North Tama's Boerm is Player of the Year (VIDEO)

TRAER - Every member of the family has watched the game tape. Again and again and again, in some cases.

"Honestly, five or six times, I've come home and caught my dad," Brendon Boerm said.

"I think I've worn out one DVD already," Kurt Boerm admitted.

You can't blame him. He's a proud father who had two boys playing. As an assistant coach and former college player at Wartburg, he sees something different from an Xs and Os perspective with each viewing.

And as a pure football fan, how could you not want to watch North Tama's 43-34 win over Madrid in last month's Class A state championship football game? The RedHawks rallied from a 20-0 hole, scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the dramatic victory.

It was a victory that included a great individual performance by Brendon Boerm.

The NT quarterback had a triple-triple, if you'll excuse the mixed sports metaphors. That's 104 yards rushing, 174 passing and 112 receiving.

He had two touchdowns each way. The two passing scores were to his younger brother, Mitchell.

The cherry on top of a delicious sundae of a season, Boerm - a senior - has been named the Player of the Year on Source Media Group's second all-area football team.

"You look at his body of work in that game," said North Tama Coach Brent Thoren. "Throughout, he kept his composure and helped bring us back. The role he played, he even made a couple of key tackles and had a couple of key kick returns.

"It was an unbelievable effort on his part."

No doubt it was one of the best in the history of Iowa football title games. Probably in the top five.

"It's in the realm of the discussion," Thoren said. "I remember watching Tim Dwight and Brandon Wegher, guys like that put on quite a show ... But, I mean, Brendon was five yards short of getting 100 in return yards, too."

"He's had peformances like that before, but not on that stage," said Kurt Boerm, who helped coach North Tama's defense. "I'm not impartial here, obviously. But I've been to a lot of championship games over the years, just because I love football and we live so close (to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls). I've never seen a performance like that."

For his part, Brendon refuses to get into any discussion that includes the words "best ever."

"I'm not one to judge," he said. "All I'll say is it was a great team performance."

From a great team whose seniors played football - really, all sports - together since fourth grade. Brendon Boerm always was the leader, the quarterback, with the exception of his freshman and sophomore years when he played wide receiver because of the presence of all-state QB Wyatt Hanus.

North Tama finished a heartbreaking runner-up to Southern Calhoun in 2008's Class A championship game and lost last season in the semifinals to Mason City Newman, 28-26. Boerm threw four interceptions in that game, and that was the impetus behind his special season.

"After last year,  throwing four interceptions in our last game, that hurt," he said. "So I took it upon myself to not have that happen again. I worked hard in the offseason on my mechanics, getting more velocity on my throws and watching a lot of game tape."

That work, mental and physical, allowed him to throw for 2,350 yards and 29 touchdowns and run for 1,483 more and 20 TDs. He is being recruited by several Division II schools and could end up playing baseball, too. He's an all-state outfielder.

The best athlete on a team of good athletes, one played summed up Boerm's football year. In a semifinal win over WACO, Boerm threw a quick wide receiver screen to teammate Lucas Hefty and had the speed to come around and take a pitch from Hefty for a long hook-and-ladder touchdown.

Incredible play in an incredible season. Roll the tape.

"You talk about what he has done from his freshman year to his senior year," Thoren said. "If you count sophomore through senior year, he averaged 318 total yards a game. That's pretty special."