The fourth-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s football team won the program’s fourth state championship on Thursday morning defeating fifth-ranked Gladbrook-Reinbeck at the UNI-Dome 51-12.
After missing out on playing at the Dome last season, the Hawks did not want that feeling again this year. Collin Homan, a senior on the Hawk roster, says that disappointment from last year drove the guys to getting it done this year.
Head coach Tim Osterman says the moment is a result of many years of Hawk football that has set the culture for this year’s team.
The Hawk defense played lights out in the win. Gladbrook-Reinbeck came into the game averaging over 50 points a game. Remsen St. Mary’s shut them down on three-straight possessions with two turnover on downs and a punt. Coach Osterman says he was proud of his team’s ability to rise to the occasion.
Homan continued to dominate the Rebel offensive line all game. He recorded 8.5 tackles, three tackles for a loss, a sack, and he batted down a pass at the line. He says being attentive to the assignments and executing on them helped lead to success.
While the Hawk defense was shutting down the Rebels, Remsen St. Mary’s was cruising offensively. The Hawks scored on all but one of their drives in the first half. Two of those scores were Landon Waldschmitt touchdown passes to Keaton Harpenau. Harpenau says he and Waldschmitt were on the same page all game.
In addition to his two touchdown receptions, Harpenau ran for 44 yards, made eight tackles, and picked off his 11th pass of the season. Coach Osterman says Harpenau is one of the better athletes that has gone through the program.
It was not just the Hawk passing attack that was succeeding. The Remsen St. Mary’s rushing attack was moving over guys averaging five yards per carry to the tune of 243 rushing yards. Landon Waldschmitt had 177 of those yards and tied a championship game record five rushing touchdowns. He gave all the credit to his offensive line who made his life easy.
Coach Osterman says Waldschmitt’s ability to run as well as he does is because of all the work he put in during the offseason.
The running attack took a toll on Waldschmitt who did everything. He carried the ball 33 times, threw it 15 times, and made seven tackles on defense. Waldschmitt says he was feeling the fatigue, but he knew he had to keep going to not let down his teammates.
After taking a 6-0 lead early in the game, the Hawks never trailed and cruised to the program’s fourth state title. The program graduates a group of 10 seniors who played for the name on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back. Harpenau says there was not a selfish guy in this class.
Waldschmitt says the adversity that the guys went through brought the team closer together than they ever were before.
Coach Osterman says the culture surrounding the senior class will be their legacy that they leave behind.
The Hawks finish the 2024 season with a 13-0 record. They tie Don Bosco for the most Class Eight-Player state championships in Iowa high school football history.
