Waukon football team racks up over 500 yards of offense in 46-21 win at New Hampton
The Waukon football team continued its early-season non-district schedule against fellow Northeast Iowa Conference teams, traveling to New Hampton Friday, September 7. Although the two squads have waged war in some classic battles with postseason implications in recent years, this latest match-up was anything but that as the Indians rolled to a 46-21 victory over a New Hampton squad they eliminated in last season’s play-off run but whose now 0-3 season record provides evidence that it has obviously not rebounded from last year’s graduation loss as well as the Indians.
“I can’t put a finger on New Hampton’s struggles this season, but I do think they are improving,” Waukon football coach Chad Beermann speculated. “In their first two losses, they jumped out to leads and faded late, whereas in our game they fought back from being down early. I think they are seeing some of the same issues we have with playing younger players than you normally would. But, when experience catches up to talent, those kids can take big steps.”
The Indian defensive effort limited the host Chickasaws to just 214 total yards, most all of those coming after the grid Tribe played to an 18-0 halftime advantage. With 132 of those yards coming on the ground, senior Tristan Schweitzer accounted for 119 of those, along with two of the Chickasaws’ three touchdowns that all came in the second half, the final two of them coming after the Tribe had extended its lead to 40-8 through three quarters.
The Indian offense racked up 516 yards on fairly even balance between both aspects. The grid Tribe’s 278 yards on the ground were once again headlined by junior Dawson Baures with his 176 yards and three touchdowns on just 14 carries, with sophomore Ethan O’Neill adding 80 yards and the other Indian rushing touchdown on 13 attempts. The Indian air attack added another 238 yards and two touchdowns on 14 pass completions in 21 attempts from sophomore Creed Welch, who was making his first career varsity start after junior Brock Hatlan was placed under concussion protocol earlier in the week.
The football Indians will now travel to the location of their lone loss from last season’s Class 2A State Championship run, taking on Cascade this Friday, September 14. The Cougars were last season’s champions of the Indians’ Class 2A District 4 but have since dropped to Class 1A this season and are off to a 2-1 start this season, coming off a 53-7 win at Maquoketa Valley this past Friday, September 7.
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