Waukon football team defies graduation losses to remain in State Play-Off hunt right up to the end of its 6-3 campaign for 2016
Facing a large graduation loss from last season’s third State Play-Off qualifying team in the last four seasons, along with the narrowing of the State Play-Off field to half as many teams this season, there weren’t many outside the team huddle who gave the 2016 Waukon football team much of a chance to once again be a play-off contender, or even produce a winning season record, for that matter.
Luckily, it’s the ones inside that huddle who have more control over that result, doing so to the tune of a 6-3 season record and a 5-2 Class 2A District 4 mark that left the Indians third in their district and knocking on the door of yet another State Play-Off qualification. The trimming of the State Play-Offs by the Iowa High School Athletic Association to just a 16-team field to try and eliminate such a strenuous play-off schedule allowed for only the first two teams in each district to automatically qualify for postseason play, along with two at-large wild card teams.
The 2016 grid Tribe took their automatic play-off qualification chances to their very last regular season game before falling to district champion and top-rated North Fayette Valley and ending up third in the final district standings. The Indians’ 5-2 district record still had them in the play-off hunt as one of those at-large qualifiers, but the final point spread tie-breaking criteria left the Indians as the third team on that at-large list, just a few points shy of a fourth State Play-Off qualification in the past five seasons.
“While I would like to think we are at a level where we can compete yearly for a play-off spot and advance if we do get in, the reality is there are always high tides and low tides,” Waukon football coach Chad Beermann said. “We knew people were looking past us a bit this year, and we were thrilled with the way the kids responded to the challenge. As coaches, it was gratifying to see a group use the opportunities offered to them, and succeed because of it.”
The Tribe’s three losses on the season all came to automatic State Play-Off qualifiers in this season’s narrowed Class 2A field, with the Indians’ two district losses this fall coming to the two automatic play-off qualifiers from their District 4, including that final regular season loss to North Fayette Valley and to District 4 runner-up Union. Those two teams actually met again in the quarterfinal round of the Class 2A Play-Offs, with Union exacting considerable revenge from that regular season match-up against top-rated and undefeated North Fayette Valley with a 28-12 season-ending defeat of the TigerHawks on their own home field. The Knights have gone on to play their way to the Class 2A State Championship game to be played later this same week against Boyden Hull-Rock Valley.
Although it may sound contradictory, it was within those two losses that Coach Beermann sees some of this season’s most considerable high points. “Our highlights really came in the middle of our lowest points this year,” he explained. “After getting down to Union and NFV, our kids figured out they could play with those two outstanding teams. We will seek to use that next year, as so many of these kids will be back. As far as a highlight that was a success, I would put the goal line stands and the ability to run out the clock to win the game vs. Cascade into that category.”
Playing a significant role in those two district losses and, thus, missing out on the State Play-Offs, was an injury bug that bit the football Indians late in the season. “Injuries brought the greatest challenges, but then, they always do,” Coach Beermann said. “You try to stress weight training and conditioning to minimize the risk, but you can’t really control that. And occasionally you end up with off-field injuries you can’t control at all.”
The end to this 2016 season also brought to completion the high school football careers of 10 seniors on this season’s squad. Nathan Benzing, Andrew Dickson, Kyle Gordon, Tanner Mathis, Brandon Regan, Carson Schwartzhoff, Aaron Sherman, Max Swartz, Blain Swenson and Riley Wyninger each played their final games in a Waukon football uniform.
“Our seniors were truly late bloomers on the football field,” Coach Beermann said. “It is my understanding they did not win an organized football game from YSF (Youth Sports Foundation fifth and sixth grades), through junior high, until their freshman season. They continued to work, and to improve. Only two of them started as juniors, but they were patient and helped out as needed. And, when their turn arrived, they seized it. They are not natural leaders and are not comfortable in that role, but they stepped up and led the way for their younger teammates.”
Along with their upperclassmen leadership, there were also members of this year’s senior class that provided statistical leadership at season’s end. Swenson was the Tribe’s second-leading rusher and third-leading pass receiver behind Mathis’ second-place receiving yardage total. Swenson also paced the Indian defense with his team-high 61 total tackles that included a pace-setting 33 solo stops, 11 solo tackles for loss and four-and-a-half quarterback sacks. Senior Brandon Regan added the team’s third-leading tackle total of 49 stops that included five solo tackles for loss of yardage.
In addition to that senior leadership, a great deal of this season’s statistical leadership was shouldered by this season’s junior class. Mitchell Snitker was the offensive workhorse for the gridiron Tribe, racking up team highs of 856 yards and 12 touchdowns on 126 rushing attempts while adding another 462 yards and seven touchdowns through the air. He also led the Indian defense with six interceptions, returning one of those for a touchdown.
Fellow junior Abe Schwartz made himself right at home as the Tribe’s signal caller this season, completing 73 of 132 pass attempts for 1,069 yards and 14 touchdowns while also being the Indians’ third-leading ground gainer with 115 yards and four touchdowns on 48 carries. Behind Swenson’s defensive leadership, junior Tristan Hansmeier finished with a team runner-up total of 57 total tackles, with Snitker adding a team runner-up 31 solo stops and fellow junior Alex Brink joining Swenson with three solo sacks and posting a runner-up total of 10 solo tackles for loss of yardage. Hansmeier, Brink and fellow junior Evan Armstead each joined Mathis in recovering a team-high two fumbles, with junior Jadon Johnson ranking second on this year’s team with four interceptions and five other underclassmen each picking off at least one pass this season.
“We have a number of returning starters and players who played big roles,” Coach Beermann said. “So, we really would like to see those players get into the weight room now through the winter. We would love to see them play basketball or wrestle, and then see them this spring for track. If they look at the improvements our seniors made from last year, it should show our upcoming players the way. Coach Ted Snitker puts in a lot of time with the kids in the weight room, and our strength and conditioning program has really brought us some great benefits… for those kids who chose to use it.”
Showing a good balance of accomplishment both on the field an in the classroom, 12 of this season’s team members were named to the Academic All-District squad. Snitker and Schwartz were joined by fellow juniors Landon Berns and Jared Campbell, seniors Max Swartz and Aaron Sherman, and sophomores Peyton Bieber, Thomas Byrnes and Robbie Drew in each being named to the Academic All-District First Team, with senior Kyle Gordon and juniors Lukas Larson and Ethan Krueger each being Second Team selections.
