Pella's Hardman, PC's Veenstra named to all-state football teams
Nov. 21—PELLA — The Iowa Football Coaches Association/Iowa Print Sports Writers Association released their all-state football teams on Tuesday with two area boys garnering selections. Pella's Luke Hardman was a second team all-state honoree in Class 4A while Pella Christian's Trevor Veenstra earned second team all-state honors in Class 1A.
Hardman, a senior, was selected to the second team as an offensive utility. Hardman gave opponents trouble with his arm and his legs this season as the Dutch quarterback completed 59.3% of his passes for 1,839 yards and 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Hardman also led the team with 736 rushing yards on 158 carries (4.7 yards per carry) and 14 rushing TDs. His 30 offensive TDs tied him for third in Class 4A. Hardman also once again served as the team's kicker and punter. He was 5-for-6 on his field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards while also going 27-for-32 on PATs. He took 49 kickoffs with 26 resulting in a touchback while he also averaged 37.5 yards per punt.
Veenstra, a senior, earned a second team all-state selection on the defensive line. He wrecked havoc on opposing offenses as he lead the PC defense with 63 total tackles to go along with 7.5 sacks (tied for third in 1A) and 22 tackles for loss (tied for fourth in 1A). He also made an impact on the other two phases of the game. Veenstra started the year on the offensive line before being moved back to FB/TE midway through the season. He would finish with 25 carries for 206 yards and three touchdowns on the ground while adding eight catches for 123 yards and another touchdown in the air. He would return two kickoffs during the season and ended up returning both for touchdowns of 82 and 77 yards. Veenstra also served as the team's punter with an average of 33.6 yards per punt.
The Class 4A captain is Curtis Witte, a senior wide receiver, defensive back and team captain at Lewis Central who is committed to Wayne State College. Witte helped lead the Titans to their third straight championship game appearance and their second state championship in the past three years (2021,2023). Witte finished his senior season second in receiving touchdowns (10), fifth in receiving yards (825) yards on offense, third in interceptions (5) on defense, first in punt return yards (370) and second in punt return touchdowns (2). Witte finishes his high school career as one of the most decorated players in school history as a two-time state champion, one-time state runner-up and two-time all-state football player. He holds the following school records at Lewis Central: Single Game Records: Receptions (10) and receiving touchdowns (3). Single Season Records: Interceptions (8) and receiving touchdowns (13). Career Records: Interceptions (18) and receiving touchdowns (23).
The Class 1A captain is Colin Gordon from Grundy Center. Gordon led the Spartans to back-to-back state championships in Class A in 2022 and Class 1A this year. Offensively, Gordon completed 67.2% of his passes at quarterback for 2,013 yards and 26 touchdowns. He rushed for 688 yards and 11 touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Gordon had 20 tackles, two interceptions for 55 yards, and two fumble recoveries for 124 yards, including a 97-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Gordon was also the punter and kicker for the Spartans. He averaged 40 yards per punt. He was 2-for-6 on field goals and 57-for-63 on PATs. Gordon had 71 kickoffs and 24 of them were touchbacks.
Class 4A
First team
QB: Brady Hetzel (JR, Lewis Central)
RB/FB: Dakota Johnson (SR, Decorah)
RB/FB: Grant Glausser (SR, Western Dubuque)
RB/FB: Titus Cram (SR, Bondurant-Farrar)
WR/TE: Reed Pfaltzgraff (SR, Bondurant-Farrar)
WR/TE: Payton Longmeyer (SR, Glenwood)
WR/TE: Cash Bowe (JR, North Scott)
OL: Caden Hotz (SR, Waverly-Shell Rock)
OL: Bryce Baker (SR, Bondurant-Farrar)
OL: Garret Rutledge (SR, Lewis Central)
OL: Parker Getter (SR, Glenwood)
OL: Garrett Kluesner (JR, Western Dubuque)
OL: Matt Cunningham (SR, North Scott)
K: Daniel Espinoza (SR, Lewis Central)
Off Util: Aidan Flora (SR, ADM)
Off Util: Kyler Gerardy (SR, North Scott)
DL: Wyatt DeWitt (SR, Indianola)
