2016 INA All State Football Teams - LEAVE FEEDBACK HERE!

[LukeFeddersen]

Below is the INA All State Football teams. Leave feedback on players who should have made it/been on a higher team here!

Also See: Class 2A 2017 Preseason Rankings

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

QB Brett Moser, BH/RV 6-3 218 Sr.

B Trent Johnson, D-New Hartford 5-7 170 Sr.

B Isaiah Vaughn, Union 5-10 180 Sr.

B Spencer Cuvelier, Crestwood 6-3 230 Sr.

Rec Luke Greiner, PCM 6-2 190 Sr.

Rec Shane Solberg, BH/RV 5-10 172 Sr.

Rec Dakota Jaeschke, Southeast Valley 6-2 201 Sr.

OL Tristan Wirfs, Mount Vernon 6-5 315 Sr.

OL Ben Lingenfelter, Cherokee 6-7 320 Sr.

OL Ethan Lappe, North Fayette 5-10 280 Sr.

OL Carter Brehm, Union 6-3 290 Jr.

OL Ethan Thomas, PCM 6-1 275 Sr.

UT Kody Case, S.C. Calhoun 5-10 155 Sr.

K Kyle Derner, Kuemper 6-1 160 Jr.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

DL Levi Duwa, Mid-Prairie 6-3 240 Sr.

DL Michael Ahrendsen, Union 6-1 305 Sr.

DL Ben Latusek, D-New Hartford 6-5 230 Sr.

DL Calvin Bright, Roland-Story 6-5 245 Sr.

LB Derek Greiner, Williamsburg 6-1 200 Sr.

LB Austin Rozeboom, BH/RV 5-9 153 Jr.

LB Brock Hadachek, Union 6-3 205 Sr.

LB Jack Cochrane, Mount Vernon 6-3 200 Sr.

DB Mitch Van Beek, CL/GLR 5-6 150 Sr.

DB Zach Lester, Clear Lake 6-1 175 Jr.

DB Ross Randall, West Marshall 5-10 155 Sr.

Ut Josh Fenske, New Hampton 6-3 185 Jr.

P Chase Netusil, Kuemper 5-10 165 Sr.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

QB Drew Adams, Mount Vernon 5-11 180 Jr.

B Caleb Schlatter, Roland-Story 5-11 195 Sr.

B Jacob Schafer, BH/RV 6-1 180 Sr.

B Blake Coughenour, CMB 5-10 190 Sr.

Rec Philip Cain, Sheldon 6-1 185 Jr.

Rec Jacob Schaefer, Kuemper 6-2 175 Sr.

Rec Cale Snedden, Mount Vaernon 6-2 175 Jr.

OL Giovani Esteves, Estherville-LC 6-4 310 Sr.

OL Will Clapper, CMB 6-4 275 So.

OL Trent Garver, Albia 6-0 270 Jr.

OL Dylan Hilbrands, BH/RV 6-3 200 Sr.

OL James Snodgrass, PCM 6-5 254 Sr.

K Terrlayn Jacoby, Mid-Prairie 5-10 170 Jr.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

DL Spencer Daufeldt, West Liberty 5-10 230 So.

DL Josh Guenther, North Fayette 5-11 170 Sr.

DL Clayton Kraus, Monticello 6-3 215 Jr.

DL Clayton Welch, PCM 6-0 205 Sr.

LB Nick Durnin, D-New Hartford 6-2 175 Sr.

LB Robert Sheridan, Estherville-LC 5-8 175 Sr.

LB Thad Bohbet, Underwood 5-10 195 Sr.

LB Chris Jermeland, Forest City 6-3 200 Jr.

DB Mitchell Snitker, Waukon 5-9 170 Jr.

DB Clayton Mapel, D-New Hartford 5-11 162 Sr.

DB Dylan Stech, Union 6-1 175 Sr.

P Sam Stelken, Beckman 5-10 175 Sr.

