The Eagle Grove Eagles will make the trip east to Butler County on Friday night, to take on the 6th-ranked Falcons of Aplington-Parkersburg in Class 1A Playoff action at Historic Ed Thomas Field in Parkersburg. Eagle Grove concluded the regular season with a 3-5 record and 2-3 in Class 1A, District 2, while Aplington-Parkersburg concluded the regular season with a 7-1 record and a 4-1 district mark and champions of Class 1A, District 3.
This year’s playoff appearance marks the 24th in the 30 years Aplington-Parkersburg has been united as a singular school district. This season was also the Falcons first district championship since 2017, and is the 4th for the Falcons under head coach Alex Pollock. Offensively, 2022 marked a return to yesteryear for A-P as they reverted back to the Wing T offense that the late Ed Thomas ran successfully for the Falcons from 1992 to 2008 and the offense contained a similar balance that Thomas’s offense had. Quarterback Gavin Thomas has thrown for just over 900 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior, while rushing for 105 more and 2 touchdowns. Aidan Junker is the Falcons leading rusher, with 763 yards and 13 touchdowns, followed closely by Adam Schipper, who has just over 500 yards and 7 touchdowns on the season. Gavin Thomas’s favorite target has been senior Kaden Huttinger, who’s caught 23 balls for 432 yards and 6 touchdowns on the season.
Defensively, the Falcons have been led by a stout defensive line, anchored by Waterloo East-transfer Martez Wiggley, who’s racked up 11 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss for A-P. Carson Troyna and Joe Johnson have also combined for 38 tackles, 5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss on the year for the stout Falcons front. Aidan Junker is the Falcons leading tackler with 41 on the season, including 7 tackles for loss, safety Nick Neuroth leads the secondary as a tackler with 33, while corner Will Hodges has the team lead in interceptions with 3. The Falcons defense in total has returned 5 interceptions for touchdowns between Hodges, Adam Schipper, Aidan Junker, Ty Luhring and Carson Troyna.
Kickoff is slated from Ed Thomas Field in Parkersburg at 7 PM on Friday night, you can hear the game on 92.9/1570 KZWC.