Newton’s Smith, 12 other area players earn INA all-state football recognition

The Newton Cardinal football team had a lot of questions to answer when the season began back in August.

The Cardinals were moving up to Class 4A after finishing 1-8 in 3A the season before.

The move to the state’s largest class ended up being a positive for Newton though as the program started 5-0, finished 6-3 and one of its best defensive players was recognized by the Iowa Newspaper Association with an all-state selection.

Senior Brady Smith led 4A District 4 in solo tackles this past season, and the INA rewarded him by voting him a third-team linebacker.

Smith was one of 13 area players to earn all-state recognition by the INA at its annual meeting Sunday. The teams were released to the public Tuesday.

Leading the way from the area was Prairie City-Monroe, which had six selections to the 2A all-state team.

Three Lynnville-Sully football players were honored, two players from Collins-Maxwell/Baxter earned recognition and a Tigerhawk senior was honored, too.

PCM seniors Luke Greiner and Ethan Thomas were both 2A first-team selections, while seniors James Snodgrass and Clayton Welch were voted to the second team and senior Sheldon Speers and sophomore Wes Cummings also earned third-team honors.

The two other 2A all-state selections were from CMB. Senior Blake Coughenour and sophomore Will Clapper were both second-team selections.

Lynnville-Sully’s three Class A honorees were second-team selection Ryan Hofer and third-team picks Brevin Hansen and Rylan James.

Colfax-Mingo senior Jimmy Camp also was honored with a second-team selection in Class A.

Smith played a big role in turning the Cardinal program in the right direction moving forward. He had 52 total tackles on the season, led the team and district with 44 tackles and finished with five tackles for loss, three sacks and a fumble recovery.

The Cardinal senior started the season with 5.5 tackles and a sack in the win over Ottumwa. He broke out with a 14.5 tackle performance in a road win against Des Moines North and then had 5.5 tackles and a sack in a road triumph over Burlington.

Smith, who also had four rushing touchdowns on offense, started district play with an 11.5-tackle, one-sack performance against Marshalltown as the Cardinals moved to 5-0 with an easy win. Smith led the district in solo tackles and did not play against West Des Moines Valley. He missed two games with an injury.

The Mustangs had their best season in five years. PCM lost its opener and then rolled off nine straight wins, including a playoff victory over Roland-Story.

Greiner and Thomas were two of the biggest pieces to this year’s puzzle. They both earned first team all-state honors after each landing on the 2A third team as juniors.

Greiner was a first-team selection as a wide receiver. He led all of 2A with 1,064 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns and was second in receptions with 54. He also returned a punt for a TD and averaged 38 yards per kick return.

Thomas has been considered the Mustangs’ best offensive lineman for the past seasons.

Like Greiner, Thomas helped PCM average 43 points per game. The Mustangs scored at least 34 points in each of the wins during the nine-game winning streak.

Thomas headlined a talented offensive line that also included second-team selection James Snodgrass. They both helped open holes for Cummings, who earned third-team honors as a running back after rushing for 1,223 yards and 16 TDs.

Cummings also was PCM’s second leading receiver in yards with 423 and also had two receiving TDs.

Snodgrass showed off his athleticism with three rushing TDs in six attempts. He averaged more than six yards per carry, too.

The final offensive all-state went to Speers, who made the team as a quarterback. Speers, playing as the Mustangs’ starter under center for the first time in his career, led 2A in completion percentage (71) and passer rating (237.1) and also tied first-team quarterback Brett Moser of state champion Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley with 31 touchdown passes.

Speers only trailed Moser and second-team quarterback Drew Adams of Mount Vernon in passing yards with 2,392. Speers also rushed for 168 yards and four scores.

The only defensive honor went Welch, who was named a second-teamer on the defensive line. Welch, the unanimous pick for defensive MVP in 2A District 6, had 32 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks and two fumble recoveries on the season.

Welch played a big part in PCM holding all-state tailback Caleb Schlatter to just 18 yards in the win over Roland-Story in the opening round of the playoffs.

CMB got off to a slow start, losing its first three games. The Raiders recovered to win four of their final six games and two players who led the comebacker were Coughenour and Clapper.

Coughenour was named to the 2A all-state team as a running back. His 1,204 rushing yards ranked 13th in the state and his 15 rushing touchdowns ranked 11th. Coughenour’s presence in the passing game is what separated him from other tailbacks who didn’t make an all-state team.

Coughenour led the Raiders in receiving yards with 406. He also had 25 catches and three TDs.

Clapper was the top offensive linemen for a Raider offense that rushed for 1,643 yards and passed for 1,464 yards. He earned second-team honors as an offensive lineman.

The Hawks began the season 8-0 in large part because of their defense. The L-S defense allowed only eight points per game during the regular season and then held eventual state champion Gladbrook-Reinbeck to 13 points in the opening round of the playoffs.

A big part of that defense was Hofer, who earned second-team honors in Class A as a linebacker. He finished with 72.5 tackles. He ranked in the top 15 in Class A with 53 solo tackles and was tied for third in tackles for loss with 16. Hofer added one sack and one fumble recovery.

Hansen was named to the Class A all-state third team as a wide receiver. Hansen was fourth in Class A in receptions with 39 and was tied for sixth with six touchdowns. His 469 receiving yards ranked 12th.

The final Hawk to be honored was James, a sophomore who was named the Class A third-team punter. He ranked in the top 10 in Class A with a 38 yards per punt average. His best punt of the year covered 60 yards, which also ranked in the top 10.

Camp was Colfax-Mingo’s best defensive player in 2016. A starter on the 2015 Tigerhawk team that went 8-3, Camp came into the season as a preseason all-state pick. On the defensive line in 2016, Camp finished with 46 tackles and 34 solo tackles. He had one sack but ranked second in Class A with 17 tackles for loss.

As the team’s top running back, Camp also rushed for four TDs and had a receiving touchdown.

Three of the six INA captains played for state title teams, including Dowling Catholic tailback Jacob Zachary in 4A, Pella quarterback Nick Finney in 3A and Gladbrook-Reinbeck linebacker Thomas Mussig in Class A. The other captains were Mount Vernon offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs in 2A, Pella Christian wide receiver Levi Jungling in 1A and Ar-We-Va quarterback Jake Danner in eight-player.