THIRD TEAM OFFENSE

QB Sheldon Speers, PCM 5-11 160 Sr.

B Ricky Vargas, Mid-Prairie 5-6 175 Sr.

B Wes Cummings, PCM 5-9 175 Sr.

B Jason Wardenburg, Williamsburg 5-9 160 Sr.

Rec Kobe Lutjens, BH/RV 6-4 210 Sr.

Rec Trey Valentine, Cherokee 6-5 200 Sr.

Rec Braeden Hoyer, Northeast 6-4 175 So.

OL Dylan Rivers, Roland-Story 6-3 280 Sr.

OL Luke Butikofer, North Fayette 5-10 230 Sr.

OL Cam Pfaffle, New Hampton 6-1 260 Sr.

OL Ben Subbert, Williamsburg 6-3 220 Jr.

OL Ryan Van Marel, Sheldon 6-2 225 Jr.

K Ben Palmer, Beckman 6-0 175 Sr.

THIRD TEAM DEFENSE

DL Garek Hurd, Roland-Story 6-2 225 Jr.

DL Dylan Larson, North Fayette 6-3 190 Sr.

DL Chase Stutes, Central Lee 6-3 200 So.

DL Michael Mohr, Kuemper 6-4 225 Jr.

LB Jacob Cleveringa, Sioux Center 6-4 215 Sr.

LB Jaydon Baker, CL/GLR 6-1 205 Sr.

LB Dane Butler, South Hardin 6-2 215 Sr.

LB Sam Moore, Mount Vernon 5-11 190 Sr.

DB Brett Staton, Roland-Story 6-1 180 Sr.

DB Tate Hovden, North Fayette 5-10 165 Sr.

DB Beau Coberly, West Marshall 5-10 155 Jr.

P Jeff Tratchel, Albia 5-11 165 Jr.

.....................................

Links of Interest:

Elite Player Rankings

Top 200 Players in 2017

Top 175 Players in 2018

Top 85 Players in 2019

Early 2017 Preseason Rankings

Class 4A

Class 3A

Class 2A

Class 1A

Class A

8-Man

 

[walkingstick24]

Josh Fenske is a better LB than Jesse Mackey????

 

[cyguy1983]

Riley Bruns from 2A Forest City didn't make it? 69 tackles from the nose tackle position while being double & triple teamed.

 

[smallcenter]

Josh Fenske is a better LB than Jesse Mackey????

Yes

 

[walkingstick24]

Yes

Explain please

 

[RubbyBubbleSchmitz]

Explain please

Look at his Madden ratings.

 

[walkingstick24]

Look at his Madden ratings.

According to Madden, Fenske is a 25 ovr. (Worst LB on the game) Mackey is a 85 ovr. and made the pro bowl in my New England Patriots Franchise.

 

[smallcenter]

Explain please

Fenske to Mackey

73 Tackles to 45 tackles.
4 sacks to 2 sacks
2nd in the district in tackles to 20th in the district in tackles

 

[walkingstick24]

Fenske to Mackey

73 Tackles to 45 tackles.
4 sacks to 2 sacks
2nd in the district in tackles to 20th in the district in tackles

Its not all about the stats, Mackey is argueably one of the best players in 2a and I don't think you can argue with that if you have been paying attention to 2a football the last two years, I guess you can make an argument if you just look at quikstats but Fenske is kind of a sit back and get the tackle 5 yards down field type of player, really doesn't come up and make plays, sad to see that Jesse Mackey isn't anywhere on this list let alone 1st team.

 

[QB69]

Looking at QuikStats, I see that Mackey had more solos than Fenske, so it appears that anyone can pile jump. Mackey was a key piece to the #1 team in 2A and after he fell to injury, the team wasn't the same without him. New Hampton had many close games and Mackey missed 2 and 3/4 games to injury, a couple of halves due to killing the opponents, and 1 complete game by forfeit. Better player on both sides of the ball.

