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Lambert coach, Adam captain of balanced 2024 squad
Lambert coach, Adam captain of All-Union football
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
The 2024 football season saw a rise in parity in the Union area. After two-straight years of the top area UNI-Dome qualifiers, the coverage area was shut out from Cedar Falls, but had plenty of dogs in the fight, as six teams made the playoffs, and a few more finished one game out.
The 2024 All-Union squad reflects a relatively even year across the board. Ten different teams are represented, and nobody got more than four
This year’s team is led by Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert and captained by Pekin star Will Adam.
COACH: Daren Lambert, Mid-Prairie
The Union coverage area’s only quarterfinalist of the fall was Mid-Prairie, as Coach Lambert led the team all the way to the Class 2A Round of 8.
Mid-Prairie had started the year 0-3, falling to three playoff teams in non-district play.
The Golden Hawks rattled off seven-straight wins after that, winning the district with an unbeaten record and knocking off both Union Community and Mediapolis in the playoffs.
CAPTAIN: Will Adam, senior, Pekin
There weren’t too many players across the state of Iowa that could do what Pekin senior Will Adam did this fall. Adam grew to be one of the most exciting players around on both offense and defense to earn himself the captain nod on the 2024 team.
Under center, Adam threw for 1,215 yards and 11 touchdowns, while also rushing for a team-leadaing 936 yards, and finding the end zone 15 more times with his legs.
Adam was Pekin’s second-leading tackler, finishing the year with 40.5 tackles. He had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries on defense, scored on one of the picks and took his only punt return of the year all the way back to the house.
QB: Brady Weber, senior, Mid-Prairie
Mid-Prairie’s senior gunslinger had another huge year behind center, earning our quarterback nod on the 2024 squad.
Weber threw for 1,751 yards this fall and 11 touchdowns, while only being picked off five times. He also rushed for 94 yards and six scores.
RB: Hudson Ehrenfelt, senior, Mid-Prairie
Mid-Prairie’s senior back was one of Class 2A’s top runners, going for 242 yards and 26 touchdowns this fall to rule the Golden Hawk backfield.
Ehrenfelt also had 289 receiving yards and two touchdowns this season.
RB: Isaac Bruns, senior, Sigourney-Keota
One of the top workhorses in the Union coverage area was Isaac Bruns, who took over the running game for the Cobras, carrying the ball 172 times.
Bruns rumbled for 1,461 yards this fall, and scored 23 touchdowns on the ground. He also went for 172 receiving yards and three more scores.
WR: Robert Brown, senior, Pekin
One of the speediest receivers around this year was Robert Brown, who caught 29 passes to lead the Panthers.
Brown went for 514 receiving yards this fall and took four of those catches to the end zone, while also running for a score.
WR: Isaac Rich, senior, WACO
The WACO passing game had plenty of options to go to this year, but ahead of them all was Isaac Rich.
Rich caught 29 passes this season and went for 572 receiving yards. He caught 11 touchdown passes to lead the Warriors.
WR: Mason Morgan, senior, Washington
One of the best pass catchers again this year was Washington’s Mason Morgan, who led a potent receiving core one more time in 2024.
Morgan caught 21 passes this year for 464 yards and four touchdowns.
TE: Kaden Kos, junior, Mid-Prairie
Mid-Prairie’s junior tight end was all over the field on both sides of the ball this season, but he gets a spot at tight end for the 2024 team.
Kos caught 14 passes this season for 298 yards and three touchdown. He averaged over 21 yards per catch on the year, which led the team.
OL: Owen Menke, junior, Sigourney-Keota
Sigourney-Keota needs a strong offensive line for its run-heavy offense to work out, and Menke was a large part of why it did this season.
Menke and the rest of the front line helped the Cobras rush for a ridiculous 2,810 yards and 41 scores this season.
OL: Cooper Buffington, senior, Winfield-Mount Union
Winfield-Mount Union’s Cooper Buffington was a star on both side of the ball for the Wolves this fall, but earns a spot on the All-Union offensive line.
Buffington led an offensive line that helped the Wolves go for 1,851 passing yards, 1,358 rushing yards and 53 total touchdowns, despite losing a monster senior class from last season.
OL: Dre Smithburg, senior, Fairfield
Fairfield’s Dre Smithburg helped his team put together a fantastic rushing attack despite losing a ton of talent from the previous year.
This fall, Fairfield’s running game rushed for 2,237 yards and 31 touchdowns
OL: Cale Mellinger, senior, Van Buren County
Cale Mellinger was one of the best players on both sides of the ball for Van Buren County this season.
The Warriors went for over 1,700 yards this season with Mellinger leading the offensive line.
