Sigourney-Keota has several players honored with All-District selections after great season

SIGOURNEY- The Sigourney-Keota Savage Cobras had a great season finishing 8-2 overall and second place in their District. Recently the All-District team was released, and not surprisingly was full of Cobras. SK had four First Team All-District selections as well as three Second Team All-District selections. They also had four players named Honorable Mention. SK was also honored with Avery Moore being named the Offensive MVP of the District and Noah Boender being named Defensive-Line MVP. Head coach Jared Jensen was also named the CO-Coach of the Year with Regina’s Marv Cook.

            All the honors bestowed upon this SK program are very much deserved and a testament to the hard work and sacrifice each and every one of these young men and coaches displayed all season long. Head coach Jared Jensen was very humble when asked about winning Co-Coach of the year honors for the District saying; “I am honored to be nominated by the district coaches for this award again this season.  Anytime you get put up for something like this it is a true testament to the great assistant coaches and a great group of kids. To be in this situation you obviously have to winning football games.  Coach Cook has a great thing going at Regina and for other coaches to honor our team as well by nominating me for this award as well is very humbling and gratifying.  We as a coaching staff and a team just try to get better each week and find ways to win games.”

            Coach Jensen also talked about his team as a whole and the players he was lucky enough to have coached this past season, “I feel great about how our season went as a whole. From the time we started in August and played our first game to the time we finished the season we took advantage of each practice and each game and grew as a team and family.  There was really no point in the season that there were any outside distractions or headaches that hindered our ability as a team.  We had great leadership and the leaders kept the team motivated to succeed.  We had a few key injuries week 4 during the Regina game, and we had kids step up into big rolls and we, as a team, never missed a beat.  That shows the type of team we had.  Losing our starting tailback/middle linebacker and our starting weak side linebacker the same week, our kids responded took on different rolls, and kept playing football.  It gave certain players the ability to flourish in different positions and made us a more diverse team.  There was no letdown, our kids grew closer and had each other's backs.  That is when you know you have a great team.  When we got those players back after three weeks they filled back in nicely and we were able to get everyone back in their original position.  We gained depth and experience with them out which helped us down the stretch.” 

            Here is the list of players selected to the various All-District teams from SK;

1^st Team All-District:

            Senior Avery Moore was a tremendous focal point of the Cobras offense, defense, special teams and well just about everything else that he was asked to do. He was well deserving of the Districts Offensive MVP award this season. His return to Sigourney H.S. this past season by way of Albia was a shot of adrenaline for a program that had just lost a prolific running back with Peyton Crawford. Avery’s overall importance to his team may be second to none in class 1A. Moore averaged a ridiculous 11.2 yards per carry, with 1509 rushing yards on the season. He also scored 21 rushing touchdowns to go with his five receiving and three total return (punt and interception) touchdowns, giving him 29 total touchdowns on the year.  Moore had 428 receiving yards, posting 35.7 yards per catch. He also had over 30 tackles on the year and three interceptions. He had 80 return yards from his interceptions, including that touchdown which was a 70-yard scamper against Pekin. Moore also had 363 punt return yards on only 15 returns, an average of 24 yards per return. Avery even had 200 kick return yards on eleven attempts. This will be the first of many post-season awards that Moore has earned this season for SK.

            Senior Noah Boender was equally important on both sides of the ball. He was the Districts Defensive-Line MVP, and could have been named the same on the other side of the ball. He was a tremendous force up front on either side of the ball, and a leader by example through his play. Boender led his team in tackles with 48.5, he also had 11 tackles for loss. He also accumulated three sacks he also had two fumble recoveries and an interception, which he returned for a very memorable touchdown against Wilton. Boender was a pivotal piece the all-important offensive line with SK’s single-wing offense. He was asked to do a lot and guys like Moore and Luke Greiner and Carson Crawford were able to put up big numbers because of the guys like Noah Boender up front and their impressive work ethic.

            Luke Greiner in his second full season as SK’s QB/Spinback was another successful campaign. He improved both running and throwing the ball, and he improved on the defensive side of the ball as well, putting in a very nice season for the Cobras. His successes, both statistically and as a leader for this talented SK team, were rewarded with his selection to the All-District First Team. Greiner had 531 passing yards with six touchdown passes. Luke also put up 871 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Greiner had 23 official tackles, although it seemed like he was always in on the play similar to Noah Boener. Greiner also had three interceptions at defensive back and over 130 kick return yards on eight attempts. Luke will return next season and try to continue his enormous success at SK.

            Senior Cooper Greiner had a terrific season on both sides of the ball as well for SK. Cooper was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball with 5.5 sacks and six total tackles for loss to go with a fumble recovery and several passes knocked down at the line due to his incredible athletic ability at defensive end. Cooper also did a fantastic job up front helping the Cobras accumulate well over 2,500 rushing yards as a team this season. His awesome play helped SK dominate the offensive and defensive line of scrimmage for much of the season.

            2^nd Team All-District

            Senior Will Magill was a magnet at defensive back for interceptions this season, accumulating five with his tremendous play. He also had several pass break-ups and was an all-around good defensive back for the Cobras this season.  Magill also added over 20 tackles to his stat sheet this season and did a good job coming up and helping with the run on top of his excellent pass defense.

            Alec Schuster had a great season despite missing several games as Coach Jensen alluded to earlier. Schuster was second on the team in tackles with 37 and had six tackles for loss including one and a half sacks. Schuster also had four fumble recoveries and wrecked havoc on the opposing teams quarterback all season from his linebacker position.

            Sophomore Carson Crawford also missed some time due to an injury, but he was very productive when he was healthy and able to go. He also was a major contributor on both sides of the ball. Offensively he was a between the tackles, grind it out runner to compliment Moore’s speed. Crawford had 708 yards on the ground and nine touchdowns for the Cobras. He also accumulated 27 tackles and two sacks on defense from the linebacker spot. Crawford will transition into the lead back next season and see a lot more carries than the 135 he saw this season, with Moore carrying the ball 135 times as well.

            All-District Honorable Mention

            Honorable Mention saw three seniors and a underclassmen be selected for SK. They were all very deserving of this selection and all the seniors, as a whole including these three athletes will be very much missed next season. Ben Appleget, Tanner Bos and Cian Borra all were selected, along with Mac Conrad the only player who will be returning from this group next season. Borra did an excellent job taking over the kicking job mid-way through the season and made extra points look easy for SK. Conrad was excellent on both sides of the ball, but especially helping out upfront on the offensive line. Appleget did a fantastic job doing the hard work of a blocking/fullback, as well as playing linebacker defensively. Bos was great up front as well on the offensive and defensive line for the Cobras with his tremendous play.