The Webster City football team overcame some early-season struggles to battle through the toughest Class 3A district in the state, finishing with a 3-6 record under first-year head coach Andy Brim.

Recently, the Lynx were honored for their play with six players being selected to the all-district team.

Cole Nohrenberg, Cael Nixon, Jayden Weinzetl, Eli Estlund, Jaxon Griffith and Israel Torres all made the first team for Webster City, with Aiden Hrnicek, Gabe Ruby, Max McGilligan and Carter Mickelson scoring honorable-mention status out of District 2.

“Our record was not what we wanted, but I was really proud of the attitude and effort of our kids,” Brim said. “They worked every day to get better all the way through the season.

“When you look back at our schedule, which included 4A state champion North Polk and 3A runner-up Humboldt, as well as four other playoff teams in Fort Dodge, Spencer, Clear Lake and Algona, we definitely had a lot of challenges,” Brim said. “But at the end of the year, the kids were playing pretty well and competed extremely well the last two weeks against Algona and Humboldt. I think that says a lot about the type of kids that are in our program. They don’t quit and love to compete.”

Nohrenberg, a junior who was the only returning starter along the offensive line from a year ago, “had a great season, consistently improving each week to help the offense become the top rushing offense in the district.”

Nixon, a senior, ran for a team-high 885 yards with 10 touchdowns, adding 17 tackles with four tackles for loss and a sack.

“Cael was the district rushing leader with 714 yards in district games,” Brim said. “As the season went on, Cael got very good at picking his spots to put a foot in the ground and get north and south.”

Weinzetl, a two-way starter as a senior, had 42.5 tackles with 10.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks, adding three receptions for 51 yards and a score.

“Jayden became a dominant defensive end that teams had to take note of and gameplan around,” Brim said. “Jayden was a very important piece to the defense and helped make some huge plays down the stretch.”

Estlund, a junior, joined Weinzetl along the defensive line, recording 32 tackles with 4.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks.

“Eli quietly became more and more dominant as the season progressed,” Brim said.

Griffith, a junior, had a team-high 56.5 tackles with 39 solo stops and 5.5 for loss. He also picked off two passes, ran for 824 yards with four touchdowns, caught two passes with a T and returned a kickoff for a score.

“Jaxon is a special talent on the football field and has the ability to change the game no matter where he is,” Brim said. “That allowed us to use him a lot of different ways on defense. He was definitely the leader of our secondary and acted as an extra coach on the field.”

Torres, just a sophomore, averaged 55.6 yards per kickoff with 14 touchbacks. He successfully made 20 of 22 extra-point attempts.

“Kickoff yards was something we wanted to improve (in 2024),” Brim said. “Israel really helped with that.”

Senior Luke Estlund, a starter who was injured midway through the season, was presented with the Golden Award, which goes to a player that would have been all-district if not for the injury. Estlund suffered a torn ACL, but had 189 yards rushing with five touchdowns while throwing for 124 yards and two scores. He also had recorded 23 tackles with three for loss and an interception on defense.

Hrnicek, who replaced Estlund at spinback, had 52.5 tackles, recovered four fumbles and had three tackles for loss. He also ran for 210 yards with two TDs while throwing for 64 with a score.

Mickelson caught a team-leading six passes for 84 yards with a touchdown, adding 26 tackles on defense.

Hank Christeson, McGilligan, Nixon, Ruby, Nate Beaulieu, Hrnicek, Mickelson, Beau Nohrenberg, Cole Nohrenberg, Jamey Stansfield, Efrain Calles-Arnaiz, Kaleb Hansen, Zack Lahr, Alex Staley and Yerik Vasquez made the academic all-district team from Webster City.