UTIL: Louden Huisenga, senior, WACO
There’s an obvious reason to give WACO’s Louden Huisenga a utility spot this season. He did it all for the Warriors, who continued to be a top team in the Class 8-Player landscape.
Huisenga led the Warriors with 1,072 rushing yards and 23 tackles offensively, while also going for 434 yards and four scores through the air.
On defense, Huisenga co-led the team with 73 tackles, while also recovering one fumble.
UTIL: Lane Genkinger, senior, Winfield-Mount Union
The definition of a utility player was Winfield-Mount Union’s Lane Genkinger, who put together a fantastic senior season.
Not only did Genkinger lead the team with 796 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, but he also paced the pass-catchers, finishing with 41 catches for 821 yards and 11 scores.
DL: Caden Bender, senior, Pekin
The 2024 Pekin squad did a lot to stop the run this year, and Caden Bender was a major part of that, finishing the year with 31.5 tackles and two sacks.
Bender and the big guys up front for the Panthers helped the team start the year with four-straight wins, finish second in the district and make it to the Class A second round in the playoffs.
DL: Summit Keith, senior, Washington
Washington got a lot of run on the defensive line from Summit Keith, who finished the year with 58 tackles and 2.5 sacks for the Demon football team.
Keith also had one takeaway this season, gathering up one of the eight fumble recoveries by the Demon defense.
DL: Trey Edeker, junior, WACO
WACO’s Trey Edeker was huge for the defense this season, finishing fourth on the squad with 42 tackles and co-leading the team with two fumble recoveries.
It was what hee did in the pass rush, though, that helps Edeker get a spot on the defensive line. Edeker had nine sacks on the year, sixth-best in Class 8-Player football.
LB: Kamden Nusbaum, senior, Van Buren County
VBC senior Kamden Nusbaum ran away with the tackles lead at Van Buren County this season.
Nusbaum finished the year with 72.5 tacklese, 28 of them coming solo. He also recovered one fumble.
LB: Payton Walker, senior, Mt. Pleasant
Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Walker was tremendous for the Panthers this fall, leading the team on both offense and defense.
Defensively, Walker was all over the field, finishing the year with 75 tackles. He also had two takeaways, recovering one fumble and picking off one pass.
LB: Luke Konczal, senior, Fairfield
Fairfield’s Luke Konczal earned the Trojans’ team MVP award this year, and it’s not hard to see how that happened.
Konczal hit a huge mileston defensively, going for 100.5 tackles on the year, 72 of them being solo. He finished Top-16 in the entire state of Iowa in both categories.
LB: Jude Carter, senior, Washington
It was obvious who the leader of the Demon defense was this year, as senior Jude Carter led the squad with 84 tackles, 46 of them coming solo.
Carter was one of the major reasons the Demons were able to compete for a playoff spot this year, finishing just short in a tough Class 3A district.
DB: Jared Diaz, senior, Highland
Not many players in the state of Iowa can say they picked off five passes this fall, but Highland’s Jared Diaz sure can.
Diaz was one of just nine players in Class A to secure five interceptions this season. He also finished the year with 20.5 tackles.
DB: Jake Edwards, senior, Winfield-Mount Union
Wolves’ senior Jake Edwards was a top player on both sides of the ball, but earns his spot on defense.
Edwards finished the year with 44.5 tackles, third-best on the team. He picked off three passes on the season and brought two back to the end zone.
DB: Brady Clark, senior, Sigourney-Keota
Sigourney-Keota’s Brady Clark was a menace for the Cobra defense all year. He finished fifth on the team in tackles, with 24.5, and went crazy in pass defense.
Clark picked off three passes this season, and managed to take them back for a combined 132 yards. Two of those ended in the end zone for pick-sixes.
KR: Hayden Shelman, sophomore, WACO
Nobody was more dynamic in the kick return this fall than WACO’s Hayden Shelman.
Shelman returned 25 kicks on the year and racked up 712 return yards and four touchdowns, while also taking one punt back to the house.
PR: Lamar Ceant, sophomore, Columbus
The speed of the Columbus football team was on full display in the return game this fall.
Ceant led Columbus with 327 yards of kick returns, including two touchdowns. He also returned five punts for 110 yards.
K: Dylan White, junior, Mt. Pleasant
Mt. Pleasant’s Dylan white was an immediate impact for the Panther football team, making three field goals and going 17-for-20 on extra point attempts.
White’s foot locked up two of Mt. Pleasant’s four wins this fall. He made the game-winning overtime extra point against Fairfield and a game-winning field goal as time expired in Fort Madison.
P: Caden Clarahan, senior, Sigourney-Keota
Sigourney-Keota did a lot of good things this season, but possibly overshadowed was the Cobras’ work in the punting game.
Caden Clarahan booted away 13 balls this fall and combined for 558 punting yards, for an average of 42.9 yards per punt.