DL: Dalton House (SR, Bondurant-Farrar)
DL: Trent Patton (SR, Glenwood)
DL: Eddie Becu (SR, Xavier)
LB: Brayden Foster (SR, North Polk)
LB: Derek Hoerner (SR, Western Dubuque)
LB: Owen Thomas (SR, Lewis Central)
LB: Kamdyn Cross (SR, Lewis Central)
DB: Luke Wiebers (SR, Denison)
DB: Curtis Witte (SR, Lewis Central)
DB: Tate Perrin (JR, DCG)
DB: Adam Cook (SR, Xavier)
P: Brody Lee (SR, Mason City)
Ret: Brock Carpenter (SR, Western Dubuque)
Def Util: Deshaun Ross (SO, Fort Dodge)
Def Util: Dayne Mauk (SR, DCG)
Second team
QB: Ronan Thomas (SR, Xavier)
RB/FB: Jack Stevens (SR, Clear Creek-Amana)
RB/FB: Caleb Moore (SR, Bondurant-Farrar)
RB/FB: Cody Klein (SR, Newton)
WR/TE: Kaiden Griffith (SR, Marion)
WR/TE: Keilor Rodman (SR, Norwalk)
WR/TE: Eli Robbins (SO, Norwalk)
OL: William Hahn (JR, Decorah)
OL: Caleb Oberhoffer (JR, ADM)
OL: Nathan Beyenhof (JR, Lewis Central)
OL: Sam Christoffer (SR, Western Dubuque)
OL: Jace Borcherding (SR, Xavier)
OL: Lathan McDaniel (JR, Indianola)
K: Andrew Mohan (SR, Waverly-Shell Rock)
Off Util: Luke Hardman (SR, Pella)
Off Util: Benny Ramker (SR, Waverly-Shell Rock)
DL: Alex Allen (SR, Lemars)
DL: Batpiny Riak (SR, Bondurant-Farrar)
DL: Kolton Borcherding-Johnson (JR, Norwalk)
DL: Payton Putz (SR, Western Dubuque)
LB: Logan Tilkes (JR, Marion)
LB: Caleb Moore (SR, Lewis Central)
LB: Hunter Quagliano (SR, Western Dubuque)
LB: Grant Helmle (SR, Xavier)
DB: Nathan Feldmann (JR, North Polk)
DB: Nate Lampe (SR, Newton)
DB: Owen Jordahl (SR, North Scott)
DB: Kellan Scott (SR, Glenwood)
P: Bradyn Cory (SR, North Polk)
Ret: Colton Beasler-Weber (SR, Xavier)
Def Util: Will Clark (SR, Norwalk)
Def Util: Kayden Anderson (SR, Glenwood)
Class 1A
First team
QB: Colin Gordon (SR, Grundy Center)
RB/FB: Parker Kjeldsen (SR, Columbus Catholic)
RB/FB: Justin Knaack (SR, Grundy Center)
RB/FB: Wyatt Powell (SR, MFL Mar-Mac)
WR/TE: Jackson Naeve (SR, Iowa City Regina)
WR/TE: Mason Boothby (SR, Underwood)
WR/TE: Tiernan Vokes (JR, Grundy Center)
OL: Evan Vittetoe (SR, Sigourney-Keota)
OL: Max Tiarks (SR, Underwood)
OL: John Kruse (JR, OABCIG)
OL: Tre Robinson (SR, Columbus Catholic)
OL: Ryker Thoren (JR, Grundy Center)
OL: Bryce Diehl (SR, MFL Mar-Mac)
K: Gus Bashore (SR, Underwood)
Off Util: Gentry Dumont (SR, Iowa City Regina)
Off Util: Carter Lockert (SR, Columbus Catholic)
DL: Logan Wright (SR, West Branch)
DL: Mason Knipp (SR, Columbus Catholic)
DL: Trent Cakerice (SR, Grundy Center)
DL: Zachry Adelmund (SR, Dike-New Hartford)
LB: Graham Jensen (SR, Underwood)
LB: Brody Zinkula (JR, Grundy Center)
LB: Evan Dorn (SR, Denver)
LB: Carver Blietz-Bentien (SR, MFL Mar-Mac)
DB: Jordan Dusenberry (JR, Wilton)DB: Nick Denning (SR, AHSTW)DB: Sam Schoening (JR, Underwood)
DB: Tate Jirovsky (SR, Grundy Center)
P: Thomas Steele (SR, Columbus Catholic)
Ret: Isaac Bruns (JR, Sigourney-Keota)
Def Util: Oliver Potter (SR, Woodward-Granger)
Def Util: Jake Moore (SR, Sigourney-Keota)
Second team
QB: Garrett Luett (SO, Underwood)
RB/LB: Nick Severseike (JR, South Hamilton)
RB/LB: Luke Sternberg (JR, AHSTW)
RB/LB: Caleb Cook (SR, Pleasantville)WR/TE: Dayson Leerhoff (SR, Pleasantville)
WR/TE: Karson Elwood (SR, Treynor)
WR/TE: Nick Merrifield (SR, Columbus Catholic)
OL: Drew Streb (SR, Iowa City Regina)
OL: Kallen Wilharm (JR, Sumner-Fredericksburg)
OL: Connor Strand (SR, Sigourney-Keota)
OL: Colin Van Tilburg (SR, Underwood)
OL: Sean May (SR, South Hardin)
OL: Logan Beaty (SR, Denver)
K: Luke Wright (SR, East Sac County)
Off Util: Jax Willems (SR, Sumner-Fredericksburg)
Off Util: Maddox Nelson (SR, Underwood)
DL: Owen Dunns (SR, South Hamilton)
DL: Trevor Veenstra (SR, Pella Christian)
DL: Ryder Ross (SR, Grundy Center)
DL: Tristen Koehn (SR, MFL Mar-Mac)
LB: Reese Trepanier (SR, West Branch)
LB: Bodie Hansen (SR, OABCIG)
LB: Max Adams (SR, Sioux Central)
LB: Kade McElwaine (SR, MFL Mar-Mac)
DB: Cole Kindred (SR, Sigourney-Keota)
DB: Jaxx DeJean (FR, OABCIG)
DB: Carson Baak (JR, Emmetsburg)
DB: Brandon Christofferson (SR, MFL Mar-Mac)
P: Aaron Ehmke (SR, Treynor)
Ret: Kiean Crile (JR, Hudson)
Def Util: Noah Henderson (JR, Sumner-Fredericksburg)
Def Util: Bryce Radloff (SR, MFL Mar-Mac)
Colin Peters can be reached at 641-672-2581, by email at cpeters@oskyherald.com or on Twitter @ColinPetersOH.
