Mt. Pleasant, IA- After Solon’s loss in the Class 3A semifinals over the weekend, District 4’s run is now over for the 2025 football season, meaning it is time to highlight the All-District Teams, starting with the Special Awards, then moving into teams based on District standings.
Head Coach of the Year
This honor will be shared this season with Solon’s Lucas Stanton and Mt. Pleasant’s John Bowlin each earning the distinction. In Stanton’s six years with the Spartans, he has finished as the District Champion in five of the six seasons. Solon finished 11-1 this season.
In Bowlin’s third year at the helm, the Panthers have made quite the turnaround, going from 0-9 to 4-5 and now 7-3 this season and a runner-up finish in the district yielding the program their first trip to the postseason since 2010. The defense was voracious, collecting 32 sacks, 65 tackles for loss, 20 takeaways, and four defensive touchdowns.
Offensive MVP
Maddox Kelley of Solon was named Offensive MVP as the junior finished with 29 all-purpose touchdowns for the season. He led the receivers in catches with 45, yards with 674, and touchdowns with 14. He added 365 yards on the ground with 12 rushing scores.
Mt. Pleasant’s Carter Myers was voted the District’s Offensive Line MVP as the senior dished out 15 pancakes. The offensive stats are discussed more in the Mt. Pleasant section.
Defensive MVP
Another talented junior for Solon, Lucas Feuerbach, dominated the defensive line. Feuerbach’s 47 tackles and 12 tackles for loss were second-best on the team. He added four sacks and two fumble recoveries to his season’s stats.
The Defensive Line MVP went to Mt. Pleasant’s Isaiah Lange. The sophomore defensive end was constantly wreaking havoc in opposing backfields, totaling 13 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss. His 13 sacks alone outrank the Mt. Pleasant defense in 11 of the past 14 seasons.
Specialist MVP
Solon’s Ryan Locke shared Specialist MVP for the District with Mt. Pleasant’s Dylan White. The Spartan nailed 47 of his 48 extra points and went 5 for 10 in field goals with a long of 42. Locke also handled the kickoff responsibilities with over half of his kicks ending in touchbacks.
Dylan White fantastic all season. White converted a career long 43-yard field goal and went 7 for 11 on the season. He also finished 33 of 34 on extra points. His best tactical skill was in the kickoff game as his experience in soccer allowed him to put a spin on the ball that stunned opponents, either pinning them in poor field position or resulting in Mt. Pleasant football on onside kicks. He also earned All-District and All-State Academic.
Golden Spikes Award
The Golden Spikes Award is given to a player who was injured and did not participate in enough games to earn All-District honors. Fairfield’s Spencer McCready grabbed the distinction after rushing for 170 yards and three touchdowns on offense and nabbing 18 tackles on defense in his limited time of the field as a senior.
Solon
The Spartans put 12 players on the First Team with six on each side of the ball. Eli Kampman led off the list as the First Team quarterback tossed for over 2,000 yards and 28 touchdowns in his senior season, while leading the team in rushing with 491 yards and finding the endzone five more times.
Kelley and Kade Hoeper were named First Team wide receivers. Hoeper was heavily utilized, snatching 39 receptions for 657 yards and nine touchdowns. The Spartans will return both of these pass catchers next season.
Helping protect Kampan were two First Team offensive linemen in senior Dylan Branscomb and junior Bradyn Schnoor. The offensive line allowed only seven sacks all season, including just two total sacks against Mt. Pleasant and Mt. Vernon, the two best defenses at generating sacks in Class 3A.
Locke shared First Team kicker honors.
On the defensive side, the Spartans allowed a paltry 9.8 points per game and just eight total points through the district schedule. Helping them stymie opponents were their two First Team defensive linemen in James Thomsen and Feuerbach. Thomsen, a junior, registered 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks to go along with a forced fumble, three fumble recoveries, and a scoop and score.
At the linebacker position, the Spartans put two seniors on the First Team in Kyler Jensen and Ethan Ulch. Jensen led the team in tackles with 65, adding 10 tackles for loss and a force fumble, while Ulch notched 27.5 tackles, two fumble recoveries, and three interceptions.
Cody Milliman’s 21 tackles and three interceptions granted him First Team utility status, while Collin McKie took home First Team punter honors as the junior averaged 42.4 yards per punt on just 14 attempts.
Making the Second Team offense was Hunter Sonntag (RB) and Owen Bock (WR), while Simon Einwalter and Colby Myers made the Second Team defensive line and Tripp Johnson earned Second Team linebacker.
Nick Gerdin, Luis Buck, Sawyer Hansel, and Grant Gordon were All-District Honorable Mentions.
Mt. Pleasant
The Panthers had their best regular season since 2008, collecting seven wins, in their first trip to the playoffs since 2010. The offense was productive, averaging 30 points per game and the defense was suffocating, keeping five opponents at 20 points or less.
(Picture taken by MPTV-CloseUp)
The real key to the Panthers though was the clutch gene. Three of their wins this season was by three points or less, including two double-digit second half comebacks in the final three weeks of the season to give them the final push into the runner-up position in the district.
