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Two leaders of Lenox’s 10-1 season and a force in the middle of East Union’s offense and defense are 8-Man all-staters today as selected by the Iowa Newspaper Association.
The panel of sports writers assisted by Iowa football coaches named Spencer Brown of Lenox to the first-team defense and teammate Carson Cline to the second-team defensive secondary.
East Union’s Mike Ward, who also played middle linebacker, was one of three running backs on the third-team offense.
All three honored area players are seniors.
Brown was often a dominant player on the field for Lenox, which sailed unbeaten through the season until East Mills avenged an earlier defeat in the second round of the playoffs.
Despite the fact that most opposing offenses ran away from him, the 6-8, 240-pound end finished with 67 tackles, including 17 quarterback sacks. As a junior he had 12 sacks. On offense, he had 24 pass receptions this season for 388 yards and seven touchdowns.
“Spencer really had to work to come back from two knee surgeries,” Lenox coach Allen Dukes said. “He underwent those in early January and May, so he was in eight months of rehab.”
Yet, there were times Brown seemed unstoppable.
“There were games where he could just take over,” Dukes said. “Like his first game against East Union. He dominated that game on the defensive side. And there were other games where he stepped up and played well on offense. He was unanimous first-team all-district on defense and second team on offense.”
Brown has visited Iowa and Iowa State as a preferred walk-on candidate and has also generated interest from Northwest Missouri State. However, the talented all-around athlete is also a college prospect as a power forward in basketball and pitcher in baseball.
“Sometimes I think whatever season it is, that’s Spencer’s favorite,” Dukes said, chuckling. “It’s really hard to tell what he might end up doing. But he will have opportunities, I will assure you of that.”
Tiger leader
Cline, meanwhile, was the leader of the Lenox team as the quarterback and defensive back with six interceptions, including four returned for touchdowns. He also returned a fumble for a score.
On offense, Cline completed 77 of 162 passes for 1,552 yards for 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran 125 times for 694 yards and 12 TDs.
As a junior Cline passed for 1,093 yards and 18 scores, including 36 completions for 586 yards and 10 touchdowns to Brown.
The all-state quarterbacks were Ben Specht of state champion Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn (3,428 total yards and 66 touchdowns rushing and passing), Noah Dodd of Janesville (2,187 passing yards) and Derek Ehrhardt of Central Elkader (1,709 passing yards and 30 TDs).
But, the committee decided Cline was an all-state football player and placed him on the second team at defensive back.
“Carson was the leader of our team on and off the field,” Dukes said. “He was basically the heart and soul of our team. It was just like having a coach out there. He would put people in the right position. He really exceeded what we thought we might get out of him.”
Eagle standout
East Union’s Ward was a two-way standout, but especially had an impact carrying the ball for the Eagles with his hard-running style. The 6-0, 210-pound senior rushed for 1,709 yards and 30 touchdowns. On defense he had 58 tackles.
That followed a workhorse 2014 season when he carried 190 times for 1,136 yards and 16 touchdowns, and led the team in tackles with 87.5.
“Mike was a large part of our offense and has been for the past couple of years,” said East Union co-coach James Hardy. “He was certainly a hard-nosed kid in terms of running the ball. We tried to save him (for offense) a little down the stretch, but (co-coach) Craig Ditzler would tell you he was a stalwart on the defensive side of the ball as well. That’s a plus factor. Obviously, he’s an individual we have to figure out a way to replace next year.”
East Union was 6-4 this year, losing in the playoffs to Fremont-Mills, 42-12.
The first-team offense includes Glidden-Ralston running back Christopher Brown, who ran for 1,750 yards. His teammate, Noah Borkowski, was named to the first-team defensive line. Drew Buckholdt of Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton is on the first-team defense at linebacker and CAM’s Drew Ticknor is the first-team punter.
Jake Crozier of Twin Cedars is an offensive lineman on the second-team offense, along with Nathan McNamara of Glidden-Ralston. Josh Hopkins, East Mills’ dynamic 5-5, 175-pound running back, is on the second-team offense after compiling 1,865 yards and 38 touchdowns along with 292 receiving yards.
Two Moravia players are on the second-team defense — Quinton Casteel on the line and Trevor Cormeny at linebacker. Brady Hansen of Exira/EH-K joins Lenox’s Cline at second-team defensive back. Alex Becthold of Stanton is a second-team linebacker. Sam Phillips of Fremont-Mills is the second-team punter.
Another East Mills payer, lineman Matt Glockel, is on the third-team offense. Joining East Union’s Ward at running back is Wayne senior Carson Kiefer, who had 1,902 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Parker Powers of Fremont-Mills, who had seven interceptions and 93 total tackles, is a defensive back on the third team.
All-state captain
As the INA 8-Man captain, Specht led the Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn Eagles to a storybook finish, throwing a record seven touchdown passes and rushing for 140 yards and another TD in the Eagles’ 57-52 state championship game victory.
It capped a 13-0 season in the final year of MMC football, sharing with Remsen-Union next year in 11-man football. An offseason switch moving Specht to quarterback ignited the Eagles’ offense in its undefeated championship season. For the season, Specht accounted for 3,428 total yards, 41 rushing touchdowns and 25 passing TDs. He rushed for just under 2,000 yards and passed for nearly 1,500 yards.