Twenty-one area athletes land on 2A District 7 football squad

Prairie City-Monroe’s football team made marked improvements in turnover margin this past season, and that helped the Mustangs climb to the runner-up position in Class 2A District 7.

For their efforts, 13 Mustangs were named to the all-district squads that were recently released. Seven of those players landed on the first team, while the other six were second-team selections.

Collins-Maxwell/Baxter battled injuries and suspensions one year after finishing 9-0 in the regular season but still made the playoffs as the four seed.

The Raiders had four first-team choices and four second-team honorees.

Leading the way for the Mustangs were unanimous selections Luke Greiner, Chase Wilkie and Ethan Thomas, while CMB junior Archer McFadden also was a unanimous first-team choice.

Other first-team selections for PCM included senior quarterback Logan Gilman, tight end Noah Clark, defensive lineman Clayton Welch and linebacker Reid Jenkins.

Second-team picks for the Mustangs included running back Logan Littrell, offensive lineman James Snodgrass, wide receiver Tyler Dredge, defensive lineman Leevi Telfer, linebacker Austin Sneller and defensive back Sheldon Speers.

Joining McFadden, a junior offensive lineman, on the first-team for the Raiders was senior wide receiver Brady Stover, junior tailback Blake Coughenour and senior linebacker Hunter Gunderson.

CMB’s second-team selections included senior quarterback Nate Bishop, junior offensive lineman Toren Schultheis, senior linebacker Charles Robertson and junior defensive back Tucker Maxwell.

Top-ranked Albia went through the regular season undefeated and advanced all the way to the 2A state semifinals where it was defeated by Mount Vernon.

The Blue Demons claimed all three major all-district awards. Carter Isley was the Offensive Player of the Year, Blake Lawless was the Defensive Player of the Year and head coach Jerry Staton was the Coach of the Year.

PCM (7-3) lost only to Albia in district play.

North Polk was third in district play, losing to both Albia and PCM.

CMB (5-5) was fourth with losses to Albia, PCM and North Polk.

Greiner had a breakout season for the Mustangs in his first season as the main receiving target.

The junior wideout was among the best in 2A with 51 catches, 771 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns this season.

Thomas was the best offensive lineman for a Mustang unit that scored more than 30 points per game. He also helped protect Gilman, who threw for 2,003 yards this season.

Gilman’s total passing yards and 21 touchdown passes were in the top three of 2A this season.

Wilkie was a unanimous selection at kicker partly because he went 3-for-3 in field goals and was 38-of-41 in extra points.

However, it was Wilkie’s ability to kick the ball into the end zone on kickoffs that separated him from the rest of the kickers in the district. After Week 7’s win over Clarke, Wilkie led all of 2A with 23 touchbacks. He nearly kicked it into the end zone 50 percent of the time on kickoffs.

Like Greiner, Clark also broke out as a receiver this year for the Mustangs. He hauled in 37 catches for 615 yards and eight touchdowns.

Welch had five sacks in one game as a defensive lineman for the Mustangs. Jenkins led the PCM defense with 61 tackles, five interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Littrell had a strong season at tailback for the Mustangs. He finished with more than 700 yards and 12 touchdowns.

No other statistics were available for the Mustangs as quikstatsiowa.com, the website that keeps track of game and season statistics is currently not in working order.

McFadden garnered unanimous first-team honors after leading an offensive line that helped the Raiders rush for 1,815 yards.

Stover was a lynchpin for the Raiders, who started 4-0 but lost four of their final five regular season games because of injuries and suspensions. Stover led CMB with 54 catches, 677 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He ran for 284 yards and four scores and also threw a touchdown pass.

Coughenour was one of the best tailbacks in 2A until a suspension and a season-ending injury derailed his season. He still gained 711 rushing yards and scored 12 rushing touchdowns in a little more than four games.

The junior tailback also had 211 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions.

Gunderson was second on the Raiders team in tackles with 36.5. He had two sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and two pass breakups from his linebacker position.

Robertson’s second-team honor was because of his team-leading 38.5 tackles and his 7.5 tackles for loss.

Maxwell, who also missed time because of a suspension, had 18.5 tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss.

Bishop took over at quarterback full-time when Hunter McWhirter went down with an injury. He finished 97-of-183 for 1,172 yards and nine touchdowns through the air.