Last week Colton was chosen as one of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier's Preps to Watch.
We are proud of the way he has played this season so far and look forward to advancing in the State Playoffs.
I have copied and pasted the article from the October 18, 2018 edition of the Grundy Register.
Rebels down Cougars for district title
The Grundy Register
ACKLEY – The Gladbrook-Reinbeck
football program
is no stranger to big
games late in the season.
This year’s 8-man Rebel
group feels different, though,
perhaps precisely because of
their lack of varsity experience
coming into 2018.
G-R fought off a second-half
charge from AGWSR, putting
some distance on the Cougars
in a 44-19 win in Ackley that
clinched the district title and a
postseason spot for the Rebels
in their first season of 8-player
football.
This season has also been
the first taste of varsity football
for many of the Rebels.
“This means a whole lot,”
G-R quarterback Jackson
Kiburis said. “We come up as
underclassmen, and we watch
the classes that have graduated
before us in the past and
it means so much to carry on
that tradition for us and for our
coaches. It’s great to play Rebel
football.”
Kiburis finished with 15 carries
for 84 yards and a touchdown
and also completed four
catches for 141 yards and a
score on a 60-yard touchdown
pass to Aiden Wyatt in the first
quarter.
Colton Clark was the standout
in the ground attack, running
the ball 24 times for 175
yards and four touchdowns,
including two touchdowns
in the second half that scuttled
AGWSR’s hopes of a second-half
comeback.
The Cougars had a large hill
to climb, falling behind 28-0 in
the second quarter but getting
a bit of relief when Brody Roder
picked off a busted G-R pass
play and returned it for a touchdown
to cut G-R’s lead to 28-6
with 42 seconds left in the half.
AGWSR football head coach
James Koop laid it out for his
players in the locker room.
“’If you’re going to play like
[the first half], just stay in the
locker room,’” Koop said. “’If
you’re going to play like the
team I coached for the last five
weeks, that got better every
week, then let’s go.’ … That was
the worst first half we’ve played
all year.”
The Cougars came out with
some fire as Titan Opperman
connected with Chase Harms
for a 34-yard pass play that set
up an Opperman touchdown
run three plays later to narrow
G-R’s lead to 28-13 with 9:42
left in the third quarter.
G-R punted away after a
three-and-out on the next
drive, but got a huge stop on
4th-and-1 from G-R’s own
10-yard line to keep AGWSR
from driving near the Rebel
endzone once again.
The Rebels were backed up,
though, and G-R couldn’t find
a first down and this time the
Cougars came up with a block
on the punt attempt, recovering
the ball near where they
had turned it over on downs
moments earlier.
“They came out with some
energy,” Olson said of AGWSR.
“And when the field position
is bad. as a playcaller you start
to [overthink]. I’m new to this
game, too. We could’ve done
some things a lot better.”
Opperman didn’t let this
opportunity pass by, running in
a 2-yard touchdown with 2:41
left in the third quarter. The
two-point run attempt to make
it a one score game was stopped
by the Rebels, however, keeping
the score at 28-19.
Kiburis immediately broke
off a 45-yard run on the first
play of the next G-R drive, setting
up Clark’s third touchdown
of the night in a Rebel response
that took exactly 60 seconds to
push the lead back up to 36-19
with 1:41 left in the third.
G-R’s defense adjusted for
AGWSR’s next drive, and a
combination of that and penalties
against AGWSR prevented
a response as the Cougars had
to punt before the end of the
third quarter.
“Our defensive coordinator
Brett Bengen did a good job of
making adjustments,” Olson
said. “We had five guys basically
banged up in this game,
knee issue here, shoulder issue
there, and the guys sucked it
up. … It came down to Bengen
adjusting, maybe a bit of
luck and just the physicality of
making [AGWSR] earn some of
those drives.”
The Rebels burned four
minutes of clock to start the
fourth quarter and punted the
ball back to AGWSR.
Once again, G-R’s defense
came up with a stop to take
over on downs, and this time
Clark got open in the run game,
streaking across the field for a
37-yard touchdown run and the
final score of the night for the
Rebels.