 

[jen44]

Fenske to Mackey

73 Tackles to 45 tackles.
4 sacks to 2 sacks
2nd in the district in tackles to 20th in the district in tackles

Because everybody records tackles the exact same way, huh? If I recall correctly from a few years ago, CPU had 3 of the top 5 tacklers in the state. The math equalled out to 4-5 guys getting credit for a tackle on a single play. The tackle statistic can easily be abused.

In Mackey's defense (no pun intended), he only played 8 games due to an injury in week 9. Many of these games were lopsided, resulting in him standing on the sidelines for the 2nd half of these contests.

Mackey's team had more success and was more of a contributor on offense, which definitely comes into play here. Both are good players, but I think Mackey should definitely get the nod for being the most valuable player on a top 3 team in 2A this year.

 

[walkingstick24]

Because everybody records tackles the exact same way, huh? If I recall correctly from a few years ago, CPU had 3 of the top 5 tacklers in the state. The math equalled out to 4-5 guys getting credit for a tackle on a single play. The tackle statistic can easily be abused.

In Mackey's defense (no pun intended), he only played 8 games due to an injury in week 9. Many of these games were lopsided, resulting in him standing on the sidelines for the 2nd half of these contests.

Mackey's team had more success and was more of a contributor on offense, which definitely comes into play here. Both are good players, but I think Mackey should definitely get the nod for being the most valuable player on a top 3 team in 2A this year.

7 games due to the forfeit against Waterloo Columbus

 

[smallcenter]

I too am disappointed that Mackey didn't make a recognition list here. He is a very good ball player.

 

[westside rules]

guys the entire selection process is a joke done by people that have NO clue what they are doing. Go to the 4A board and look at the replies on the same topic. I am not saying that some of the young men on here aren't deserving I'm merely stating the people doing the selections are either not qualified or they failed to research.

I hope the INA guts the current process, would sooner them not even attempt to make these selections.

Below is data from the 4A board that I ( copy and pasted) I think it explains a lot!

Looking at the list or coaches that attended or were invited to the voting meeting and the sports reporters who voted help answers our questions as to why and how. I will use two examples that jump off the page, one from 3A and the other from 4A.

Urbandale coach Sam Anderson attended the meeting. Urbandale was a team that did not make it to post season play and according to our independent expert (DSM Sports Fan) had 1 player on it's year end performers list (Milewsky).

Now lets use Sioux City and Council Bluffs for a comparison who have a total of 6 teams playing 4A with CBLC the only team making the playoffs.

Sioux City & Council Bluffs ( 6 HS) 3 players
Urbandale ( 1 high School) 4 players

So what the selectors are telling us is Urbandale (1 School) has 4 All State Playerscompared to #6 Sioux City and Council Bluffs High Schools have 3 players And Duggan and Theobald ( top passer/Duggan and the State's leading sacker/ Theobald and 2nd in TFL) two premier players according to Quik Stats and DSM Sports Fan are not worthy yet Urbandale has 4 players deserving? BTW CBLC beat this team loaded with all state performers to capture a playoff spot.

How can a team like Urbandale with 4 ALL STATE PLAYERS not make it to post season?

Now lets look at 3A
I am not sure who or how reporters get invited but if you look some News Papers send multiple people to vote, an example would be Creston who show 2 attendees. How many players from Creston get selected to the ALL STATE TEAMS ( drum roll) #4. You would think a team with 4 all state players would get deep into post season.

So what's the point in all this? The system is a joke and the teams are not the best players but the players best represented at the voting ceremony

Before anyone asks, I'll admit that I am pissed at these selections and yes I am a west side guy and a Sioux City HS sports fan of both Heelan and East and just want fairness in the process.

Below is the list of reporters and coaches attending

1. 2016 INA ALL-STATE FOOTBALL TEAMS ANNOUNCED
   
   DES MOINES, IA – The Iowa Newspaper Association announced its 2016 All-State Football selections Tuesday, naming honorary captains in classes A, 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and 8-Man.
   
