Meet The Gazette's 2020 all-area high school football team

A championship trophy makes for a memorable season, for sure. But that's not the only thing.

'I'll remember the season more for COVID,' Waukon senior Brennan Sweeney said. 'You didn't know, week to week, what was going to happen. Are we playing? Are we not?

'It was scary, and that was an added factor. To do what we did, under these circumstances ... it says a lot.'

A defensive end, Sweeney was a regular presence in opponents' backfields. He finished the season with 50.5 tackles, with 24.5 of them for loss. He accumulated 15.5 sacks as the Indians (10-1) captured the Class 2A state football championship.

For all of that, Sweeney has been selected as The Gazette's 2020 area defensive player of the year.

He is one of three Waukon defensive standouts (linebacker Lincoln Snitker and safety Creed Welch) on the honor squad.

'That allowed me to be aggressive, knowing if somebody got by me, I had a lot of reliable guys, especially those two, behind me,' Sweeney said.

Twenty-two area schools are represented on the 40-man roster. Cedar Rapids Xavier and West Delaware have the most players, with four each. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Iowa City Regina, Montezuma and Sigourney-Keota join Waukon with three representatives.

The team consists of 31 seniors and nine juniors.

Montezuma's Eddie Burgess is the overall player of the year, and Waukon's Chad Beermann is the area coach of the year.

Alec Wick, Regina's prolific receiver, is the offensive player of the year after helping lead the Regals (11-1) to the Class A state title.

'Bringing the title back to Regina, that was our goal,' Wick said. 'It had been (five years), and we just wanted to bring it back.'

Wick, along with quarterback Ashton Cook, combined for one of the state's most prolific passing duos through the past three years.

'We feed off each other's energy,' Wick said. 'We have a great line, Ashton throws the ball well, and the coaching staff is really good about getting guys open.'

Wick caught 75 passes as a senior for 1,401 yards (18.7 per reception) and 16 touchdowns. He also converted 46 of 48 extra-point attempts and made his only field goal attempt, from 22 yards. He averaged 36.5 per punt.

Wick has accepted a preferred walk-on offer from the University of Iowa. Sweeney continues to weigh his options, which include Drake, Upper Iowa and Iowa Western.

2020 Gazette all-area football team

Player of the year — Eddie Burgess, Montezuma

Offensive player of the year — Alec Wick, Iowa City Regina

Defensive player of the year — Brennan Sweeney, Waukon

Coach of the year — Chad Beermann, Waukon

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks

Eddie Burgess, 6-4, 215, jr., Montezuma

Ashton Cook, 6-5, 210, sr., Iowa City Regina

Marcus Morgan, 6-3, 185, sr., Iowa City West

Running Backs

Theo Kolie, 6-2, 175, sr., Iowa City Regina

Nick Pearson, 5-10, 180, sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie

Sam Sieren, 5-7, 193, sr., Sigourney-Keota

Jahsiah Galvan, 6-1, 175, jr., West Liberty

Wide Receivers

Alec Wick, 6-1, 180, sr., Iowa City Regina

Tommy DeSollar, 6-1, 190, sr., Western Dubuque

Trey Shearer, 5-11, 160, sr., Montezuma

Graham Goering, 6-1, 190, sr., Iowa City West

Linemen

Connor Colby, 6-6, 315, sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy

Carson Petlon, 6-6, 302, sr., West Delaware

Brant Baltes, 6-0, 270, sr., Lisbon

Zach Smithart, 5-10, 250, jr., Sigourney-Keota

Keean Kamerling, 6-3, 260, sr., Mount Vernon

Utility

Max White, 5-11, 190, sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy

Jared Voss, 6-2, 193, sr., West Delaware

Marcus Beatty, 5-9, 200, jr., Independence

Kicker

Lincoln Oakley, 6-1, 170, sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

DEFENSE

Linemen

Brennan Sweeney, 6-3, 220, sr., Waukon

T.J. Bollers, 6-4, 250, sr., Clear Creek Amana

Christian Nunley, 6-1, 218, sr., West Delaware

Jeff Bowie, 6-5, 250, sr., West Branch

Mike Steffen, 6-2, 220, sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

Linebackers

Wyatt Voelker, 6-0, 209, jr., West Delaware

Lincoln Snitker, 5-11, 195, jr., Waukon

Drew Bartels, 6-0, 195, sr., Cedar Rapids Kennedy

Carson Shive, 6-0, 205, sr., Solon

Nick Lemke, 6-2, 205, sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

Kale Rodgers, 5-8, 190, sr., North Fayette Valley

Backs

Clayton Muszynski, 5-11, 185, jr., Linn-Mar

Jaxon Rexroth, 6-3, 195, sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

Brady Duwa, 6-1, 193, sr., Sigourney-Keota

Evan Nelson, 5-11, 150, sr., Meskwaki

Creed Welch, 6-4, 195, sr., Waukon

Utility

Trashaun Willis, 6-5. 230, sr., Washington

Cole Watts, 5-11, 170, sr., Montezuma

Cullen McShane, 6-2, 202, jr., MFL MarMac

Punter

Ben Swails, 6-2, 175, jr., Clear Creek Amana

Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com