WMU, WACO, New London eight player district six preview

The 8-Player district 6 football season is going to be a good one.

Last season, the three Union area squads were all at different stages in terms of productivity and standings.

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The Wolves of Winfield-Mt. Union finished with the district title at 11-1, 6-0 on their way to a state semifinal appearance.

WMU loses a ton of talent from its 2023 squad, but some key pieces still remain as the Wolves hope to have a repeat of what transpired last season.

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One of the biggest returners for the Wolves is undoubtedly Jake Edwards. The WMU senior had an incredible season under center last season, throwing for 1,673 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Where the Wolves will have to replace quite a bit is in the rushing and receiving department.

The top three rushers, which included Cam Buffington, Cole Milks and Eli Miller along with the top four receivers, Buffington, Carter Loyd, Abram Edwards and Milks are gone. That’s over 95% of the total yards in each category.

Lane Genkinger will likely be a go to rusher. He posted the fourth most yards on the ground, finishing with 130 and two touchdowns. Jake Edwards followed with 42 yards and three scores.

The next highest receiver was Max Edwards. Edwards caught just two passes for 26 yards and a touchdown last year. Genkinger was the only other non graduate to catch a pass.

Defensively, Cooper Buffington is the highest returning tackler. The defensive lineman was fifth in that department, carding 44 tackles as well as 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for a loss.

WACO last season experienced much of what WMU will this season. The Warriors made it all the way to the state title game in 2022 and lost a plethora of senior talent the following season.

However, that didn’t stop WACO from having yet another fantastic season. The Warriors were just two wins away from heading back to Cedar Falls, closing the season with a 7-2, 4-1 record.

WACO will yet again be one of the top teams in the district as they return a lot of their talent as well.

The Warriors will have senior Clayton Miller at quarterback once again this season. Miller had a great junior year, finishing with 842 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Rushing wise, the top two rushers are back. That includes Louden Huisenga, who rattled off 785 yards and 11 touchdowns. Miller followed with 325 yards and five touchdowns as well.

The Warriors do lose their top receiver from a year ago, but the next three are all back. They include Huisenga (203 yards), Gage Samo (134 yards) and Isaac Rich (102 yards).

Huisenga was WACO’s top tackler as well, finishing with 54 total tackles and 11 tackles for a loss. Joel Meyer finished third on the tackle list with 46 total.

New London will be hoping to make a leap this year. The Tigers struggled in 2023, finishing with a record of 1-7, 1-4.

This year New London has a shot to make some noise in the district as some familiar faces still remain.

Headlining the Tigers roster is Gavin Menke-Bailey. Menke-Bailey led New London in passing, rushing and tackles.

The senior finished with 935 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023. He coupled that with 547 yards on the ground and six more scores. Defensively, Menke-Bailey tallied 59.5 total tackles.

Cale Westerbeck was the Tigers second leading rusher and will return. Westerbeck finished with 83 yards a year ago. London Franklin and Brigham Porter also had 60 yards a piece.

On the receiving end, Westerbeck and Logan Franklin led with 338 yards and 235 yards respectively. The pair scored seven touchdowns between them.

The other three teams in the district include Iowa Valley, who was one of the top three teams at 7-3, 3-2. The Tigers bring back Nolan Kriegel. As a freshman, Kriegel had 36 touchdowns, 20 rushing and 13 passing. He also posted the most offensive yards with 2,398. Caleb Haack is also back. He led the district in receiving with 641 yards.

English Valleys and HLV round out the eight player district 6 squads. English Valleys finished 4-5, 2-3 last fall, while HLV went 2-8, 0-6.