   Sports writers serving on the INA selection committee which made the team selections were: Corey Meints, Ackley World Journal; Greg Grabianowski, Algona Upper Des Moines; Daryl Schepanski, Anamosa Journal-Eureka; K.J. Pilcher, Cedar Rapids Gazette; Kyle Ocker, Centerville Daily Iowegian; Kelly DeVore, Central City Linn News-Letter; Kaleb Carter, Creston News Advertiser; Ryan Kronberg, Creston News Advertiser; Matt Coss, Davenport Quad-City Times; Todd Danner, Denison Bulletin; Ross Eberhart, DeWitt Observer; Dan Voigt, Emmetsburg Publishing; Bruce Thein, Guttenberg Press; Kristi Nixon, Hampton Chronicle; Mike Oeffner, Harlan Newspapers; Bruce Odson, Hawarden Independent (via phone); Mike Helle, Knoxville Journal-Express; Stephen Koenigsfeld, Marshalltown Times-Republican; Adam Ring, Marshalltown Times-Republican; Ross Thede, Marshalltown Times-Republican; Blake Schultz, Mason City Globe Gazette; Jake Ryder, Mid-America Publishing; Matt Gengler, Missouri Valley Times-News; Pete Temple, Monticello Express; Troy Hyde, Newton Daily News; Lori Wiser, Ocheyedan Press-Melvin News; Jake Jenkins, Oskaloosa Herald; John Jensen, Parkersburg Eclipse-News-Review; Perry Bell, Pella Chronicle; Dale Wegner, Sac City Sun; Jeff Budlong, Sioux City Journal and Troy Banning, Webster City Daily Freeman-Journal.
   
   The following coaches and representatives of the Iowa Football Coaches Association assisted with statistical information: Jerry Staton, Albia; Rick Nelson, Ankeny; Andy Umthum, ELC; Aaron Shipley, Grinnell; Brian Webb, Cedar Rapids Jefferson; Duane Schulte; Cedar Rapids Xavier; Bill Shafer, Central Springs; P.J. Hedrington, Des Moines Roosevelt; Tom Wilson, Dowling Catholic; Chris Visser, Glenwood; Kreg Lensch, Glidden-Ralston; Gabe Tardive, LeMars; Mike Parkinson, Lynnville-Sully; David Kuhl, Maple Valley; Brian Wilken, Newell-Fonda; Steve Shantz, Nodaway Valley; Lyle Alumbaugh, Panorama; Aaron Stensland, Roland-Story; Aaron Allspach, Twin Cedars; Cameron Parker, Twin Cedars; Sam Anderson, Urbandale; Gary Swenson, Valley West Des Moines; Steve Milder, West Central; Cody Hackett, West Marshall and George Ashman, Woodward-Granger.

 

[bigwig055]

It almost seems like judging 6 classes worth of high school kids from across the state, and then ranking these players, of which you've maybe MAYBE seen 40% of them play even one single game live while there were simultaneously 21 other players on the field, when your profession is not to be a football talent scout, is subjective and open to differing opinions or something.

 

[westside rules]

my bet is that many of these so called sports writers never see anyone other then the teams their local schools play. without naming names I know a few of the people on the voting list, very nice people but should not be picking all state players. Also when you let a paper send multiple voters you know what's going to happen ( Creston in 3A is an example of this) with 4 players selected.

 

[bigwig055]

my bet is that many of these so called sports writers never see anyone other then the teams their local schools play. without naming names I know a few of the people on the voting list, very nice people but should not be picking all state players. Also when you let a paper send multiple voters you know what's going to happen ( Creston in 3A is an example of this) with 4 players selected.

"So called sports writers"? That is literally what they do for a job. They write about sports. What, is every local newspaper's sportswriter supposed to like, travel 2 hours to go do a write-up on 2 teams for their local paper that will sell zero newspapers? That's asinine. I could go on for paragraphs pointing out 100 reasons why that one point about the INA makes absolutely no sense in reality, but if you can't figure those out on your own, then I would just be wasting my time.

