Nine area gridders earn all-state honors

Newton sophomore Nick Milburn ranked in the top five in Class 4A in tackles and junior Caden Klein was one of the top quarterbacks in the class.

PCM’s impressive run to the state semifinals featured one of the top running backs in Iowa in senior Adrien Robbins, a dominant duo on the defensive side of the ball in seniors Trenner Van Dyke and Finn Wilson as well as senior wideout Riley Graber and up-and-coming offensive lineman Hayden Shannon.

Lynnville-Sully’s defense featured a pair of standouts in senior Terran Gosselink and junior Dawson James.

All nine area players were recognized as all-staters recently by the Iowa Football Coaches Association.

Milburn was a first-team linebacker in 4A, while Robbins and Wilson earned first team recognition in 2A and Gosselink was a first teamer in Class A.

The other five gridders were voted as second teamers in their respective classes.

Newton, Baxter, PCM and Lynnville-Sully also featured players on the academic all-state squads. In total, 20 from the area were recognized.

That group included Newton seniors Trey Davidson, Peyton Rozendaal, Christian Ergenbright, Cade Bauer and Derek Wermager, Lynnville-Sully senior Carson Maston, Baxter seniors Perrin Sulzle, Cainan Travis, Cade Robinson, James Esqueda, Carter Smith and Grant Anderegg and PCM seniors Robbins, Graber, Tate Birkenholtz, Kaden Clark, Brevin DeRaad, Gavin DeRaad, Harlan Shannon and Tad Wilson.

Academic all-state players must be a senior starter who was recommended by their head coach, must be involved in other extra-curricular activities and feature a 3.7 or better grade point average at the end of his junior year.

Milburn earned first-team all state at linebacker after ranking tied for third in 4A with a school-record 102 tackles. He also finished with 2.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.

Milburn’s 19 solo tackles and 21.5 total tackles against Gilbert set a new single-game school record. He also had three other games with at least 13 total tackles.

Jordan Travis set the previous single-game total tackle school record of 16 back in 2014.

Nathan Milburn’s 86.5 tackles in 2022 was the previous single-season tackle school record.

Klein scored all-state second team honors as an offensive utility player after ranking second in 4A with an 8.8 yards per carry average. He also ranked ninth with 1,126 rushing yards, tied for ninth with 14 rushing touchdowns and 23 total TDs and tied for 10th with 22 offensive touchdowns.

Klein ranked fourth in 4A with 2,591 offensive yards, ranked 11th with 1,445 passing yards and ranked fourth with a 17.8 yards per completion average.

His quarterback rating was 126.2 and he threw eight touchdowns.

Klein’s 1,445 passing yards and 2,572 combined passing and rushing yards are both new school records.

The previous single-season passing record was Brody Bauer’s 1,403 yards in 2022. Tyler Wood set the previous combined record of 1,886 back in 2014.

The Mustangs finished 11-1 and advanced to the state semifinals in 2A after a dominating season on both sides of the ball.

The defense was headlined by Wilson and Van Dyke.

Wilson was a first-team all-stater at defensive utility after compiling 65.5 tackles, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and one interception.

Van Dyke was a second-team all state defensive lineman who had a strong case to be a first teamer. He led 2A with 25 tackles for loss and ranked second with 13 sacks.

His final season also included 55 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Robbins earned first team all-state honors at running back. He ranked second in 2A with a school-record 2,191 rushing yards, ranked third with 24 rushing TDs and averaged 8.9 yards per carry, which also ranked third in 2A.

Robbins was eighth in 2A with 29 total touchdowns, third with 2,528 offensive yards and led the class with 2,816 all-purpose yards. He added 16 catches for 305 yards and five touchdowns, too.

The standout tailback finished his PCM career with a school-record 5,577 career rushing yards and a school-record 58 career rushing touchdowns.

Graber was a second-teamer at wide receiver after ranking second in 2A with 12 receiving TDs. He grabbed 26 passes and ranked 15th in 2A with 592 yards, averaging 22.8 yards per catch.

Freshman Hayden Shannon earned second-team all-state honors on the offensive line after helping PCM’s offense rank second in 2A with 3,314 rushing yards and a 7.3 yards per carry average.

The Mustangs led 2A with 48 rushing TDs and 79 total touchdowns and compiled a 2A-best 4,997 offensive yards.

Gosselink landed on the Class A all-state first team at defensive line after ranking third in the class with 23 tackles for loss. He also ranked sixth with 6.5 sacks, totaled 54.5 tackles and was one half of the duo who set a new school record for longest pass completion of 97 yards.

James was a second-team linebacker after finishing 15th in Class A with 72 tackles. He also ranked tied for 12th with 14.5 tackles for loss and finished with 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and one fumble recovery, helping the Hawks in another playoff season.