Waukon football team has season ended in second round of State Play-Offs but not before strong fight to the very end in 20-18 loss to Crestwood at home
Team-high tackle total ... Waukon football senior Kael Crawford chases down this Crestwood ballcarrier for a tackle in the Indians’ 20-18 home loss to the Cadets Friday, October 28 in the second round of the Class 2A State Play-Offs. As he has all season, Crawford paced the Indian defensive effort with 14 total tackles that included a team-best 11 solo stops and one assisted tackle for loss before leaving the game with an injury in the fourth quarter. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
In a rematch with the last team that handed the Waukon football team a defeat this fall, ending the grid Tribe’s non-district season in mid-September with a 44-20 loss, that same Crestwood squad also brought an end to the Indians’ overall season Friday, October 28 in the second round of the Class 2A State Play-Offs - but not without a much closer battle that came down to the game’s final seconds and featured a rousing Indian comeback that fell just short on the scoreboard but was certainly long on effort and determination.
“I was extremely proud of the effort we got from the young men on the field,” Waukon football coach Chad Beermann reflected on his team’s 20-18 defeat. “One of the biggest shifts the kids made through the season was developing the ability to ‘move on’ from a penalty, a turnover, or a big play by an opponent. They got better at focusing on things they could control, rather than getting hooked on things outside their influence. They needed all of that as the week went on, and then as the game developed.”
The loss brings the grid Tribe’s 2022 season to a close with an overall record of 6-4 that includes a fifth consecutive undefeated district championship record of 5-0. Crestwood’s victory advances the Cadets on to a Friday, November 4 Class 2A State Quarterfinals match-up at and against the Tribe’s fellow District 5 squad Dubuque Wahlert, which defeated previously unbeaten West Marshall, 21-14, in the Class 2A second round this past Friday.
“There is a Drive-By Truckers song lyric, ‘She ain’t revved till the rods are thrown’,” Coach Beermann summarized. “Friday’s game was like that. The kids put it all out there and left it all on the field. You don’t always win those games, but the effort is something special.”
For more complete coverage, pick up this week's print edition or subscribe to our e-edition by clicking here.