The whining about these teams and sports in general is obnoxious. The hindsight driven ESPN "HOT TAKE"-ification and in-depth scrutiny of every single aspect of freaking high school extracurricular activities is ridiculous. In a lot of instances, there is no objectively "better" player. Some hypothetical 6'3 230 pound all-world LB that wore #71 and had no lateral mobility whatsoever but could stop the HECK out of dive in 1962 might never step on the field in 2016. But in that environment, in those match-ups, he was great.

Now take "1962" in the above example and make it "class A western Iowa" or whatever and take 2016 and make it "Class 8A Florida" or whatever and the point still stands. Same thing on a game by game match-up scale.

Its a real bummer that your buddy / kid / self got left off of some recognition list by a biased, moranic sportswriter conglomerate from Creston or whatever, when they so clearly deserved to be on it. If the solutions to you are so clear and simple and you can fix the entire system, then why don't you do it yourself?

Now take all of the reasons that your brain just told you why that wouldn't work, and apply them to everyone else's life. These sportswriters work long hours, covering (to a certain extent) every team and sport regardless of gender, and that's just at a high school level, forget about local colleges and national sports. How are you supposed to meet your deadline when you have to add an additional 4 hours (or whatever) round trip driving time to your day just so you can cover 2 teams that you know nothing about? Guess you don't get to see your spouse & kids that night. "Sorry honey, the guy on the message board demanded that I drive to a game at Nishnabotna so I could be a more informed voter when it comes time to select All State teams. Yeah, I know, no one in my hometown of Sioux City, where this newspaper that I write for is carried, will care one lick about this game. And yes, I know that its a long drive. And yes, I know that our newspaper will somehow have to pay me more for my time, more for my gas mileage, while simultaneously selling fewer papers and ads because we aren't covering Heelan at all for the 6th week in a row. The guy from Ida Grove is covering Heelan this week, he's really good, it'll be a great write-up. But honey, you have to understand, there might be a really great offensive guard in the Nishnabotna game that deserves recognition, and how else will I know about him in order to vouch for him in the INA All State meeting? Quikstats is a sham and we can't base our opinions on stats! Oh, speaking of stats, sorry I won't be able to go to the kids' jazz band concert on Saturday, I have to watch and analyze 100 hours of film each week on every single player that might possibly be deserving of All State recognition, in all 6 classes, from all across the state of Iowa. But honey, that 275 pound DT from Oelwein might be getting overlooked for All State recognition because he gets triple and quadruple teamed every single play! Yeah, you've never even played football and you know that's an insane claim because that means 3 other guys are going completely unblocked, but some guy who doesn't know how to capitalize properly or which there/their/they're to use on the message board said he gets tripled and quadrupled every play so I need to watch so I don't accidentally put him on the 3rd team instead of the 1st team! These things are all the most important thing in the world, and every single person invests 100% of their waking time & mental capacity into their job, I'm certain of it!" Asinine.

And what if they do go to Nishnabotna to see the GREATEST PLAYER EVER have an off night the 1 game they go see him in? Or he just has 1 or 2 bad plays, and because the sportswriter is covering all 22 players on the field, those are the only 2 plays that he really notices or remembers? Or what or the scheme calls for him to do very specific things that you, and also the opposing coaches, can't even grasp from watching in real time? Or what if he's a stud CB and they throw away from him the entire night? The entire season? Does he deserve an INA All State vote from that moran sportswriter?

Those are the kinds of things I said I wasn't going to go in to, but sometimes someone needs to offer a little bit of perspective. I'm not a sportswriter, and have fewer sportswriter friends than you do from the sounds of it.

My thoughts & prayers go out to every player that was unjustly left off of an All State team this year. Hopefully you can recover from this tragedy and still live a meaningful life. But don't worry, you can take comfort in knowing that out on the Internet, someone is out there fighting for you. Fighting for your and all other 200 guys in Iowa that deserved to be on an All State list, but weren't. You can tell that story to your grandkids someday, I'm sure it will be a significant portion of your self identity.

