Seventeen area players earn all-state football honors

Prairie City-Monroe had the top-ranked offense and defense in Class 2A this season. Newton ran for more yards than anyone else in 3A. And Baxter has one of the top linemen in all of 8-man.

All five area schools were represented on the Iowa Print Sports Writers Associations all-state teams, which were released to the public at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

PCM’s state champion and undefeated team placed nine players on the 2A all-state team, while Lynnville-Sully had three all-state players in Class A. L-S was the only other playoff team from the area.

Newton and Colfax-Mingo both placed two players each on all-state teams in 3A and 1A, respectively. Baxter’s lone all-stater was senior Will Clapper.

Newton rushed for a 3A-high 3,105 yards this past season. The Cardinals also scored 38 rushing TDs, which ranked second in 3A, and was sixth in total yards with 3,830.

Leading a path for senior Josh Miller was senior offensive lineman Ike Bebout.

Bebout earned first-team all-state honors as an offensive lineman in 3A.

Other first-team selections included Baxter’s Clapper, Lynnville-Sully’s Tyson Vander Linden and PCM’s Reed Worth, Wes Cummings, Jace Smith and Seth Greiner.

Second-team picks were earned by PCM’s Brayton Van Dyke and Brycen Rogers, Lynnville-Sully’s Gage Vander Leest and Rylan James and Colfax-Mingo’s Zarek Hill and Brady Berkey.

Four players were third-team selections, including Miller from Newton and PCM’s Greyson Strum, Nick Dredge and Jarron Trausch.

Bebout was the best blocker for Newton’s plethora of running backs. Miller was the top rusher on a Cardinals’ team who had seven players run the ball at least 10 times.

Miller ran for 959 yards and 12 touchdowns. He averaged 8.5 yards per carry, which ranked second in 3A for those who rushed at least 100 times. Miller was a third-team selection at running back.

Cummings was voted the captain of the 2A all-state team this season after rushing for a school-record 1,713 yards and 24 touchdowns. He also had 20 catches for 462 yards and six TDs.

Cummings, who is a three-time all-state tailback, averaged 7.5 yards per carry and 23 yards per catch.

Worth earned first-team all-state honors at quarterback for the first time in his career. He threw for 2,397 yards, 30 TDs and had just four interceptions. His 223.3 quarterback rating was the best in 2A.

Worth also rushed for 881 yards and 15 scores. He averaged 8.2 yards per carry.

A top-ranked offense needs a quality line and PCM had two all-state selections in the trenches on offense.

Junior Jace Smith was a first-team selection, and sophomore Greyson Strum was a third-team pick after the Mustangs rushed for a 2A-high 3,324 yards. The 5,886 total yards also was tops in 2A. PCM scored 81 TDs on the season and averaged 8.9 yards per carry.

The final first-team pick for PCM was Greiner, who made the team as a defensive linemen.

Greiner, who also plays on the offensive line, often attracts double teams from opposing teams. He did finish with 43 1/2 tackles, seven tackles for loss, one sack and three fumble recoveries, which ranked third in 2A.

PCM’s top-ranked defense had playmakers at every level. And some of them weren’t on an all-state.

Van Dyke made the team as a defensive linemen. Despite missing a few games in district play because of an injury, Van Dyke still led the Mustangs with 14 tackles for loss and also had four sacks and 29 1/2 tackles.

Rogers made the all-state team as a linebacker. He led PCM with 64 1/2 tackles and also had 10 tackles for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery.

The other two third-selections came from PCM’s stellar defense.

Dredge was picked as a defensive back after ranking in a tie for second in 2A with six picks. He holds the school record for most career interceptions. Dredge finished with 26 1/2 tackles.

Trausch earned all-state honors as a linebacker. He ranked second on the team in tackles with 52 1/2 and had 11 tackles for loss, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and a defensive TD.

The Mustangs went a perfect 13-0 on the season and claimed the school’s first state title this past weekend. The deficit in their two closest games was 21 points.

Lynnville-Sully went back to the playoffs and lost to eventual champion Hudson.

Vander Linden earned first-team all-state honors as a returner, a new position added to the all-state teams this year.

Vander Linden returned 18 punts, scored two touchdowns and averaged 15.7 yards per return. He averaged 18.8 yards in his 10 kickoff returns.

Vander Leest was a second-team selection as a running back after rushing for a team-high 1,128 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry and had one receiving TD.

James was the Hawks’ top linemen this season and was a second-team all-state pick on the defensive side of the ball. He earned District Defensive MVP honors after collecting 33 1/2 tackles, 14 solo tackles for loss and six sacks. He had 3 1/2 assisted tackles for loss and 1 1/2 sack assists.

Clapper, who was a second-team selection as an OL for CMB as a sophomore, will play football at a high level somewhere next season.

Clapper, who has an FCS scholarship offer from South Dakota State as well as junior college powerhouse Iowa Western, was one of the only returning players from Baxter’s 8-1 season in 2017.

The Bolts went 3-6 in 2018, but Clapper caught five passes for 46 yards and scored four touchdowns. He also hauled in four 2-point conversion passes.

Hill earned all-state honors as a defensive back after collecting 46 1/2 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, one tackle for loss and one sack on the season.

Hill finished his career with the most takeaways in school history.

Berkey tied for second in 1A with six interceptions, scored one defensive TD and finished with 24 1/2 tackles.

IPSWA is in its first year of recognizing superior athletes around the state of Iowa.

It has taken over for the Iowa Newspaper Association’s all-state program, which ended last year.