Iowa high school football stat leaders, Week 5: Will we see a new single-season record for kickoff return touchdowns?

Touchdowns on kickoff returns might be the most special scoring sequence in football. They are common enough that it’s not considered magic when they occur, but rare enough that they can be game-breaking or momentum-shifting.

Through five weeks this season, five different players are tied for first with three kickoff return touchdowns: CAM’s Lane Spieker, Glidden-Ralston’s Brigham Daniel, Lisbon’s Devyn Decious, Martensdale-St. Marys’ Troy Holt and Springville’s Spencer DeMean.

Daniel scored all three of his in the same game, in Week 2 against West Harrison. That effort ties an Iowa single-game record for most kickoff-return touchdowns, matching Central City’s Mason Nielson (2008) and BGM’s Jack Kline (2013).

Both Decious and DeMean had two in one game — Decious against Iowa City Regina last Friday, and DeMean against Easton Valley in Week 4. Everybody else has scored their three kickoff returns in three separate games.

Now, three kickoff-return touchdowns by five different players sounds like a lot, but it’s actually on par with recent seasons.

In 2019, Audubon’s Jackson Jensen led the state with four, and four others had three. In 2018, five players had four and three more had three. In 2017, Lone Tree’s Bryce Houser led the way with four, and North Cedar’s Shane Weber sat second with three.

The question here, then: Will any of them catch the single-season record?

That mark, according to the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s football record book, is five for 11-player teams (by Johnston’s Marcus Montgomery, in 2010) and seven for 8-player teams (by Meskwaki’s Terrell Grant, in 2012).

Only two weeks remain in the regular season. If teams go the distance, that’s another six weeks. There’s reason to believe some of these guys will get plenty of opportunities, too, since both CAM and Martensdale-St. Marys are 5-0 and both Lisbon and Springville are 3-2.

Just another thing to monitor as we close in on the postseason.

This week’s extra stats center on Waukee’s Aaron Smith, who is insanely fast. Perhaps one of the best illustrations of his game-breaking speed is not to show how many yards per rush or reception he gains, but yards per touch.

The senior has touched the ball 31 times this season — 12 rushes, 13 receptions, one interception, five kickoff returns — and has compiled 708 yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

That’s absurd. How absurd? That’s 22.8 yards per touch, and a touchdown every 2.6 touches.

Against Johnston last week, Smith touched the ball just eight times — four rushes, three receptions, and an interception — and piled up 248 yards and scored four touchdowns.

That’s 31 yards per touch, and a touchdown every other touch.

Put another way: He makes fast people look, well, not as fast.

Passing Yards

1. Garrett Baumhover, sr., Western Dubuque: 1,470 yards (64% completion, 14 TDs)

2. Cooper DeJean, sr., OABCIG: 1,460 yards (57% comp., 15 TDs)

3. Eddie Burgess, jr., Montezuma: 1,377 yards (63% comp., 22 TDs)

4. Max Juergens, sr., Norwalk: 1,292 yards (58% comp., 15 TDs)

5. Gavin Reineke, sr., Boyer Valley: 1,271 yards (48% comp., 17 TDs)

Rushing Yards

1. Wyatt Hunter, sr., Grinnell: 1,313 yards (123 attempts, 21 rushing touchdowns)

2. Keagan Giesking, sr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck: 1,166 yards (158 att., 17 TDs)

3. Jaden Penning, sr., AGWSR: 1,003 yards (116 att., 16 TDs)

4. Cole Kelly, sr., West Hancock: 983 yards (124 att., 19 TDs)

5. Ryan Lang, sr., North Union: 957 yards (118 att., 13 TDs)

Receiving Yards

1. Ethan Carlson, sr., Nowalk: 620 yards (39 receptions, 6 receiving touchdowns)

2. Alec Wick, sr., Iowa City Regina: 542 yards (33 rec., 8 TDs)

3. Tommy DeSollar, sr., Western Dubuque: 540 yards (30 rec., 5 TDs)

4. Trey Shearer, sr., Montezuma: 535 yards (33 rec., 10 TDs)

5. Cole Watts, sr., Montezuma: 532 yards (23 rec., 8 TDs)

► HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FROM THE DES MOINES REGISTER

• WEEK 6 RANKINGS: Class-by-Class | Super 10
• LOOKING BACK: 32 things we learned from Week 5
• FEATURE: OL Jake Vore has found a home at Southeast Polk

Tackles

1. Samuel Bandstra, sr., East Marshall: 63 total tackles (54 solo)

2. Conner Murty, sr., GMG: 62 total (43 solo)

3. Jared Hoodjer, jr., Janesville: 61.5 total (28 solo)

4. Evan Nelson, sr., Meskawki Settlement: 60 total (48 solo)

5. Kale Rogers, sr., North Fayette Valley: 59.5 total (42 solo)

Sacks

1. Brayden Evertson, sr., West Marshall: 13.5 sacks

2. Austin Bremner, jr., Tripoli: 9 sacks

T3. Wes Willis, sr., Grundy Center: 8 sacks

T3. Kole Reis, sr., Kinglsey-Pierson: 8 sacks

T3. Dallas Kluender, jr., Woodbury Central: 8 sacks

6. Nick Miller, jr., Lewis Central: 7.5 sacks

Interceptions

1. Sam Daniel, sr. Fort Dodge: 7 interceptions

T2. Blaise Porter, soph., New London: 6 interceptions

T2. Grant Sturm, sr., Atlantic: 6 interceptions

T2. Alex Feldmann, sr., Columbus Catholic: 6 interceptions

T2. Colby Burg, sr., Creston: 6 interceptions

T7. 10 tied with 5 interceptions

*All statistics are pulled from Varsity Bound on Tuesday. We consider between Friday night and Tuesday morning more than enough time for teams to update their pages. Coaches, please do so in that time frame to ensure we accurately list the proper statistical leaders. Thank you in advance.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal