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The mission at Maquoketa Valley? First Dome trip in school history, and more
Wildcats bring back enough talent and depth to earn a No. 1 ranking in Class A
Aug. 24, 2025 6:30 am
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DELHI — Brady Wall allows himself an occasional moment to daydream.
He envisions himself, his teammates and their families back at Maquoketa Valley High School someday. Maybe it’s a class reunion, maybe another function that brings them all back. Or maybe they didn’t leave.
Anyway, Brady ... take it away.
“We want to come back here with our kids someday, look in the trophy case and see what we’ve done,” he said.
Something that hadn’t been done here before.
“We’ve always talked about the Dome. We want to be remembered as the first ones to get there.”
Dylan Knipper expanded on that:
“This is why we come in here at 6 in the morning to lift. We have a goal in mind,” he said.
“The goal is the Dome, and more.”
The Dome, of course, is in reference to the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, where football dreams come true. And the football team at Maquoketa Valley has reason to dream big.
After a 9-2 season that ended in the state quarterfinals, the Wildcats share The Gazette’s Class A preseason No. 1 state ranking with Saint Ansgar.
“The boys understand what we’re bringing back,” head coach Andrew Christensen said. “They have high expectations for themselves, and I think they have an understanding what it takes to meet those expectations.”
Without debate, Maquoketa Valley has the pieces to play well into November.
The Wildcats lost all-state lineman Nathan Beitz, who is trekking back and forth from Kirkwood Community College this fall to help coach the offensive and defensive lines.
Other than that, they are largely intact on both sides of the ball.
Wall passed for 1,893 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, and he returns three of his top four targets in Eli Dougherty (23 receptions, 538 yards, eight touchdowns), Dylan Knipper (40 for 488, 5 TDs) and Anderson Holtz (24 for 412, 1 TD).
Junior Rogan Heidt is coming off a 1,580-yard rushing season with 25 touchdowns.
“Not many Class A teams are going to have better skill guys than we do,” Christensen said.
“Our line ... we’ve settled in on four returning guys. We got some depth there in case somebody goes down.
“I really like our depth. We have 32 on our roster, and 27 or 28 of them can help us at the varsity level.”
Led by Kyle Engelken (68 stops) and Knipper (67), eight of the top nine tacklers are back, and that doesn’t include Dougherty, who intercepted six passes.
“Our coaches put us in the best spot to do the right thing,” Dougherty said.
The Wildcats allowed 9.3 points per game last season, recording five consecutive shutouts between Week 2 and Week 6.
Christensen is in his second season at Delhi. He spent the previous four years as head coach at Nashua-Plainfield. A 2005 graduate of South Tama, he also served as an assistant at Charles City and North Tama.
He, and his players, are shifting between embracing the outside buzz about this team, and ignoring it.
“We try to stress not listening to the noise, whether it’s positive or negative,” Christensen said. “But we want them to embrace the season; some of these guys have been playing together since first grade.”
Knipper said, “What we’re really focusing on is the small details that can lead us from being a good team to being a great one.”
Dougherty called expectations "nothing that we can’t handle. We’ve got one goal in mind, and it’s a state championship. It would be quite an honor.”
“I think we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”
The Wildcats open Friday with a non-district encounter at Starmont.
Maquoketa Valley football, at a glance
Coach: Andrew Christensen (2nd year at Maquoketa Valley, 9-2; 6th year overall, 24-22)
Last year: 9-2 overall, 7-0 Class A District 4 (1st); Class A state quarterfinalist
Top returners: QB/DB Brady Wall (sr.), RB/LB Rogan Heidt (jr.), WR/DB Eli Dougherty (sr.), RB/LB Dylan Knipper (sr.), RB/LB Kyle Engelken (jr.)
Three keys to success: The Wildcats are set at the skill positions, so the biggest key is continued development of their line play. Remain opportunistic defensively (25 takeaways in 2024). Maintain a balanced offensive attack.
Big games: Sept. 5, vs. North Linn; Sept. 12, Dyersville Beckman; Sept. 26, Wapsie Valley
2025 schedule:
Aug. 29 — at Starmont
Sept. 5 — North Linn*
Sept. 12 — Dyersville Beckman
Sept. 19 — at East Marshall*
Sept. 26 — Wapsie Valley*
Oct. 3 — at Midland*
Oct. 10 — at North Cedar*
Oct. 17 — East Buchanan*
*district game
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com
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