Four area football players were highlighted as All-State selections by the Iowa Print Sportswriters Association. The list had three players from Highland — Zack Lasek, Mason McFarland and Owen Donovan — and one from Lone Tree — Cale Yoder.

The selection of three Highland players marks back-to-back years having at least one player selected All-State for Highland and brothers Trey Lasek and Zack Lasek did it in consecutive years.

Yoder is Lone Tree’s first selection since 2017.

Owen Donovan was named to the Class A second team as a kick returner. Donovan averaged returned 10 kicks for 259 yards and he housed one of those for an 83-yard touchdown. Donovan also was a prolific punt returner for the Huskies, returning 12 punts for 299 yards, an average of 24.9 yards per return. He had the second most punt return yards in Class A.

“One thing Owen is blessed with is speed and with the guys blocking for him he is hard to catch,” Highland coach Joe Donovan said. “It’s just good reinforcement for him as somebody that has another year left. It reinforces the things he brings to the team and what we can build on.”

Teams caught on quickly to Donovan’s returning ability. By the end of the season, Highland’s opponents were electing to punt the ball out of bounds or kick the ball away from Donovan so he wouldn’t set up the Highland offense with strong field position.

Highland senior Mason McFarland was named to the Class A third-team offense as a wide receiver. McFarland finished eighth in Class A in yards receiving with 625. What popped out about McFarland was his yards-per-catch numbers. He put up those 625 yards on just 25 receptions.

“We knew Mason has been good, but to sit back and look it’s like, ‘to think we could have thrown it to him a few more times,’” Donovan said.

McFarland had six touchdown receptions on the season. Donovan recalled from the offseason how much time McFarland spent with quarterback Connor Grinstead just catching passes and working on his technique.

“I think it sends a message to the younger guys that it can happen for all of them, but you have to put the time in,” Donovan said.

He said that McFarland maximized his talent by putting in the hard work and the All-State recognition is proof of that.

Defensive end Zack Lasek was named to the Class A third-team defense for his work this year. Lasek had 54 tackles this year, with 10.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks. The big defensive end deflected many passes at the line of scrimmage and forced other teams to specifically game plan for him.

“What a compliment that is, that teams don’t want to run at him because they know there won’t be much success there,” Donovan said. “We had to start moving him to make other teams guess where he will be.”

Overall, the Huskies putting three players on the IPSWA All-State teams shows the program is headed in the right direction.

“I’m just proud of the kids for working hard and it nice to see them receive those accolades,” Donovan said.

For Lone Tree, it was their second All-State selection in three years. Yoder was named to the 8-man third-team defense after switching to the linebacker position this year.

“He left his mark on the program and is the kind of guy that gave everything he had,” coach Aaron Bohr said. “He will be a guy that we will be talking about for years to come.”

Yoder was a tackling machine for the Lions, making 107.5 tackles including 28 for loss. He was fourth in 8-man in tackles for loss and also fourth in overall tackles. Yoder made 22% of Lone Tree’s overall tackles.

“For us, he was the one who made a lot of it go,” Bohr said. “I definitely think they got it right in selecting Cale. He’s a terrific guy that has been the lynchpin of our team.”

Bohr said Yoder has been the most committed guy he has coached. He said the difference was in the little things he did to become a better player.

“The entire four years he has been a model citizen and he is deserving because he has worked his tail off. I’m really pleased that all his hard work paid off,” Bohr said. 

Click here to see the full IPSWA All-State football teams.

