Waukon football team plays to near perfection during 2019 campaign with 12-1 season that results in Class 2A State Runner-Up finish

The 2019 Waukon football season saw a golden opportunity end up with a silver lining as the grid Tribe was on course for a perfect championship season but ended up as Class 2A’s State Runner-Up with a 12-1 season record. Playing to the program’s first undefeated regular season since the 1950s, the Indians began their sixth Class 2A State Play-Off journey in the past eight seasons and made their way to the season-climactic State Championship game for the third time in the past seven seasons, but had their first-ever perfect season and two-time championship hopes dashed by a team from OABCIG (Odebolt-Arthur-Battle Creek-Ida Grove) that seemed to surprise everyone this season with its own perfect campaign that culminated in a successful outcome in the program’s first-ever State Championship game appearance.

Along the way, the grid Tribe’s first undefeated regular season since the days of Walter “Red” Rixen and his 1954 and 1957 undefeated teams included a second consecutive undefeated Class 2A District 4 championship. That district title saw the Indians outscore their District 4 opponents by a combined 249-64 result. The Tribe gridders also swept through a non-district schedule that included wins over three fellow Northeast Iowa Conference schools and an avenging of the Indians’ lone regular season loss from last season with a 36-7 season-opening win over Decorah.

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