Waukon football 2015 season adds another link to recent chain of State Play-Off qualification

The 2015 season turned out to be yet another in a recent string of success for the Waukon football program. For the third time in the past four seasons - starting with the 2012 season, the gridiron Tribe not only qualified for the Class 2A State Play-Offs, but also took that qualification to at least two postseason victories and advancement to the quarterfinal round of those Class 2A Play-Offs.
In addition to play-off qualification, this season also resulted in a 10-2 season record that included a 5-1 mark in Class 2A District 3 that left the Indians in a three-way tie for the District 3 lead with Class 2A’s defending State Champion North Fayette Valley and Dyersville Beckman. In fact, it was that North Fayette Valley team that accounted for the Indians’ only two losses on the season, including a Class 2A quarterfinals loss to the TigerHawks that ended the grid Tribe’s season by a mere four points before North Fayette Valley had its season ended in the semifinal round to eventual State Champion and undefeated Spirit Lake.
“A 10-win season has been a pretty rare thing, as has a win over Decorah,” Waukon football coach Chad Beermann said of the highlights to this season, adding, “a run to the quarterfinals and being so close to the semifinals, a three-way tie for the district, and a team that continued to improve and grow as the season went along.”
Despite that lengthy list of success and achievements, Coach Beermann knows full well that this season also presented itself with some considerable challenges. However, he also knows that it very well may have been the challenges faced by this year’s squad that helped this season result in such a high level of achievement.
“The biggest challenges were playing a very tough non-district schedule followed by playing in the top 2A district in Iowa,” Coach Beermann admitted. “We will re-classify and re-district (I expect us to remain 2A), and we will learn our status this coming spring. We had a lack of depth this year, with a small junior class, and that class will be our seniors next year. So, obviously, next year’s juniors will need to step-up.”
This season’s squad featured a dozen seniors, many of whom gained some valuable varsity experience last season when the injury bug bit the Indian grid roster during a 3-6 campaign. Adam Drew, Joe Frieden, Haden Hammel, Peyton Hesse, Austin Hogan, Nick Johnson, Pat Mahr, Chris Miller, Dawston Regan, Michael Schulte, Colin Steiber and Wyatt Wille each played their final games in a Waukon football uniform with completion of this season.
“This year’s seniors were special in the fact that they are so diverse,” Coach Beermann explained. “They don’t all run together in the off-season, but when it was time to come together they really played as a team. That is a tribute to their willingness to cooperate, and to accept coaching.”
Ten of those seniors received All-District recognition this season, including Miller, Frieden, Schulte, Regan, Wille, Hesse and Hammel being named to the All-District First Team, and Johnson and Steiber receiving Second Team accolades. Hesse was named District 4’s Offensive Most Valuable Player, with Hogan receiving the district’s Golden Award, which is given to a player with All-District potential who had their season limited by injury.
Hesse and Wille both received All-State recognition as members of the Class 2A Third Team picked by the Iowa Newspaper Association, with Hesse also receiving Honorable Mention on The Des Moines Register Class 2A All-State Team. That pair finished within the top 15 in the entire state of Iowa in their respective offensive specialties, Hesse’s 2,458 passing yards ranking second among Class 2A quarterbacks and Wille’s 1,097 receiving yards ranking third among Class 2A receivers.
As one might expect, accomplishments ranking that highly among statewide peers also left their mark within the all-time rankings of the Waukon football program. The aerial attack that provided the foundation for much of this season’s Indian football success also burned up the Indian football record books, leaving Hesse and Wille atop several single-season and career marks.
Wille’s team-leading numbers this season of 62 catches for 1,097 yards and 13 receiving touchdowns far surpassed previous single-season top standards of 39 catches by 1997 Waukon High School graduate Josh Hunstad during his senior season in 1996, as well as 584 yards and nine touchdowns recorded by 1982 Waukon High School graduate Bill Winkie during his senior season in 1981. This season’s numbers combined with two previous seasons at the varsity level also left Wille atop the all-time career lists for Waukon football, his 88 career receptions far surpassing the previous record of 56 catches recorded by 1988 Waukon High School graduate Cory Teff and his 1,550 career receiving yards bettering the previous record of 1,105 yards compiled by 1995 Waukon High School graduate Aaron Clarke.
Junior Tanner Mathis also surpassed those previous single-season marks as part of this season’s potent Indian air attack, racking up 49 catches for 670 yards and 11 touchdowns. His efforts granted him Second Team All-District honors, with fellow junior Blain Swenson and sophomore Mitchell Snitker each receiving All-District Honorable Mention to round out the Indians’ postseason accolades.
Numbers like that on the receiving end of the ball would obviously be coupled with high-achieving numbers on the delivery end, where Hesse topped numerous passing records as well. Peyton Hesse’s 165 completions this season in 303 attempts for 2,458 yards and 33 touchdowns surpassed numbers he put up last season as a junior quarterback for the grid Tribe that left behind totals of 1,439 yards and 16 touchdowns put up by his older brother, 2014 Waukon High School graduate Parker Hesse, during his senior season just two years ago, as well as 102 completions in 273 attempts posted by 1988 Waukon High School graduate Jubal Snitker during his senior season in 1987.
Back-to-back record-rewriting seasons for Peyton Hesse piled up seemingly untouchable career numbers for him that included 279 completions in 517 attempts for 4,014 yards and 52 touchdowns. Those numbers surpassed the previous standard of 163 completions for 2,215 yards compiled by 1998 Waukon High School graduate Nick Rissman during his two-year career at signal caller, with Peyton Hesse’s 517 attempts bettering Jubal Snitker’s 446 tries racked up during the 1986 and 1987 seasons, and his 52 touchdown passes leaving his older brother’s previous career standard of 22 scoring strikes behind from the 2011-2013 seasons.
Peyton Hesse also finished within the middle of this season’s trio of senior leaders in rushing yards with 396 yards on 71 carries, with Steiber leading this fall’s ground charge with 609 yards and eight touchdowns on 103 carries. Limited by a nagging ankle injury, Hogan ended up with 348 yards on 76 carries this season, with Mitchell Snitker bolstering any returning Indian ground game with 345 yards and five touchdowns on 75 carries this season.
Seniors also headlined the grid Tribe’s defensive efforts this fall, with Miller, Hammel and Steiber pacing tackle totals with 72, 68.5 and 61.5 stops, respectively, Hammel racking up a team-high 38 solo tackles. Frieden tallied team-high totals of 12 solo tackles for loss that included three solo quarterback sacks.
Although graduation will take with it an abundance of this season’s leadership, both in numbers and in veteran experience, Mathis, Swenson and Mitchell Snitker will return with their All-District honors to headline next season’s rebuilding corps. Coach Beermann knows that it takes more than postseason honors and high-end statistics to achieve the kind of success the Waukon football program has achieved in recent seasons.
“We have a very good strength program, so we would hope the kids take advantage of it,” Coach Beermann said. “We also really want them out for winter sports and then track this spring. You can’t be a competitor if you don’t compete.”