Cedar Falls draws upon deep roster as they wrap up regular season tonight at Jefferson

All photos by Oliver Rea

As the Tigers play their last regular season game this Friday, Oct. 23 at Kingston Stadium, they will face off with Cedar Rapids Jefferson, and they will rely on a wide lineup of standout players at key positions.

Senior linebacker Brayden Hanks, is a three star prospect, committed to play at Utah State next fall. Hanks currently has 61 tackles, including 41 solo tackles. Hanks also has four sacks for the Tigers’ defense. The only other player to record a sack all year that doesn’t play defensive line is Brady Kies with one sack.

Kies is a senior outside linebacker for the Tigers and has used his play reading instincts and an explosive motor helping him get down hill quickly to rack up 56 solo tackles and 68 total tackles, which leads the Tigers. Kies is also tied with senior Will Fever for the most passes defended on the team, with five. He and Hanks have each picked off two of those five passes. The team has a combined 21, and those two each have one fourth of the teams total passes defended. 

Kies said, “I’m going to fill my gap responsibility and make the back go side to side.”

Senior Will Fever is a fast, fluid, coverage DB with good mobility combined with elite recovery speed. Fever showcases a 4.6 second 40-yard dash and a 4.11 second shuttle time, helping him be more explosive in his role as a corner. Those two stats will make it hard for the Jefferson quarterback to throw the ball, which they do a lot, with a completion rate of 51.8 percent.

 The Tigers also have a very strong run game with senior Jeremiah Tamayo in the back field. He has 68 carries for 439 yards this season, and he is currently averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Tamayo also has a good track record from the past couple years, helping the Tigers in track as well as football.

Tamayo has potential Division 1 talent to assist him on the offensive line, with sophomore Lincoln Walsworth, who has six D1 offers, and senior Alexander Huh is a South Dakota State commit. Senior Joey Goodwin, has not publicly announced any offers, but has a big frame and is a college football-size offensive lineman, standing at 6’4” and 260 pounds. The Tigers also have sophomore Ian Riley, at 6’1” and 275 pounds, and he uses his speed to pull around the outside tackle and make big impact blocks to their counter run plays. 

Cedar Falls also has a good passing game leading the offense with quarterback Baylor Petrie. Petrie is a gunsling quarterback; he throws a tight spiral down field to all of his targets, with the Tigers pass heavy offense. He has a completion rate of 57.2 percent. Petrie also does very well seeing open space and running, with 21 carries, and he averages 6.7 yards per carry, with three rushing touchdowns. 

Junior Carsen Gary leads the way for the Tigers’ receiving core, as he seems to always be open for Petrie.  Gary has 47 catches 814 yards, averaging 17.3 yards per catch. Senior Stratton Range also has a lot of catches with 20. He has 569 yards and is averaging 28.4 yards per catch.  

Kickoff for tonight’s game is 7 p.m.