“Our line was able to block
the defense and give Jackson
time to get passes out or block
so that I could get out running,”
Clark said. “Without them,
that wouldn’t have happened.
… Once we were working as a
team to get the ball moving we
figured that we could get this
going.”
“The guys have stepped
up,” Olson added. “Kiburis has
stepped up, Aidan Walters is
doing a great job making calls
with the O-line, Tyler Beenken
hasn’t said a word all year
but he shows up and does a
great job, Sam Mussig at center,
Kale Hasslemann, Jace Petersen,
they’re all getting it done
up front, and Colton Clark’s a
really special player.”
AGWSR’s Zach Crain and
Jacob Haley both left the game
with injuries in the second half
and Koop indicated that there
may be some reorganization in
the lineup for the Week 9 game
against Twin Cedars.
The Cougars can still qualify
for the playoffs with a win at
Twin Cedars and a Colo-NESCO
upset of G-R in Week 9,
which would make AGWSR
and G-R co-district champions
and both automatic qualifiers.
Otherwise, it’s unlikely that
AGWSR would be able to get
a postseason spot based on the
new Ratings Percentage Index
(RPI) that was introduced this
season by the IHSAA to deterRebels
down Cougars for district title
AGWSR's Chase Harms tries to make the catch, battling with
Gladbrook-Reinbeck's Keagan Giesking during last Friday's
game in Ackley. (Jake Ryder photo)
G-R 14 14 8 8 — 44
AGWSR 0 6 13 0 — 19
Scoring summary
G-R – Jackson Kiburis 13 run (run
failed)
G-R – Aiden Wyatt 60 pass from
Kiburis (Keagan Giesking run)
G-R – Colton Clark 26 run (Giesking
run)
G-R – Clark 9 run (Giesking run)
AGWSR – Brody Roder interception
return (kick missed)
AGWSR – Titan Opperman 4 run
(Christoffer Hansen kick)
AGWSR – Opperman 3 run (run
failed)
G-R – Clark 13 run (Giesking run)
G-R – Clark 37 run (Wyatt pass
from Kiburis)
Rushing
G-R – Clark 24-175, 4 TD; Kiburis
15-84, TD; Eli Thede 1-25; Giesking
10-23.
AGWSR – Opperman 20-91, 2
TD; Jaden Penning 15-46; Cale Culver
2-(-4); Chase Harms 2-(-4); Roder
1-0.
Passing
G-R – Kiburis 4-6, 141 yards, TD;
Giesking 0-1-1, 0 yards.
AGWSR – Titan Opperman 5-21-
1, 68 yards.
Receiving
G-R – Clark 3-81, Wyatt 1-60, TD.
AGWSR – Harms 3-58; Penning
2-10.
Tackle leaders (solo-ast-total)
G-R – Giesking 4-7-7.5; Kale Hasselmann
3-7-6.5; Sam Mussig 4-5-6.5;
Jace Petersen 4-4-6; Thede 4-4-6.
AGWSR – Tanner Weichers 8-5-
10.5; Opperman 7-7-10.5; Zach Crain
5-8-9; Harms 7-3-8.5; Roder 5-6-8.
Interceptions: G-R (Kiburis);
AGWSR (Roder, TD). Fumble recoveries:
G-R (Thede).
mine at-large postseason qualifiers.
All of those factors, plus a
chance to finish 2018 with one
more win than last season,
should be used as motivation
for the Cougars next Friday,
Koop said.
“I told the kids that if they
didn’t like losing district title
games, that should motivate
you in the weight room in the
offseason. … But we responded
in that second half, and we have
to build on that,” Koop said.
“We have to get back to what
we do best. We might have to
figure out some different positions
for people due to injury,
but that’s part of football, too.”
Kiburis and the Rebels will
have a chance to make it an
outright claim to the district
title on Friday in Gladbrook.
“We need to focus on
Colo-NESCO, and that’s all
the next four days of practice
should be about,” Kiburis said.
“We need to keep getting better
every game.”
And here is a link to the news coverage from KWWL
"Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life." ~Proverbs 12:13
