Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Top ranked Waukon sidelines Tigers

Tipton junior defensive lineman Nile Schuett (74) holds up the football he recovered o of a fumble in the first quarter of the Tigers 2A playoff game at Waukon last Friday. The Tigers had a great start defensively, showing o one of their team strengths this season. Photo by Darren Miller. 

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor

WAUKON — The Tipton football team qualified for the state playoff s this year for the first time since 2015 after finishing second in district 5 and earning a wild card bid. Their stay was short, however. Drawing the top-ranked team in the state, the Tigers fought very hard and ashed their staple defense, but the Indians had too much offense to contend with in the game, winning their state play- o game, 52-16. The Tigers season ends 6-4 and marks back-to-back seasons with a winning record and back-to-back seasons with six wins. Waukon came into the football game the top-ranked team in the final Radio Iowa, and Associated Press Class 2A football polls.

The Tigers were underdogs from the start of the game, but they had a fantastic start, forcing a turnover on Waukon’s first possession, stopping a 7-play drive that was approaching the red zone. After almost seeing senior linebacker Andrew Comstock get an interception on the third play of the game, junior Nile Schuett recovered a fumble at the 33- yard line six plays later. The Tigers moved the football but were stopped after going for it on a fourth and short situation at their own 40. Two plays later, Waukon scored the first points of the game on an Ethan O’Neill 36-yard touchdown run. A 2-point conversion pass set the score at 8-0 with 8:12 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers offense would have four more possessions in the first half, all ending in punts.

The Tigers took a chance after their second drive forced a punt, and facing a third drive ending in a punt, the Tigers executed a fake punt with Payten Elijah picking up a big chunk of yards to keep the drive going. Waukon scored again in the rst quarter on their second drive on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Creed Welch to Dawson Baures, setting the score at 14-0 with 1:38 left in the opening quarter. Waukon would score the only points of the second half, late on a 53- yard scoring pass from Welch to Lincoln Snitker to put the score at 22-0 at halftime. The Waukon score came with 2:14 left in the half.

Tipton got on the scoreboard in the third quarter with the first of two second-half touchdowns. THS came up with a turnover when junior Payten Elijah intercepted a Creed Welch pass at the Waukon 29-yard line. It was Elijah’s 7th interception this season, moving him into the lead in Class 2A. He also
Tipton sophomore Skyler Schmidt (54) celebrates 
after making a big defensive play during the Tigers playoff game at 
top-ranked Waukon last Friday. 
Also pictured is Tipton defensive 
lineman Jessie Lieser (73). Photo by Darren Miller. 
has 75 return yards, including 23 yards on the play to set the Tigers up in the red zone. Tipton scored four plays later after starting their drive in the red zone at the 18-yard line. Frank Bier- man rushed for 15 yards and scored on a 5-yard run to set the score at 22-6. A Bierman 2-point conversion run set the score at 22-8 with 7:51 left in the third quarter.

The turning point came on the ensuing Tipton kick-off. Waukon’s Dawson Baures returned the Tiger kick 85 yards for a touchdown and a 30-8 Indian lead. Waukon would extend their lead to 38-8 after the third quarter on a Baures 48-yard run.

Tipton would stop the string of Waukon points in the fourth quarter early. Blake Wilking found Connor Hermiston for a 46-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion pass to Austin Lenz put the score 38-16. That is as close as the Tigers could get. Waukon would tack on two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to set the score at its final, 52-16. Tipton’s offense was led by their ground game by a trio of seniors. Nine Tigers carried the football in the game. Tipton senior Austin Lenz rushed for 88 yards on 17 carries. Blake Wilkins rushed for 64 yards on nine carries and Frank Bierman had 43 yards on six carries.

