was fifth on the Tigers team in tackles with 50. On offense, Elijah passed for 70 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 225 yards on 46 carries with four touchdowns this season. He also caught eight passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.

The Tigers had four players selected to the second team all-district team. They were senior linebacker Andrew Comstock, sophomore linebacker/defensive back Kaleb Nerem, junior linebacker/defensive lineman Lake Anderson, and senior quarterback Blake Wilkins.

Comstock was the Tigers fourth leading tackler with 59 tackles. He also had seven tackles for loss and recovered two fumbles. Schmidt had 17 tackles and had an interception. Anderson had 41 tackles this year and three tackles for loss. He also had a fumble recovery. On offense, he rushed the football 13 times for 46 yards and caught one-pass for two yards. Wilkins had career highs this year on offense. Wilking passed for 622 yards on 34 completions with four touchdowns. He was the fourth leading rusher for the Tigers this year with 342 yards on 87 carries with three touchdowns. He averaged 3.9 yards a carry.

Tipton had two players named to the honorable mention team. Those players were lineman Cody Koch and defensive back Jaxson Murphy. Murphy is a senior and Koch a sophomore. Koch helped on the offensive line that helped the Tigers put up gaudy rushing yards this season. Murphy had 29 tackles and 2 tackles for loss.

The Tigers tied with West Liberty for the best District 5 record at 4-1. The Comets however, took the district crown after beating the Tigers in week 9. The Tigers were one of three district 5 teams with a 6-3 overall record. The Tigers started the season 2-1 after three games and had a season best win streak of four games after seeing their record fall to 2-2 after a loss to state ranked West Branch. The Tigers began the district season 4-0. The Tigers qualfied for the 2019 state playoffs, eventually falling to Class 2A state runner-up Waukon.

Class 2A District 5 All-District Team

Team District Overall
West Liberty 4-1 6-3
Tipton 4-1 6-3
Camanche 3-2 6-3
Mt. Vernon 3-2 4-5
L+M 1-4 4-5
WBND 0-5 1-8

1st Team All-District Offense

* - denotes unanimous selection

Quarterback - Chase Kruse (Louisa-Muscatine) Sr.*
Running back - Austin Lenz (Tipton) Sr.*, Connor Hermiston (Tipton) Sr.*
Wide Receiver - Noah Erickson (Mount Vernon) Sr.*, Kobe Simon (West Liberty) Jr., Jordan Lawrence (Camanche)
Offensive Line - Wyatt Wolf (West Liberty) Sr.*, Keean Kamerling (Mount Vernon) Jr.*, Nile Schuett (Tipton) Jr.*, Jack Boldt (Tipton) Jr.*, Zayne Feller (Camanche) Jr.*
Utility - L.J. Henderson (Camanche) Sr.*

1st Team All-District Defense
Defensive Linemen - Frank Bierman (Tipton) Sr.*, Wyatt Stanbro (Mount Vernon) Sr.*, Jesse Lieser (Tipton) Sr., Gage Snider (West Liberty) Sr.
Linebackers - Will Esmoil (West Liberty) Sr.*, Gavin Chown (West Liberty) Sr.*, Nolan Brand (Mount Vernon) Sr., Hayden Calvelage (Louisa-Muscatine)
Defensive Backs - Payten Elijah (Tipton) Jr.*, Jahsiah Galvan (West Liberty) Soph., Sam Adams (Mount Vernon) Sr.
Utility - Talen Dengler (West Liberty) Sr., Garrett Hormann (Mount Vernon) Sr., Max McCulley (Louisa-Muscatine) Sr.

1st Team All-District Special Teams
Place kicker - Cael Crawford (Mount Vernon) Sr.*
Punter - Payten Elijah (Tipton) Jr.*
Returner - Chase Kruse (Louisa-Muscatine) Sr.*

2nd Team All-District
West Liberty - Brodie Kilburn Utility Sr., Ramon Martinez OL Sr., Zajit Melchor DL Jr., David Molina LB Jr., Bryan Martinez PK Soph.
Tipton - Andrew Comstock LB Sr., Kaleb Nerem LB/DB Soph., Lake Anderson LB/DL Jr., Blake Wilkins QB Sr.
Camanche - Logan Shaw DB Jr., Payton Nicol DL Sr., Ethan Buckley LB Sr., Cade Everson RB Jr.
Mount Vernon - Brady Ketchum QB Jr., Zach Baker WR Sr., Tyler Niehaus DB Sr.
Louisa-Muscatine - Brock Jeambey UT Sr., Trey Wagner LB Jr., Gabe Hayes DL Sr.
West Burlington/Notre Dame - Travis Willis DE Sr., Hunter Reich CB Sr.

Honorable Mention
West Liberty - Caleb Wulf Soph., Felipe Molina Soph.
Mount Vernon - Aidan Nosek Jr., Collin Swantz Jr.
Camanche - Logan Waltz Jr., Caleb Delzell Sr.
Tipton - Cody Koch Soph., Jaxson Murphy Sr.
Louisa-Muscatine - Max Mashek Sr., Kaden Schneider Sr.
West Burlington/ND - Hayden Vandenberg Jr., Drayton LaVeine Sr.