Sports

Grid Tribe advances to third consecutive State semifinals berth, plays Williamsburg this Saturday

Turnovers told the tale of the Waukon football team’s 32-12 home win over West Liberty in the grid Tribe’s Class 2A State Play-Off quarterfinal match-up Friday, November 8. The Indians came up with five second half turnovers to turn over a 12-12 halftime scoreboard knot into 20 unanswered points and turn their play-off fate over to a third consecutive berth in the State semifinals.

“After the game, I told them they were opportunistic, which is something you have to be in football and in life,” Waukon football coach Chad Beermann said. “Take advantage of the opportunities that come to you, and things can turn out well. Our guys were shell-shocked early, but settled down. It was impressive, the way they responded after giving up two scores in less than a minute.”

The top-rated and top-seeded Waukon football team will make its way back to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls for its third consecutive trip to the Class 2A State Play-Off semifinals this Saturday, November 16 to take on 11th-seeded Williamsburg, the team the Indians defeated, 29-0, to win the program’s first-ever football State Championship just two seasons ago in that very same dome. As the undefeated champion of Class 2A District 6, the Raiders put together just a 6-3 regular season record, but have played the role of giant killer in making their way through the Class 2A State Play-Offs, first knocking off fifth-seeded Waterloo Columbus from Waukon’s own District 4 by a 25-8 result and then upsetting second-seeded Clear Lake this past Friday, November 8, 35-21.

The Waukon Wellness Center will be holding its Sixth Annual “Turkey Trot” 5K Run/Walk Thanksgiving Day, November 28 at 8:30 a.m., beginning and ending at the Waukon Wellness Center. The Center is located directly across from Waukon High School at 1220 Third Avenue NW in Waukon.

All runners and walkers are welcome to join in this traditional pre-feast workout. The event is being held this year to help fund the new community tennis court project newly constructed across the street from the Wellness Center near the Waukon High School parking lot.

The Waukon football team ultimately started its journey down another Class 2A State Play-Off road by successfully reaching its initial destination, but not without navigating through some bumps in that road dealt by a Tipton Tiger team that traveled nearly two-and-a-half hours north Friday, November 1. Those bumps included giving away four turnovers while gaining just one of their own, along with a multitude of penalties, but the Indians overcame all of that and then some with big plays of greater than 35 yards resulting in five of the Indians’ seven touchdowns on the way to nearly 500 yards of total offense and an eventual 52-16 first-round State Play-Off victory.

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The 2019 Waukon girls cross country campaign was brought to a close where all teams yearn to have their season ended, as the Lady Indians competed in their third consecutive Class 2A State Cross Country Meet held Saturday, November 2 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge on a day that was mostly sunny but definitely chilled, and even more so by a stiff breeze at times. Ranked 12th in the final Iowa Track and Field Coaches poll heading into the season grand finale, the distance Tribe made that prophecy ring true, placing 12th in that final 15-team Class 2A field and scoring 262 team points to finish just a single point shy of equaling last season’s 11th-place finish for the Indians.

The 2019 State Cross Country Meet proved to be somewhat surprising and bittersweet for the Kee cross country team and many others, as the season grand finale held Saturday, November 2 at a chilly, windswept Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge provided plenty to cheer about but also some results different than what may have been anticipated, and by more than just the Kee contingency.

The sweetest for the Hawks was nearly as sweet as it can be when Lady Hawk sophomore Haley Meyer ran to Class 1A State Runner-Up honors, just six seconds behind this year’s State Champion. However, with the Lady Hawks ranked third in this season’s final Iowa Track and Field Coaches poll heading into Saturday’s season grand finale, they ended up in sixth place among this season’s Class 1A elite teams.

The top-rated and top-seeded Waukon football team will open its Class 2A State Play-Off journey with a home game this Friday, November 1 against Tipton in a game beginning at 7 p.m. The Tigers hold a 6-3 season record and come out of a tie for the best record, 4-1, in Class 2A District 5 after having their own undefeated district season denied by a 14-13 loss to West Liberty at home this past Friday. With both teams finishing with identical records - West Liberty’s District 5 loss coming to Mount Vernon, Tipton’s loss to those Comets Friday dropped the Tigers to a number-14 seed in the 16-team Class 2A State Play-Off bracket.

The Waukon girls cross country team has earned a third consecutive trip to the Iowa High School State Cross Country Meet to be run at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course located about seven miles north of Fort Dodge this Saturday, November 2. The State Meet consists of four classes of competition, beginning at 11 a.m. with the Class 4A girls race and proceeding with the Class 4A boys at 11:30 and about every half hour after that with respective girls and boys races for each class. The Waukon girls are scheduled to compete at 1 p.m. and will be looking to improve on their 11th-place team finish from last season’s Class 2A State Meet. The Indians return six of their seven competitors from last season’s State Meet team. They will be occupying Box 21 on the 22-box starting grid. The team and individual awards ceremony for Class 2A is slated to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m.

FreedomBank presented a check in the amount of $1,316.00 to the Allamakee Athletic Booster Club from proceeds the bank received through its annual Homecoming Tailgate Party held Friday, October 4 at Waukon High School. Serving hamburgers and hot dogs grilled by the Allamakee County Cattlemen, the bank accepted free will donations with all proceeds being donated to the Allamakee Athletic Booster Club. Pictured above at the donation check presentation are, left to right, Barb Shull of FreedomBank, Amy Opperman of the Allamakee Athletic Booster Club, Mary Jo Goodman of FreedomBank and Joel Courtney of the Allamakee Athletic Booster Club. FreedomBank has donated a total of $13,079.08 to the Allamakee Athletic Booster club in the 10 years this event has been held. Submitted photo.