8-Man

First-team offense
QB Cael Frost, Don Bosco, junior
TE/WR Lewis Havel, Don Bosco, senior
TE/WR Cade Jargo, Easton Valley, senior
OL Kody Timm, HLV, senior
OL Aidan Walters, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, senior
OL Zach Ott, Rockford, junior
RB Thomas Even, Don Bosco, senior
RB Jeffrey Eagle, Coon Rapids-Baynard, senior
RB Shae Summerfield, New London, senior
K Marshall Van DeVegte, Central City, junior
Atlarge Skyler Schultes, Audubon, senior
First-team defense
DL Ethan Leibold, Turkey Valley, senior
DL Skyler Waldschmitt, Remsen-St. Marys,
senior
DL Ethan Steffensen, CAM, senior
LB Noah Schroeder, Remsen-St. Mary’s, senior
LB Seth Malcom, Fremont-Mills, junior
LB Braydin Farrell, Eason Valley, senior
DB Jacob Holste, CAM, senior
DB Caden Schrage, Northwood-Kinset, senior
P Bryce Hall, Southeast Warren, senior
At-large Luke Mosinski, Audubon, senior
Second-team offense
QB Nathan Tremkamp, Easton Valley, senior
TE/WR Brett Livesay, Collins-Maxwell, senior
TE/WR Isaac Ihren, Harris-Lake Park, senior
OL Tanner Weichers, AGWSR, senior
OL Brady Schmitt, Turkey Valley, senior
OL Brady Homan, Remsen-St. Mary’s, senior
RB Lane Spieker, CAM, sophomore
RB Keagan Gieskins, Gladbrook-Reinbeck,
junior
RB, Dylan Elsbend, Turkey Valley, senior
K Eli Thede, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, senior
At-large, Eddie Burgess, Montezuma,
sophomore
Second-team defense
DL Cade Tenold Don Bosco, sophomore
DL Bryce Vandelune, Southeast Warren, senior
DL Abdulla Elbuytari, Harris-Lake Park, senior
LB Kannon Leuenberger, Turkey Valley, senior
LB Patrick Savage, Lamoni, senior
LB Drew Venteicher, Lenox, senior
DB Ethan Klocke, Audubon, junior
DB Cole Damman, Baxter, senior
P Augustin McNeill, East Union, junior
At-large, Wyatt Pryor, Woodbine, senior
Third-team offense
QB Blaine Harpenau, Remsen-St. Mary’s, junior
TE/WR Jensen Dodge, Midland, senior
TE/WR Nic Duysen, East Mills, senior
OL Hunter Shoaff, Midland, senior
OL Jaxon Allen, New London, senior
OL Cooper Langfelt, Fremont-Mills, junior
RB Marcus Kolesar, HLV, junior
RB Carson Pariseau, Janesville, junior
RB Spencer DeMean, Springville, junior
K Jackson Jensen, Audubon, senior
At-large Britan Martens, Midland, senior
Third-team defense
DL Cedric Yoder, Don Bosco, junior
DL Gavin Holmes, New London, senior
DL Keegan Kula, Central City, senior
LB Cale Yoder, Lone Tree, senior
LB Titan Opperman, AGWSR, senior
LB Carson Tenold, Don Bosco, sophomore
DB Mason Merfield, Southeast Warren, junior
DB Tyler Towne, River Valley, junior
P Connor Piehl, Tripoli, junior
At-large, Grand Gloekner, Springville, junior

