A supplement to
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Reloaded to shoot for another postseason run All-staters Maitlen, Shiltz lead 2015 Panthers By LARRY PETERSON -
CNA sports writer • lpeterson@ crestonnews.com
Sixteen seniors graduated from a historic Creston/Orient-Macksburg football season last year, but coaches Brian Morrison and Ryan McKim have one message for Class 3A District 8 rivals. “The cupboard’s not bare.” A total of 33 lettermen return from the program’s first 10-win season in history, including 20 juniors. The Panthers went 7-2 in the regular season, including 5-1 in district play, and avenged that lone district loss with an exciting 50-49 overtime win over Dallas Center-Grimes in the quarterfinals. Making the school’s first trip to the UNI-Dome for the semifinals, the Panthers fell to eventual runner-up Sioux City Heelan, 59-14. The 3-1 postseason run included wins of 31-7 over Greene County and 59-31 over Norwalk, the team that hosts Creston/O-M in Friday’s season opener. The Panther offense ranked only behind finalists Pella and Heelan in scoring average at 37 points a game, and was second to champion Pella with 5,295 total points for the season. There were 12 additions to the program’s single-season records in both offensive and defensive categories. Among those in the graduated senior class were first-team allstate quarterback Alex Nielsen, who set a new mark with 2,868 yards passing and 23 touchdowns, and receivers Bryce Briley, McClain Haines and Christian Groumoutis. Briley led Class 3A at 26 yards per catch for the high-flying Panther offense directed by Ryan McKim, who has been elevated to co-coach status this year by sixthyear head man Brian Morrison. “He’ll get the wins and losses record with the association
just like a head coach,” Morrison said. “We’re not changing anything from what we did last year, but with the amount of work he puts in for the offense and special teams and Morrison everything else, he deserves to be rewarded in that way.” Two of last year’s five all-staters return in 2015. Seniors were offensive lineman Jordan Thompson and kicker Conner Pals, in addition to Nielsen. Linebacker Seth Maitlen, who set a program record for tackles, was named to the Iowa Newspaper Association first-team defense last year and returns for his senior sea- Maitlen son as inside linebacker and either fullback or tight end on offense. Junior Chase Shiltz, who scored the pivotal two-point run that edged Dallas Center-Grimes in the quarterfinals, returns in the backfield after rushing for 1,250 yards last year and making the allstate second team. He scored 30 combined rushing and receiving touchdowns to set a school record, and his rushing total was 10 yards shy of Luke Neitzel’s record. On defense, Shiltz will move from outside linebacker to free safety. Among other players with starting experience are lineman Ryan Brown and linebacker Cameron Leith from the senior class, junior linemen Kadon Hulett and Cody Tanner, and promising sophomore lineman Trevor Downing, who garnered significant varsity duty as
a freshman last year. This year’s squad numbers 74 in grades 9-12, including foreign exchange student Moritz Johannknecht (Mojo), who is slated to be the starting quarterback. He has played for a champion team in Germany and his national all-star team won an international youth football competition in Texas last year. “The cupboard is not bare,” McKim said. “We just have to have some kids step up on Friday nights. They’ve been doing good things. We’re McKim just different.” One reason the coaches’ confidence level is high, despite the loss of so much talent from the state semifinal team, is the off-season preparation. Morrison said McKim and assistant coaches Darrell Frain and Casey Tanner directed a stateof-the-art summer weight lifting and agility workout regimen. Attendance was at record levels. “Coaches McKim, Frain and Tanner did an outstanding job this summer with the kids,” Morrison said. “The kids bought into the weight program. Their confidence is high because of it. You see it on the football field, with their movement and the things they are able to do. We’re a physical football team.” Although there are only nine senior lettermen — with senior Brandon Jones and junior Brody Frain sidelined for several weeks with injuries — the experienced junior class and a sprinkling of contributors from the lower grades will ease the transition. “We have a strong nucleus of kids who played last year,” Morrison said. “The junior class in particular had a lot of big-time players
on that team last year. That being said, we lost a lot of kids. But the season before we also lost a lot of kids. The senior class last year really didn’t have that much varsity experience, and that includes the (all-state) quarterback and receiving corps. We’ve been in this situation before, with kids stepping up. It’s no different this year.”
Offense
Johannknecht leads a quarterback contingent that includes sophomore Jaden Driskell, junior Seth Thompson and freshman Kylan Smallwood, in the absence of Frain, who suffered an elbow injury making a throw during the August camp. Johannknecht (6-2, 180) played on the youth team of the Paderborn Dolphins, the same organization where former Panther head coach Dick Bergstrom has Johannknecht coached twice in his five years of European football experience. Bergstrom said two years ago Johannknecht’s skills were advanced past the typical American 15-year-old freshman, and he’s only improved since then. “He’s an accurate thrower and certainly is capable of doing what we need,” McKim said. “Our other guys are capable, too, and have been working hard. We’re fine at quarterback.” The running game is in good hands with Shiltz (5-11, 185). He’s a shifty, hard runner and showed exceptional pass-catching ability a year ago. Other backs are sophomore Kolby Tomas (5-8, 185), senior Kole Lovely (6-0, 175), sophomore Mitchel Swank (5-6, 160) and fullbacks Maitlen (6-2, 215), junior
Jackson Mikkelsen (5-9, 185), junior Michael Stults (5-11, 185) and Leith (5-10, 175). Junior Colton Bolinger (6-4, 215) has rehabilitated from a knee injury and is slated for tight end duty, along with Maitlen. Jones, when he returns, and junior Ian Burns (6-4, 180) are other tight ends. Leading the receiving corps are junior Gavin Woods (5-11, 165), senior Chris Foster (5-9, 155), junior Cody Crawford (5-10, 190) and sophomore Evan Jacobson (56, 140). The only returning varsity offensive linemen are Tanner (6-2, 270) at center and Hulett (6-4, 230), who has moved from guard to left tackle. Downing (6-5, 290) takes over at right tackle, while sophomore Blake Sevier (6-2, 290) and junior Devon Petersen (6-0, 230) are working at guard. Others in the offensive line mix are sophomore Tucker Flynn (68, 320), senior Curtis Palmer (6-7, 330), Brown (6-0, 325) and junior Kaden Wilson (6-3, 220). Flynn and Wilson were slowed late in camp by groin injuries. “We’re deep in the offensive line,” McKim said. “We have a chance as long as some of the new guys step up and be what we think they can be.” Although the offense may not strike with the home run threat as much this year, don’t look for a major changes. “We’ve tweaked a few things, sure,” McKim said. “That’s the unique thing about high school, you don’t recruit people to your system, you take your system to the people you have. We’re a little different, but we still believe in the same core runs and most of the same stuff. Our receivers will have to step up, and part of that is the
2015 HIGH SCHOOL FALL SPORTS GUIDE Reader’s Guide The 2015 High School Fall Sports Guide provides an outlook of all our area schools’ athletic teams. Inside the cover are team photos, season schedules and team capsules, plus previews of each area football team. The index of teams is as follows:
Creston Orient-Macksburg Mount Ayr Southwest Valley Nodaway Valley Lenox East Union Murray Diagonal
pages 1-3 page 4 page 5 pages 6-7 pages 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 page 12
Please see PANTHERS, page 4C