Blake Wilkins passed for 53 yards on two completions. Frank Bierman and Connor Hermiston caught passes. Defensively, Tipton was led by Andrew Comstock with nine tackles, Nile Schuett with eight, and Bierman and Hermiston each with seven. Connor Hermiston intercepted two Creed Welch passes as the Tiger defense had three total interceptions. That doubled Welch’s season total, as he
had only three coming into the game on 171 attempts. Waukon was led by two running backs who each topped the 100-yard mark in the game. Dawson Baures rushed nine times for 182 yards and Ethan O’Neill rushed for 143 yards

on ten carries. Creed Welch passed for 140 yards on eight completions. Baures caught a team-high four passes for 59 yards. Defensively, Lincoln Snitker led Waukon with 14 tackles while O’Neill had nine and Pat Hennessy had eight. The Tigers will say goodbye to a talented senior class that was part of 12 combined wins the past two years. Graduating o of this year’s Tipton football team are Andrew Comstock, Kael Jauron, Lucas Barnum, Frank Bierman, Kaleb Mesick, Blake Wilkins, Jaxson Murphy, Austin Lenz, Colby Kleppe, Connor Hermiston, Brenden Leeper, Austin Mente, Gilan Hoenig, Collin Chambliss, Levi Mohr, Jesse Lieser, Nolan Ohrt, and Tommy Brown.

Week 9 Recap - Tigers fall to West Liberty
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 difference in the Comets win.

Statistically, both teams were even. Tipton had 14 first downs to the Comets 13. Tip- ton 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 suffered their first 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.

Tigers Back To Playoffs For The First Time Since 2015
The Tipton football team made their tenth playoff run since district play began. The last time THS was in the postseason was after the 2015 season. Tipton has playoff runs in 1992, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, and this year.

Tipton head football coach Mark Langenfeld joined four other Tiger coaches that have led Tipton to the playoffs. Those coaches are Josh Bahr, Mike Wehde, Gary Stamp, Galen Noard, and Langenfeld.
Tipton senior Connor Hermiston, center, 
makes a tackle on a Waukon ball carrier
 during the Tigers state playoff game 
at Waukon last week. Hermiston 
had quite a game with two 
interceptions, seven tackles, 
and a touchdown 
reception. Photo by Darren Miller. 
Of those, Mike Wehde led the Tigers to their only win in the playoffs since district play with a 21-20 win at Wilton on Octo- ber 29, 2007. The Tigers have reached the quarter-finals only once. That was also in 2007 when the Tigers fell 42-14 at home to Solon.

Postseason foes have included traditional powers Williams- burg, Iowa City Regina, Mid- Prairie, Solon, Wilton, West Branch, and Sigourney-Keota over the years. The Tigers were the mythical state champions in 1968 and 1969. Tipton also lost to Mediapolis in the playoff s after the 1985 regular season under then THS head coach Jerry Van Dyke.

Waukon Was Stout Foe
The Indians were the champions of Class 2A District 4 with a 5-0 record. Waukon’s district included Waterloo Columbus (4-1), Monticello (2- 3), North Fayette Valley (2-3), Anamosa (2-3), and Oelwein (0-5). Waterloo Columbus and Monticello joined Waukon in the playoff s after being ranked in the top-16 of the final RPI rankings. Waukon scored 391 points this season and averaged just over 43 points a game in the regular season. Waukon scored 35 or more points in seven of their nine regular-season games.

On defense, they were second in their district to Waterloo Columbus, giving up 111 points. Waukon gave up an average of 12.3 a game.

Quarterback Creed Welch entered the game with 1,807 passing yards and 24 touch- down passes. Dawson Baures had 725 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns, and Brady Beh- rend had 24 receptions for 408 yards and ve touchdowns. Defensively, Lincoln Snitker had 74 tackles. Avery Rocksvold had ve interceptions.

Class 2A Playoffs see no Upsets
The Class 2A playoff s saw no upsets in the quarter-final round. Waukon will play West Liberty in the next round in a match-up of district champions. The Comets won district 5 in the final week of the regular season. The top-4 teams in Class 2A remain. No. 2 Clear Lake will play Williamsburg, No. 3 Algona will play Greene County, and No. 4 OABCIG will play 2018 champion PCM.

The quarterfinal round of the playoffs is this Friday. Winners will advance to the state semi nals at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls on Saturday, November 16. The Class 2A state championship game is Friday, November 22 at 1:00 p.m.