Oh, but 100% seriously, congratulations to everyone that was recognized as All State. Winners win, and you deserved it.

 

[westside rules]

Trying to be mature with my thoughts as I read your reply, you make some excellent points and I appreciate your thoughts. My points is "don't go and vote just to go vote". The INA needs to set a few rules and not have it the wild west.

I do appreciate your perspective and agree sometimes it's more important to us then the players.

 

[bigwig055]

Trying to be mature with my thoughts as I read your reply, you make some excellent points and I appreciate your thoughts. My points is "don't go and vote just to go vote". The INA needs to set a few rules and not have it the wild west.

I do appreciate your perspective and agree sometimes it's more important to us then the players.

Apologies if I made it too personal, that was not meant to be directed at you specifically westsiderules even if my post makes it seem that way. My tangents were prompted by a lot of the other comments I've heard and posts I've seen over the years. I just hate seeing athletes, sportswriters, officials, and other people (particularly volunteers or people contributing as a service to their community, not a full time job) involved in sports, particularly at an amateur or local level, raked over the coals. It seems to happen all the time.

In the end, my point is that it's high school sports, and All State teams should be considered a nice bonus. People have recognized your achievements and effort, it is not necessarily a set in stone ranking, which is how All State teams seem to be interpreted, in large part due to their formatting.

The real benefit comes from the great life skills you acquire from participating in sports, and focusing on who got left off of All State teams shifts that focus from what is really beneficial. In my opinion, it can take what was otherwise a great season/career for a kid full of awesome accomplishments and memories and leave them with a bitter taste in their mouth because they feel they were wronged.

I definitely do agree with your point, don't just go vote for the sake of voting.

 

[westside rules]

Hey I was right there with the rest of them and needed a wake up call, you're dead on! No apology needed on your end!

 

[smallcenter]

"So called sports writers"? That is literally what they do for a job. They write about sports. What, is every local newspaper's sportswriter supposed to like, travel 2 hours to go do a write-up on 2 teams for their local paper that will sell zero newspapers? That's asinine. I could go on for paragraphs pointing out 100 reasons why that one point about the INA makes absolutely no sense in reality, but if you can't figure those out on your own, then I would just be wasting my time.

The whining about these teams and sports in general is obnoxious. The hindsight driven ESPN "HOT TAKE"-ification and in-depth scrutiny of every single aspect of freaking high school extracurricular activities is ridiculous. In a lot of instances, there is no objectively "better" player. Some hypothetical 6'3 230 pound all-world LB that wore #71 and had no lateral mobility whatsoever but could stop the HECK out of dive in 1962 might never step on the field in 2016. But in that environment, in those match-ups, he was great.

Now take "1962" in the above example and make it "class A western Iowa" or whatever and take 2016 and make it "Class 8A Florida" or whatever and the point still stands. Same thing on a game by game match-up scale.

Its a real bummer that your buddy / kid / self got left off of some recognition list by a biased, moranic sportswriter conglomerate from Creston or whatever, when they so clearly deserved to be on it. If the solutions to you are so clear and simple and you can fix the entire system, then why don't you do it yourself?

