The Warrenton football program had 11 players named to the recently announced Gateway Athletic Conference North all-conference team for the 2019 season.

The Warriors’ first team selections were Cody Crump, Josh Heap and Dylan Smith on offense, Smith and Brett Smith on defense and Brenden Day on special teams.

Second team spots went to Nolan Chmiel, Logan Dowd, Sam Toenges and Tristian Bihlmaier on offense, Heap, Dowd, Owen Ireton and Jack Russell on defense, and Toenges on special teams.

Crump’s first team bid was the second consecutive for the 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior offensive lineman who earned the same distinction as a junior.

“Cody has great size and great athletic ability for how big he is,” Warrenton Coach Steve McDowell said. “He did a tremendous job anchoring down the left tackle position for us the lat two years.”

Heap, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound senior, was a versatile lineman on both sides of the ball for the Warriors and finished this season with 33 tackles, including four for loss.

“Josh was a great all-purpose guy for us on the O-line,” McDowell said. “He could play center, guard or tackle and was a three-year starter. It’s great to see him get first team honors and shows that his hard work and dedication has paid off.”

Dylan Smith, a 5-10, 175-pound senior receiver/linebacker, was Warrenton’s only two-way first teamer. He caught a team-leading 20 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 210 yards and a TD on 50 carries. Defensively, he had team-best 60 solo tackles and finished with 93 overall, also contributing an interception.

“Dylan was a captain and we moved him from the secondary to linebacker this season and he had an outstanding campaign,” McDowell said. “Offensively, he’s more of a possession type receiver but still led us in touchdown catches. He provided great leadership throughout his time in the program.”

Brett Smith, a 5-11, 165-pound senior, was Warrenton’s best ball hawk in the secondary finishing with five interceptions, including two in the season opener. He had 52 tackles (27 solo) and also hauled in two TDs on offense.

“Brett had a bunch of pass breakups too,” McDowell said. “And he developed into our best player in the secondary by far this year.”

Day, a 6-1, 160-pound senior, took over kicking duties in his final year with the program. He connected successfully on 24 extra-point attempts and had a 19-yard field goal in the regular season finale against Ft. Zumwalt East He was also a big contributor in the secondary.

“Brenden did an excellent job as our kicker and I think that first team nod was well deserved so hats off to him,” McDowell said.

Chmiel, a 6-foot, 170-pound senior quarterback, was under center as Warrenton’s starter for a second consecutive year. He completed 63-of-109 pass attempts for 788 yards and nine touchdowns with six interceptions. He also ran for 500 yards and seven TDs on 72 carries. The mobile speedster was slowed down by injuries a bit, missing two games entirely and the majority of a third.

“He battled some knee issues all year and getting a second team nod is a good showing of his character and what he was able to do with the opportunities he had,” McDowell said.

Dowd, a 5-9, 160-pound senior running/defensive back, led Warrenton in offensive yards with 820 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 156 carries, adding 123 receiving yards and a TD on 12 receptions.

Dowd really found his groove on the ground down the stretch, scoring all seven of his TDs and averaging 144 rushing yards per game during the Warriors’ last four contests.

Defensively, he had 60 tackles (35 solo) and an interception.

“Logan played both corner and safety and was a great cover guy,” McDowell said. “He’s just an explosive and kid and was capable of breaking off a long run anytime he had the ball. What I really liked is that he was always moving forward. Very rarely did he get tackled for losses and he got us a lot of yards after the first hit.”

Toenges, a 6-3, 175-pound senior receiver had 19 grabs for 350 yards and two touchdowns and became Warrenton’s primary punter this year, averaging 35.5 yards on 25 attempts.

“Sam has a great pair of hands and is very explosive, with big play capability,” McDowell said. “He also did a great job handling punt duties for the first time. He had a good average and a lot of his punts were on the short side of the field.”

Bihlmaier, a 6-1, 290-pound senior lineman, has been a stalwart on Warrenton’s O-line as a starter the past three seasons.

“Tristian’s just a solid offensive lineman with great leadership capabilities and we’re going to miss him a whole bunch,” McDowell said.

Ireton, a 5-11, 165-pound senior outside linebacker was the only Warrior to tally triple-digit tackles, notching 104 total with 56 solos. He had double-digit takedowns in five of his 10 games, including a 19-tackle output in a Week 4 victory at St. Charles.

“Owen was all over the field and always seemed to do a nice job of being in the right place at the right time,” McDowell said. “Obviously, he had a lot of tackles and he’s going to be missed in that linebacker spot.”

Russell, a 6-1, 240-pound junior defensive tackle, was Warrenton’s lone non-senior selection. He finished the campaign with 60 tackles (32 solo) and had a sack and a fumble recovery.

“Jack did a great job of making plays and holding down the interior,” McDowell said. “He was a really good kid to have in that position.”

Senior Cody Stiern was Warrenton’s GAC North Sportsmanship Award representative. And Stiern, Day, Ireton, Russell, Dylan Smith, Jesse Cook, Andrew Cox, Kolby Meine, Nick Mertens, Hunter Meyer and TJ Ray earned all-academic honors.

The Warriors finished the 2019 season with a 4-6 overall record and a 3-1 GAC North mark, which was good for second place in the conference standings.

Their campaign concluded with a 35-34 loss against Kirksville in the Class 4 District 4 opening round on Nov. 1.

Top seed Liberty Wentzville (8-3) hosts Hannibal (7-4) in the district title game this Friday at 7 p.m.