For one of the best seasons in Mt. Pleasant history, 10 total Panthers made the First Team offense and defense. One of the captains and Second Team running back last season, Ramzy Davis cashed in for First Team running back this season.
Davis was a touchdown machine as running back of the Panthers, passing the goal line 13 times this season to go along with 789 rushing yards on 4.8 yards per carry. His 13 rushing touchdowns are the most for a Panther since Logan Bass scored 16 in 2019. Daivs also took home Academic All-District and All-State Honors.
The senior has started in 15 games over the last two seasons and has produced multiple rushing touchdowns in six of them. He also scored his first career defensive touchdown in their playoff showdown with West Delaware.
Paving the way for a rushing attack that averaged over 200 yards and nearly six yards per carry during district play were Merrick Lamm (TE), Carter Myers (OL), and Kellen Kohorst (OL). Overall, the Panthers rushed for 1,603 yards and kept Grayson Walker clean with just 18 sacks allowed during the regular season.
Lamm added 69 receiving yards and a touchdown and led the team in pancakes with 29. Lastly, Kellen Kohorst, a Second Team offensive lineman last year, moved up the ranks, while handing out 14 pancakes.
Dylan White shared First Team kicker honors.
The defense was where Mt. Pleasant truly made their money, especially in their front seven headlined by sophomore Isaiah Lange as a First Team defensive lineman.
Max Sloat is a football guy through-and-through. In an episode of the Southeast Iowa Playbook, Sloat described it as a “killing feeling” whenever he stepped out onto the field. That feeling resulted in 60 tackles, 6.5 sacks, a scoop and score, and most importantly First Team linebacker honors.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Jack Newman was averaging nearly a 1 to 1 ratio of tackles to interceptions. The First Team defensive back ended up finishing the season with 35.5 tackles and three interceptions as teams opted not to test him after the first three games of the season.
Brody Clark was a spark plug for the Panthers this season at outside linebacker. Not only great at setting the edge, accumulating 32.5 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss, the junior dropped back in coverage and picked off two passes. The biggest play of the season saw Clark return an interception 32 yards for a house call against Washington to secure their first win over the Demons since 2008. He was named First Team defensive utility.
Lastly, for the First Team, Griffin Jones was a problem if given open field. The sophomore was one of 45 players in the state to return multiple kick returns for touchdowns. The First Team returner averaged 27.4 yards per return as he returned touchdowns against Washington and Keokuk.
On the Second Team was running back Ryan Helling, wide receiver Kaden Schadt, and offensive linemen Jaymisen Rich and Tate Dorothy. Helling missed the final four games of the season due to injury but still managed to rush for 308 yards and three touchdowns on 5.9 yards per carry.
Schadt was one of the most productive sophomore wide receivers in program history, as he nabbed 19 catches for 339 yards and a touchdown. Rich was not only the starting center but long snapper, as well, with the greatest display of grit coming in the final game of the season. Rich trotted out each time the long snapper was needed, despite agitating a nagging leg injury. As one of the few juniors on the offensive line, Dorothy managed 15 pancakes as he looks to lead the o-line next season.
Making the Second Team for defense was Colton Syfert at defensive line and Lathan Novak-Watson at defensive back. Syfert finished the season with 21 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss, including a couple of swats on the defensive line. Syfert also earned Academic All-State honors.
Novak-Watson saved the season with his 95-yard pick-six against Keokuk, as the senior finished the season with 19.5 tackles and three interceptions.
Grayson Walker, Keegan Heaton, Gavin Kerr, Kale Housh, and Asa Rose were named All-District Honorable Mentions.
Coach Bowlin has preached that to get better it starts in the weight room, and Sloat was an easy buy-in to the system and knew everyone else started to buy-in when there was consistent flow of people coming to lift in the offseason. This year, there were six Panthers who attended 100% of the workouts: Ramzy Davis, Jaymisen Rich, Max Sloat, Brody Clark, Tate Dorothy, and Jeryn Rich. Success is the result of hard work,
“Just the expectation to be there every year, the expectation to win you know and it doesn’t come easy” said Coach Bowlin after the West Delaware game. “So, I tell them all the time, ‘There’s nothing in life that’s worth doing that is easy.’ You know, it takes a lot of work, and it takes a lot of grinding. And you know when it’s over, you get to really feel what you’ve put in and I think that’s what these guys have done and they know how hard they work to put us there and man, just the support of everybody and seeing everybody excited about football and what these guys are doing is a lot of fun to watch. It just makes the fall go and just makes it a lot of fun.”
Coach Bowlin talked about how important this senior class has been for Mt. Pleasant,
“Yeah, I think that’s been kind of our goal all year is to just come out and be a physical team with relentless effort and that’s what these guys have done, how we’ve got great leadership. Obviously, we got 12 seniors that are that you know played their last game tonight and I’m just so thankful for what they’ve done for the program, and you know it shows out there on the field. I think you know they’re the ones that have got us on this track and we got to get kids that keep stepping up and buying in. And I think we will. But man, I’m really proud of those 12 seniors we have this year.”