Now take all of the reasons that your brain just told you why that wouldn't work, and apply them to everyone else's life. These sportswriters work long hours, covering (to a certain extent) every team and sport regardless of gender, and that's just at a high school level, forget about local colleges and national sports. How are you supposed to meet your deadline when you have to add an additional 4 hours (or whatever) round trip driving time to your day just so you can cover 2 teams that you know nothing about? Guess you don't get to see your spouse & kids that night. "Sorry honey, the guy on the message board demanded that I drive to a game at Nishnabotna so I could be a more informed voter when it comes time to select All State teams. Yeah, I know, no one in my hometown of Sioux City, where this newspaper that I write for is carried, will care one lick about this game. And yes, I know that its a long drive. And yes, I know that our newspaper will somehow have to pay me more for my time, more for my gas mileage, while simultaneously selling fewer papers and ads because we aren't covering Heelan at all for the 6th week in a row. The guy from Ida Grove is covering Heelan this week, he's really good, it'll be a great write-up. But honey, you have to understand, there might be a really great offensive guard in the Nishnabotna game that deserves recognition, and how else will I know about him in order to vouch for him in the INA All State meeting? Quikstats is a sham and we can't base our opinions on stats! Oh, speaking of stats, sorry I won't be able to go to the kids' jazz band concert on Saturday, I have to watch and analyze 100 hours of film each week on every single player that might possibly be deserving of All State recognition, in all 6 classes, from all across the state of Iowa. But honey, that 275 pound DT from Oelwein might be getting overlooked for All State recognition because he gets triple and quadruple teamed every single play! Yeah, you've never even played football and you know that's an insane claim because that means 3 other guys are going completely unblocked, but some guy who doesn't know how to capitalize properly or which there/their/they're to use on the message board said he gets tripled and quadrupled every play so I need to watch so I don't accidentally put him on the 3rd team instead of the 1st team! These things are all the most important thing in the world, and every single person invests 100% of their waking time & mental capacity into their job, I'm certain of it!" Asinine.

And what if they do go to Nishnabotna to see the GREATEST PLAYER EVER have an off night the 1 game they go see him in? Or he just has 1 or 2 bad plays, and because the sportswriter is covering all 22 players on the field, those are the only 2 plays that he really notices or remembers? Or what or the scheme calls for him to do very specific things that you, and also the opposing coaches, can't even grasp from watching in real time? Or what if he's a stud CB and they throw away from him the entire night? The entire season? Does he deserve an INA All State vote from that moran sportswriter?

Those are the kinds of things I said I wasn't going to go in to, but sometimes someone needs to offer a little bit of perspective. I'm not a sportswriter, and have fewer sportswriter friends than you do from the sounds of it.

My thoughts & prayers go out to every player that was unjustly left off of an All State team this year. Hopefully you can recover from this tragedy and still live a meaningful life. But don't worry, you can take comfort in knowing that out on the Internet, someone is out there fighting for you. Fighting for your and all other 200 guys in Iowa that deserved to be on an All State list, but weren't. You can tell that story to your grandkids someday, I'm sure it will be a significant portion of your self identity.

Oh, but 100% seriously, congratulations to everyone that was recognized as All State. Winners win, and you deserved it.

This was amazing!

 

[cyguy1983]

"So called sports writers"? That is literally what they do for a job. They write about sports. What, is every local newspaper's sportswriter supposed to like, travel 2 hours to go do a write-up on 2 teams for their local paper that will sell zero newspapers? That's asinine. I could go on for paragraphs pointing out 100 reasons why that one point about the INA makes absolutely no sense in reality, but if you can't figure those out on your own, then I would just be wasting my time.

The whining about these teams and sports in general is obnoxious. The hindsight driven ESPN "HOT TAKE"-ification and in-depth scrutiny of every single aspect of freaking high school extracurricular activities is ridiculous. In a lot of instances, there is no objectively "better" player. Some hypothetical 6'3 230 pound all-world LB that wore #71 and had no lateral mobility whatsoever but could stop the HECK out of dive in 1962 might never step on the field in 2016. But in that environment, in those match-ups, he was great.

Now take "1962" in the above example and make it "class A western Iowa" or whatever and take 2016 and make it "Class 8A Florida" or whatever and the point still stands. Same thing on a game by game match-up scale.

Its a real bummer that your buddy / kid / self got left off of some recognition list by a biased, moranic sportswriter conglomerate from Creston or whatever, when they so clearly deserved to be on it. If the solutions to you are so clear and simple and you can fix the entire system, then why don't you do it yourself?

