Waukon football team opens home schedule with 45-10 handling of W-SR


Not going to be denied ... Waukon football senior Ethan O’Neill keeps driving his way through a stack of Waverly-Shell Rock defenders on his way to crossing the orange goal line at the bottom right of the photo for a 15-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter of the Indians’ 45-10 home triumph over the Class 3A Go-Hawks Friday, September 4. In addition to this determined 15-yard scoring effort, O’Neill led the Indian ground game with 105 yards and two more touchdowns on eight carries and also led the Indians with six solo tackles that included one tackle for loss. View and find out to purchase this photo and many more at the Photo Galleries link on this website.

Any concerns about the Waukon football team following their season-opening loss to Decorah were pretty much laid to rest when the Indians opened their home season in convincing fashion against another Class 3A opponent from their same Northeast Iowa Conference Friday, September 4. After falling in their season opener at Class 3A Decorah by a 19-18 margin that didn’t see them score until the game’s final six minutes, and facing a Waverly-Shell Rock team that had amassed 300 yards on the ground in a 49-13 season-opening win a week earlier over the Tribe’s Class 2A District 4 colleague Crestwood, the Indians calmed the fears of their faithful by scoring on their first two possessions and six of their first seven series of the ballgame to roll to a 45-10 home triumph over the visiting Go-Hawks.

“A big focus for the offense was to play within the system and take the plays as they come to you,” Waukon football coach Chad Beermann said of his team’s production difference from last week to this week. “When big things are expected, people can feel the need to make the ‘splash play’, but what is needed is the plays that can string a drive together. I believe the shuffling of the offensive line was a big part of it, but also the focus on the plays that are there and taking the game as it comes.”

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