Washington
The Demons have put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since producing 12 straight winning seasons through 2020. Washington finished 3-2 in the district, yielding five First Team All-District nominees.
A personified Swiss army knife, Kael Williams was named First Team offensive utility, as starting quarterback for the Demons. Williams threw for 796 yards and four touchdowns but did most of his damage on the ground with 1,137 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown.
Grayson Hartman, First Team offensive lineman, made sure the path was clear for Williams and company as the Demons rushed for nearly 1,700 yards this season on a 6.3 yard per play clip.
The Demons had one player make the First Team at each level with Brady Krantz at defensive line, Blaine Rees at linebacker, and Nic Stone at defensive back. Krantz led the team in tackles for loss with 17.5 and sacks at six. Rees led the team in tackles with 84.5, while Stone grabbed three interceptions.
Rudy Wolfe and Gatlin Nash made the Second Team at offensive line, while Clayton Evans, who finished second on the team in tackles, made it on the Second Team as a linebacker. Caden Greiner was named Second Team defensive back and Liam Roberts earned Second Team defensive utility.
Nerick Raymundo, Grant Whisler, Aidan Schmitz, Carson Brown, and Carson Ryan were named All-District Honorable Mentions.
Fairfield
Fairfield nearly rode a three-game win streak into the playoffs as the #1 rushing offense in Class 3A scored 30 or more points in six of their nine games. Unfortunately, the Trojans finished just 3-3 in those games to collect a 3-6 (2-3) record for the season.
Ethan Bisgard and Zandrik Allison were nearly unstoppable as a tandem running the football as the pair rushed for a total of 1,829 yards and 26 touchdowns. Bisgard’s 11.5 yards per carry was tops in Class 3A as he added 203 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Allison had three receiving touchdowns as they were both named First Team running back.
Nolan Smith, a senior, helped pave the way for the option offense that averaged 7.4 yards per carry and found the endzone 32 times. Voss Richardson earned First Team offensive utility as the man who operated the offense. Richardson threw for seven touchdowns and rushed for two more as the starting quarterback.
On the Second Team offense was senior offensive lineman Christian Rasmussen and utility man Axl Starr. Blake Burnett, who absorbed 22.5 tackles, made the Second Team as a linebacker. Calvin McLain, who led the team with 6.5 tackles for loss, was named Second Team defensive lineman.
Hank Konczal, Chase Countryman, Brady Wigle, Jackson Hollander, and Tucker Robertson were put on the All-District Honorable Mention team.
Keokuk
So close, yet so far. The Chiefs finished 3-6 for the season and just 1-4 in the district but lost their final three district games by a combined 10 points, which included a pair of double-digit second half leads. The young offense still managed to put up 25 points per game.
Kurt Joy, a wide receiver, was the lone First Team member for the Chiefs. The sophomore caught 47 passes for 718 yards, which both led the district, and eight touchdowns. Earning a spot as a First Team linebacker was Mason Claus. The senior, who entered the year as the #27 recruit in Iowa has led the team in tackles the past three seasons, accumulating 270.5 tackles in his career. Claus added 13 tackles for loss, five sacks, and a forced fumble to his season stats.
The future is bright under center for Keokuk as sophomore quarterback Jadyn Burton was placed on the Second Team. Burton threw for 2,191 yards and 25 touchdowns in his first season at the helm and added four rushing touchdowns to help the squad. Chayce Smith led the team with nine receiving touchdowns to earn Second Team wide receiver honors.
Jarrod Anderson (LB), Antonio Crockett (DB), and Ryan Bair (RET) were also put on the Second Team. Anderson rounded up 61.5 tackles, while Crockett had an interception. Bair’s blazing speed allowed for the senior to return a 95-yard kick return touchdown.
Braxton Hayner, Kyler Beelman, Jalen Clark, Jaxton McNally, and Kendrick Smith were named All-District Honorable Mention.
Fort Madison
The Bloodhounds have now lost 19 straight games, dating back to October 27th, 2023. Fort Madison struggled on both sides of the ball, as the inexperience on both sides of the ball resulted in the team averaging just 10 points per game but giving up 47 points per contest.
The lone First Teamer was Aurelio Jacinude, as he earned a spot at defensive back. The sophomore had to do it all on both sides of the ball, but as a defensive back he made 33 tackles and grabbed two of the team’s five interceptions.
Mason Thacher was named Second Team running back, while Marshall Heitmann (LB) and Jayden Cratton (DB) also made the Second Team. Thacher led the offense with 468 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Heitmann led the team in tackles and Cratton snared an interception.
Connor Horn, who booted it away 41 times this season for an average of 25.5 yards, was named Second Team punter.
Ahkeil Wilkerson, Markus Holbert, Eric Cornelis, Cal Hennings, and Owen Huffman were named All-District Honorable Mentions.