Repeat? West Lyon and Class 2A Preview

Over the coming days, before the 2020 Iowa High School Football season kicks off, we will check in with all the champions from last season. How likely is it they repeat as champions? Who wins the title in that Class this year? Let’s dive into it. Today we take a look at Class 2A, last year’s (1A) champ - West Lyon, and contenders to watch out for. Class 2A, like Class A and 1A, are different because of Iowa’s redistricting and teams going up or down Classes. Last year’s Class 2A champ OABCIG has moved down to Class 1A, while the Class 1A champ, West Lyon, has moved up to Class 2A. <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/08/repeat-oabcig-class-1a-preview/">We previewed OABCIG during our 1A preview, which can be found here. </a>   West Lyon raced out to a 22 point first-half lead and never looked back, dominating the Class 1A state title game a year ago. It won’t be that easy this season if the Wildcats want to go back-to-back. West Lyon lost their starting quarterback, five leading rushers, and four of their top receivers. The Wildcats will need younger and less experienced upperclassmen to step in. Quarterback - Zach Van Beek threw five passes last season, two of them went for touchdowns. He also ran 13 times for 112 yards averaging nearly 8.5 yards per rush. Rushing - Senior Korey Knoblock ran for 119 yards on just 12 carries, ’21 Tanner Severson ran ten times for 57 yards, and Eli Moser ran 11 times for 32 yards. Junior Gabe TerWee ran 21 times for 71 yards, and ’22 rusher Kael Blauwet will also need some big-time plays. Receivers - Jaxon Meyer returns as the fourth leading receiver from last year’s team. Meyer caught nine passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Mitch Timmerman and Tanner Severson are other seniors who caught passes last season. Dawson Ripperda is the lone junior who caught a pass and came back with experience. Senior kicker Jordan VanVeldhuizen returns after 16 touchbacks, two of three field goals made, and 61 of 70 PAT’s made.   Could the Class 2A title game pit the most recent Class champions - that are currently in the Class - against each other?   We start with the 2017 Class 2A champs, Waukon. Quarterback - Senior [player_tooltip player_id="23896" first="Creed" last="Welch"] is a returning two thousand-yard passer. He threw for 26 touchdown passes and recorded a 136.5 passer rating. Welch can move away when the pocket closes; he scrambled for 300 yards and seven more scores. Classmate Sean Cooper is also a capable arm if need be. Cooper only threw ten passes last season, but those ten passes went for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Rushers - To keep the defense guessing last season, the Indians also came loaded with a thousand-yard rusher, Dawson Baures. Baures was lost to graduation, but senior [player_tooltip player_id="23871" first="Ethan" last="O’Neil"] and junior Pat Hennessy combined for 1,457 yards and 13 touchdowns. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="24012" first="Lincoln" last="Snitker"] also ran ten times for 133 yards and four touchdowns. Receivers - Waukon packs a fully loaded group of wideouts that are back. ’21 Brady Behrend returns with big-play potential. He caught 27 passes for 461 yards and six touchdowns last season. Classmate Avery Rocksvold went for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Along with his almost one thousand yards rushing, senior [player_tooltip player_id="23871" first="Ethan" last="O’Neil"] caught 20 passes for 241 and four touchdowns. Six other returners caught passes for the Waukon Indians last season. Defense - Waukon recorded 36 turnovers, 10 of which were lost to graduation. Juniors [player_tooltip player_id="24012" first="Lincoln" last="Snitker"] and Pat Hennessy are primed for a big year. Snitker recorded 95 tackles, and Hennessy recorded 51.5 to lead the way last season. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="23938" first="Brennan" last="Sweeney"] is a PrepRed Zone Preseason All-State selection. He recorded 44 tackles and six sacks last season. Waukon has been to the UNI-Dome the past three seasons. They were the runners-up last season and a semifinalist in 2018.   PCM beat Boyden-Hull-Rock Valley for the Class 2A title in 2018. The Mustangs were bounced from the postseason last year by OABCIG in the quarterfinals. They return three of five all-staters from last year’s team. Greyson Strum on the offensive line, linebacker Colby Tool, and punter Brayden Berger are all back. Strum is a two-time all-state offensive lineman working for his third selection in 2020. He holds offers from Minnesota State, Grand View, and Simpson. Quarterback - Senior Sage Burns threw for 619 yards and five touchdowns, while sophomore August Stock threw for 476 and five touchdowns as well. Rushing - Junior Aiden Anderson will have a senior loaded offensive line to run behind. He ran for 1,098 yards and nine touchdowns last season as a sophomore. Seniors Colby Tool, Connor Bennett, and Jacob Van Winkle will also get carries. Juniors Trey Broderson, Carson Vandelune, and Kaden Hale all saw action in the backfield last season. Receivers - Seniors Jacob VanWinkle, Braden Berger, Gatlin Boell, and Connor Bennett will anchor the pass catchers. Defense - Returning all-state linebacker Colby Tool recorded 73 tackles a year ago. Gatlin Boell, a classmate of Tool, added 53 tackles. Senior Andrew Mitchell also returns after a 33.5 tackle season.   Keep an eye on the following teams: Class newcomer, Solon, played for the 3A title last season. They graduated all four of their all-state players from last year, but cohesiveness shouldn’t be a problem. The Spartans return a large group of seniors to fill the gaps. That includes [player_tooltip player_id="23939" first="Carson" last="Shive"], who recorded 77.5 tackles, and Lucas Tepoel, who added another 40. Williamsburg went on the road to upset Clear Lake in the quarterfinals last season. They then fell to Waukon in the semifinals and will bring back an experienced group for 2020. They miss a few key pieces from that run last year but should be able to replace them. Williamsburg will start the season on the road at Solon, which should give some information from both. Clear Lake and Algona both suffered losses to graduation, but both also return stars. They were both championship contenders last season and could be a threat again. Look for a big year from ’21 running back [player_tooltip player_id="23915" first="Jaden" last="O’Brien-Green"] and ’22 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id="23975" first="Tyler" last="Manske"]. West Marshall and Spirit Lake are playoff teams who lost in the first round last season that likely could make another run. West Marshall plays in one of the better Class 2A Districts and will be battle-tested heading into the postseason. District 3 will host big games weekly with West Marshall, Clear Lake, and Iowa Falls-Alden. PrepRed Zone ranked the best 25 players for the Class of 2021, and two of them play in 2A-3. Roland-Story’s [player_tooltip player_id="23820" first="Zach" last="Twedt"] - committed to the University of Iowa - is #15, and West Marshall’s [player_tooltip player_id="23827" first="Luke" last="Pinnick"] is #22 and heading to Northern Illinois next year. Unity Christian, Sioux Center, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura, New Hampton and Albia