Waukon 52, Tipton 16 Friday, November 1 At Waukon

Scoring Summary:

1st Qtr - W - Ethan O’Neill 36-yard run (Conversion Pass)
1st Qtr - W - Dawson Baures 21-yard pass from Creed Welch (Conversion pass no good)
2nd Qtr - W - Lincoln Snitker 53-yard pass from Creed Welch (Conversion run)
3rd Qtr - TIP - Frank Bierman 5-yard run (Bier- man Conversion run)
3rd Qtr - W - Dawson Baures 85-yard kick-off return (Conversion run)
3rd Qtr - W - Dawson Baures 48-yard run (Conversion run)
4th Qtr - TIP - Connor Hermiston 46-yard pass from Blake Wilkins (Bierman pass to Austin Lenz)
4th Qtr - W - Ethan O’Neill 3-yard run (Conversion Pass)
4th Qtr - W - Ethan O’Neill 37-yard run (Conversion Pass no good)

Individual Statistics:
Rushing: Tipton - Austin Lenz 17-88, Blake Wilkins 9-64, Frank Bierman 6-43, Payten Elijah 6-26, Connor Hermiston 4-24, Lake Anderson 3-9, Jaxon Murphy 1-13, Carter Hill 1-4, Bran- don Hines 1-(-9). Waukon - Dawson Baures 9-182, Ethan O’Neil 10-143, Creed Welch 6-(-1), Lincoln Snitker 1-12.
Passing: Tipton - Blake Wilkins 2-for-8 53 yards, 1 TD’s. Waukon - Creed Welch 8-for-18 140 yards, 2 TD’s, 3 INT’s. Ethan O’Neill 0-for- 1 0 yards, 0 TD’s, 0 INT’s.
Receiving: Tipton - Connor Hermiston 1-46, Frank Bierman 1-7. Waukon - Dawson Baures 4-59, Ethan O’Neill 2-15, Lincoln Snitker 1-53, Braden Hemann 1-13.

Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): Tipton - Andrew Comstock 1-8 9, Nile Schuett 5-2 8, Frank Bierman 2-5
7, Connor Hermiston 2-5 7, Payten Elijah 3-3
6, Jaxson Murphy 0-4 4, Skyler Schnidt 2-1 3, Kaleb Nerem 1-2 3, Lake Anderson 1-2 3, Levi Daniel 1-2 3, Austin Lenz 1-1 2, Jack Boldt 0-2 2, Nolan Ohrt 0-1 1, Cody Koch 0-1 1, Colin Chambliss 0-1 1, Carter Hill 1-0 1, Kael Jauron 1-0 1, Gilan Hoenig 1-0 1.
Waukon - Lincoln Snitker 12-2 14, Tyler Block 6-3 9, Ethan O’Neill 6-3 9, Pat Hennessy 6-2
8, Tanner Mitchell 5-2 7, Zach Thornton 5-1 6, Dawson Baures 2-2 4, Brennan Sweeney 1-3 4, Walker Hermeier 1-2 3, Avery Rocksvold 3-0 3, Sawyer Krueger 0-2 2, John Ronan 2-0 2, Carter Benzing 2-0 2, Asher Fahey 0-2 2, Matt Ronan 0-1 1, Braxton Stewart 1-0 1, Creed Welch 1-0 1.
Tackles For Loss: Tipton - Nile Schuett 3, Frank Bierman 3, Andrew Comstock 2, Jesse Lieser 1, Kaleb Nerem 1, Levi Daniel 1, Gilan Hoenig 1, Nolan Ohrt 1, Cody Koch 1. Waukon - Ethan O’Neill 3, Pat Hennessy 2, Asher Fahey 1, Tyler Block 1, Carter Benzing 1, Lincoln Snitker 1, Tanner Mitchell 1.
Interceptions: Tipton - Connor Hermiston 2, Payten Elijah 1. Waukon - none.
Fumble Recoveries: Tipton - None. Waukon - Pat Hennessy 1.

Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: Tipton - Frank Bierman 3-103 yards. Waukon - Matt Ronan 8-297 yards.
Kick-Off Returns: Tipton - Payten Elijah 4-52, Austin Lenz 1-13. Waukon - Dawson Baures 1-85 yards, Pat Hennessy 1-2 yards.
Punts: Tipton - Payten Elijah 5-159 yards, 31.8- yard ave. Waukon - Creed Welch 2-56 yards, 28.0-yard ave.
Punt Returns: Tipton - Payten Elijah 5-36. Waukon - Dawson Baures 1-5.

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