North Tama football brings back 10 letterwinners for its first season in 8-Man. Pictured (from left) are front row: Drayke Dvorak, Kayvin Morris and Maddox Rausch; back row: Braydon Stickles, Kayler Morris, Brayton Cibula, Oliver Vazquez and Clayton Williams; not pictured: Paul Dvorak and Griffin Hall. PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

TRAER — North Tama football is the smallest 11-man team no more.

The Redhawks are set to begin their first season in the 8-Man class in Iowa high school football, and they’re embracing the change with open arms.

The last 11-man Redhawk squad put forth a 4-5 record last season, falling in the first round of the Class A playoffs to Madrid before a school board vote less than a month later relegated North Tama to 8-Man.

Head coach Andrew Knaack’s third season at the helm will be the program’s first of its kind, and he’s eager to see what the change means for his team.

“Obviously our first year hopes would be the playoffs,” he said, “and I think we’ve got a pretty good chance of doing that. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of teams that may think that we didn’t get the transition quite ready.

The North Tama football team practices on Dennis Field on Wednesday, Aug. 20, following Redhawk Recognition Awards Night. The field’s goalpost, pictured, was recently moved as part of the school’s transition this season from Class A to 8-Man which is played on a shorter, narrower field. The goalpost’s former anchor plate is visible in the foreground of the photo. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

“Yeah, there’s going to be learning curves for us that first game, but we’re excited. It’s still Redhawk football, and I think we’ll surprise some people still.”

North Tama graduated nine seniors from last year’s 11-man squad, but Knaack says the experience his returning players gained from that group of graduates will prove invaluable this season.

The Redhawks will have to find a way to replace more than 88 percent of its scrimmage yards on offense, but Knaack is confident he has his signal caller in junior Kayvin Morris.

“The biggest transition is going to be at quarterback, because for three years we had Gabe (Kopriva) and three more years we had Kolt (Knaack),” coach Knaack said. “Kayvin is a leader. He’s young but he starts on the basketball team, he starts on the baseball team and he’s been successful on both of those. He knows what it takes to win, and he wants to be competitive and win, so I think we’ve put the right guy in the position.”

Despite the graduation of most of its offensive production from a year ago, North Tama should still be weaponized. Junior Clayton Williams has experience at wide receiver, and he accumulated 187 yards rushing and receiving last season. Kayler Morris, a senior, caught six balls for 110 yards and a touchdown last fall, and he’ll return to the offense as one of its top targets.

An injury derailed Brayton Cibula’s sophomore campaign, but the 6-foot-5 tight end will provide Kayvin with a wide catch radius to aim at when moving the ball through the air.

Sophomore Maddox Rausch will gain an important role at running back this season, and senior Drayk Dvorak will add to the receiving corps.

Junior Oliver Vazquez (6-4, 242 pounds) is the Redhawks’ top returning lineman, while junior Braydon Stickles might see time up front this season.

“These guys all played varsity last year and in a different ballgame against some big schools, so I think they’ll have leadership and know what to expect,” Knaack said. “And I think they can all pull us in the right direction.”

Knaack said one of the harder growing pains the Redhawks will have to endure is the high-scoring nature of the 8-Man game. Long-time defensive coordinator Tom McDermott and staff will continue to scheme ways to slow down the opponent, but it’s a lot easier said than done with fewer people on the field.

“That first game is going to be kind of a shock when the score is 30 points easy,” Knaack said, “but I think we’ve got a good game to start with English Valleys.”

North Tama’s season opener took place this past Thursday, Aug. 28, at home against non-district foe English Valleys Bears. The Telegraph will feature coverage of the game in next week’s edition. A trip to Tripoli awaits in Week 2 on Friday, Sept. 5. The Redhawks then jump right into 8-Man District 6 play with a Week 3 road trip to Clarksville, a playoff qualifier from a year ago.

Tripoli and Clarksville are just two of the six fellow Iowa Star Conference schools on North Tama’s schedule this season.

“A lot of those teams we play in other sports, so we know what kids they have,” Knaack said. “I mean, the district’s going to be good. You have Gladbrook-Reinbeck and Clarksville, and I think we’re a pretty good team.”

North Tama 2025-26 Football Schedule

Aug. 29 ENGLISH VALLEYS

Sept. 5 at Tripoli

Sept. 12 at Clarksville

Sept. 19 COLO-NESCO

Sept. 26 at Meskwaki

Oct. 3 GMG

Oct. 10 at Collins-Maxwell

Oct. 17 GLADBROOK-REINBECK

*all games 7 p.m.