Now take all of the reasons that your brain just told you why that wouldn't work, and apply them to everyone else's life. These sportswriters work long hours, covering (to a certain extent) every team and sport regardless of gender, and that's just at a high school level, forget about local colleges and national sports. How are you supposed to meet your deadline when you have to add an additional 4 hours (or whatever) round trip driving time to your day just so you can cover 2 teams that you know nothing about? Guess you don't get to see your spouse & kids that night. "Sorry honey, the guy on the message board demanded that I drive to a game at Nishnabotna so I could be a more informed voter when it comes time to select All State teams. Yeah, I know, no one in my hometown of Sioux City, where this newspaper that I write for is carried, will care one lick about this game. And yes, I know that its a long drive. And yes, I know that our newspaper will somehow have to pay me more for my time, more for my gas mileage, while simultaneously selling fewer papers and ads because we aren't covering Heelan at all for the 6th week in a row. The guy from Ida Grove is covering Heelan this week, he's really good, it'll be a great write-up. But honey, you have to understand, there might be a really great offensive guard in the Nishnabotna game that deserves recognition, and how else will I know about him in order to vouch for him in the INA All State meeting? Quikstats is a sham and we can't base our opinions on stats! Oh, speaking of stats, sorry I won't be able to go to the kids' jazz band concert on Saturday, I have to watch and analyze 100 hours of film each week on every single player that might possibly be deserving of All State recognition, in all 6 classes, from all across the state of Iowa. But honey, that 275 pound DT from Oelwein might be getting overlooked for All State recognition because he gets triple and quadruple teamed every single play! Yeah, you've never even played football and you know that's an insane claim because that means 3 other guys are going completely unblocked, but some guy who doesn't know how to capitalize properly or which there/their/they're to use on the message board said he gets tripled and quadrupled every play so I need to watch so I don't accidentally put him on the 3rd team instead of the 1st team! These things are all the most important thing in the world, and every single person invests 100% of their waking time & mental capacity into their job, I'm certain of it!" Asinine.

And what if they do go to Nishnabotna to see the GREATEST PLAYER EVER have an off night the 1 game they go see him in? Or he just has 1 or 2 bad plays, and because the sportswriter is covering all 22 players on the field, those are the only 2 plays that he really notices or remembers? Or what or the scheme calls for him to do very specific things that you, and also the opposing coaches, can't even grasp from watching in real time? Or what if he's a stud CB and they throw away from him the entire night? The entire season? Does he deserve an INA All State vote from that moran sportswriter?

Those are the kinds of things I said I wasn't going to go in to, but sometimes someone needs to offer a little bit of perspective. I'm not a sportswriter, and have fewer sportswriter friends than you do from the sounds of it.

My thoughts & prayers go out to every player that was unjustly left off of an All State team this year. Hopefully you can recover from this tragedy and still live a meaningful life. But don't worry, you can take comfort in knowing that out on the Internet, someone is out there fighting for you. Fighting for your and all other 200 guys in Iowa that deserved to be on an All State list, but weren't. You can tell that story to your grandkids someday, I'm sure it will be a significant portion of your self identity.

Oh, but 100% seriously, congratulations to everyone that was recognized as All State. Winners win, and you deserved it.

I do understand sports and I do know a valid prospect to play at the next level when I see one. When I post its credible and it's not pumping someone who is undeserving. All state honors might lead to help in some way with college funding so there is a price to pay for being left off. When a deserving individual such as Riley Bruns is left off, I will speak up. I've seen some of the people who did make it play and they aren't in his league. Your rambling rant dissing players like him didn't impress me much.

 

[HawksFan77]

Looking at QuikStats, I see that Mackey had more solos than Fenske, so it appears that anyone can pile jump. Mackey was a key piece to the #1 team in 2A and after he fell to injury, the team wasn't the same without him. New Hampton had many close games and Mackey missed 2 and 3/4 games to injury, a couple of halves due to killing the opponents, and 1 complete game by forfeit. Better player on both sides of the ball.

LOL