Class A

First-team offense
QB Logan Knaack, Grundy Center, sophomore
TE/WR Brendan Anderson, North Union, senior
TE/WR, Cale Kuboushek, South Winneshiek,
senior
TE/WR Ethan Copeland, Woodbury Central,
senior
OL Eli Johnson, MFL-MarMac, senior
OL Joe Lillienthal, Durant, senior
OL Ryan McLean, North Tama, senior
OL Chandler Redenius, West Hancock, senior
OL Alex Hansen, St. Ansgar, senior
OL Kolby Muller, Grundy Center, junior
RB Tristan Wilson, South O’Brien, senior
RB Tate Hagen, West Hancock, senior
RB Caleb Swalla, Earlham, senior
K Andrew Messa, Hinton, senior
At-large Cole Pederson, Central Decatur, senior
First-team defense
DL Tanner Eilts, Hinton, senior
DL Zach Howe, MFL-MarMac, senior
DL Jack Sievert, St. Ansgar, senior
DL Wes Willis, Grundy Center, junior
LB Wade Mitchell, Woodbury Central, senior
LB Jordan Kriegel, BGM, senior
LB Skyler Staken, North Tama, senior
LB Carter Copple, Westwood Sloan, senior
DB Parker Rockford, Edgewood-Colesburg,
junior
DB Ethan Stubbs, MFL-MarMac, senior
DB Sam Miller, Westwood Sloan, senior
DB TJ Lau, East Buchanan, junior
P Skyler Staker, North Tama, senior
KR Josef Smith, West Hancock, senior
At-large Trevor Carlson, Tri-Center, senior
Second-team offense
QB Jacob Herold, South Winneshiek, junior
TE/WR Spencer Staner, Edgewood-Colesburg,
junior
TE/WR Mitchell Countryman, Woodbury Central,
senior
TE/WR Blayde Bellis, Wapsie Valley, junior
OL Noah Fuhrman, South O’Brien, senior
OL Brant Baltes, Lisbon, junior
OL Tristan Hunt, West Hancock, senior
OL Marshall Roudabush, BGM, senior
OL Alex Ausdemore, Tri-Center, junior
OL Barret Pitt, Logan-Magnolia, senior
RB Kutter Anderson, MFL-MarMac, senior
RB Noah Beck, BGM, senior
RB Chase Kiefer, Wayne, senior
K Sam Wilber, St. Albert, junior
At-large Trevin Straight, Belle Plaine, senior
Second-team defense
DL Ed Vicek, Riverside, junior
DL Darien Keith, South O’Brien, senior
DL Ethan Allie, Belle Plaine, senior
DL Isaac Steffans, Postville, senior
LB Ethan Fulcher, Hudson, senior
LB Teegan Tschampel, Hinton, senior
LB Preston Islek, St. Ansgar, senior
LB JT Stocker, MFL-MarMac, senior
DB Ryan Cole, St. Ansgar, junior
DB Kadin Birkey, Manson Northwest Webster,
senior
DB Raydden Grobbe, AHSTW, sophomore
P Kinnick McFarland, Lynnville-Sully, senior
KR Owen Donovan, Highland, junior
At-large Evan Kalainoff, Nashua-Plainfield,
senior
Third-team offense
QB Bryson Freeberg, Tri-Center, senior
TE/WR Tate Payne, North Tama, senior
TE/WR Mason McFarland, Highland, senior
TE/WR Gaven Heim, Tri-Center, senior
OL Nick Lawler, Ft. Dodge St. Edmond, senior
OL Jair Lopez, Alta-Aurelia, senior
OL Thomas Nelson, South O’Brien, senior
OL Dylan Stroman, West Monona, senior
OL Matt Davis, Wayne, senior
OL Tate Hill, Central Decatur, senior
RB Cole Kelly, West Hancock, junior
RB Zach Opheim, Grundy Center, junior
RB Ian Latham, West Fork, senior
K Omar Corona, BGM, junior
At-large Jayden Harder, Sioux Central, junior
Third-team defense
DL Gage Heissel Woodbury Central, junior
DL Zach Verzano, Lawton-Bronson, junior
DL Zack Lasek, Highland, senior
DL Xander Bradley, North Tama, junior
LB Alex Mammen, Bishop-Garrigan, senior
LB Alex DeRoos, Alta-Aurelia, senior
LB Bret Whitehall, Wayne, senior
LB Cole Clark, Lisbon, junior
DB Matthew Booth, Central Decatur, sophomore
DB Beau Klingensmith, Woodbury Central,
junior
DB Carson Elston, Alta-Aurelia, senior
DB Lance Wright, St. Albert, senior
P Marcus Plathe, Bishop Garrigan, senior
KR Sam Rallis, St. Albert, junior
At-large Colten Brandt, IKM Manning, senior