SYCAMORE – The Sycamore football team lost four games this season. Three came to state finalists, the fourth to a quarterfinalist.

Coach Joe Ryan said with players such as Nick Niemann, it allowed them to at least be competitive in most of those games.

The senior linebacker anchored the Spartan defense, recording 48 solo tackles and 72 total to go with a pair of sacks in his last year before joining his brother on the University of Iowa football team. His season earned him the Daily Chronicle Defensive Football Player of the Year award.

"We had a pretty tough schedule, I'd say, so I think we had a good season overall," Niemann said.

After starting the year 1-3 – two of the losses were to teams that wound up playing for a state title in either Class 5A or Class 6A – the Spartans rolled off five straight wins to make the playoffs, drawing eventual 5A and 2014 defending 6A state champion Nazareth in the first round.

The Spartans lost 38-6 to the Roadrunners, although Sycamore was without it starting running back and played the second half without its starting quarterback. Its other three games were all within a single score.

"Without players like (Nick), you can say you're playing those good teams, but you're getting stomped all the time," Ryan said. "We're in the conversation."

Sycamore opened the year with a 35-31 loss at Lincoln Way-West, runner-up to Nazareth in a game the Spartans led in the final minutes and had two shots to win on the closing plays. They also lost, 27-21, at Crete-Monee in overtime. Crete-Monee reached the 6A championship before losing to Montini.

The Spartans also lost on a last-second field goal at DeKalb, which reached the 6A quarterfinals.

"I think we had a fun season, I wouldn't trade my high school football experience for anything," Niemann said. "I love playing at Sycamore. I felt we had a successful season, even if we got knocked out first. When you play tough teams that's what happens."

Niemann said the team remained focused even when it felt like no one outside the locker room believed in the program.

"A lot of people, I don't think, had any confidence we'd go anywhere, outside of the football program," Niemann said. "But our team, we knew we were capable of getting somewhere. We knew we had to play for something still. So we dug ourselves out and went on a five-game win streak into the playoffs. I'm pretty proud of that."

At the middle of the team's surge was it's defense – it didn't give up more than 18 points in its six wins. And in the middle of the defense was Niemann, creating headaches for other teams.

"It's not often you can get a kid that 6-foot-3, 215 and can run like he can run," Ryan said. "There's no mismatches. He can go in and pass rush an offensive tackle and not have a mismatch, and then he can go out and run with a slot. That's a unique combination. That gave us a lot of leeway on how we would call our defense."

The first round loss was the first for the Spartans since 2007, but just as Niemann said he was pleased with the overall season – Ryan said the team wasn't disappointed in the season – just the fact it ended a little early.

"I think too many times – Troy Aikman said this – if you judge your season on the whether or not you win the Super Bowl, you're going to be disappointed a lot," Ryan said. "To be 1-3 and come back and get in the playoffs, then it's all about your draw. And our draw is the defending 6A state champion returning a bunch of dudes. Who's to say if we don't get another draw, we're not as successful as some of the other teams winning before they face a team like that?"

Next up for Niemann is joining brother Ben Niemann – also a linebacker – at Iowa. The Hawkeyes lost only in the Big 10 Championship Game this year and will face Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

"Obviously they're having a pretty good season so far," said Niemann, who also led the Spartans in receiving this year, playing both ways. 'I'm ready to jump in there and compete for a spot. I don't know what's going to happen in terms of position or redshirting, but I'm exciting."

Daily Chronicle All-Area Defensive Football Team

Player of the Year

Nick Niemann, sr., LB, Sycamore

First team

Dwayne Lacey, jr., DE, DeKalb: Lacey made himself at home in opposing defense's backfields, recording 11 sacks among his 17 tackles for a loss. He had 43 total tackles this year.

Luke Miller, jr., DT, Genoa-Kingston: The Cogs got back into the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and the defense was the main reason for it. They shut down opposing offenses, starting in the trenches and with Miller, who had 47 tackles from his lineman spot, seven for a loss. He had five sacks.

Vince Pattalio, sr., DT, Sycamore: In addition to 27 tackles, three for a loss, and two sacks, Pattalio had a nose for the big play in big situations and earned a spot on the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference first team.

Parker Majerus, sr., DE, Sycamore: Another all-conference selection for the Spartans on the defensive line, he had 27 tackles on the year, four for a loss.

Aidan Hickey, sr., LB, Sycamore: Hickey did his best to make teams pay for avoiding Niemann, netting 42 solo tackles, four for a loss, and a sack to go with two interceptions.

Mitchell Groen, sr., LB, Kaneland: Not only did he start at tight end and make an impact in the passing game, Groen had 42 tackles and an interception for the Knights defense.

Leif Williams, sr., LB, DeKalb: A two-year starter, the physical Williams had 56 tackles this year, eight for a loss.

Zach Butler, jr., DB, Genoa-Kingston: Not only did Butler play quarterback for the Cogs for a good chunk of the year, he had 61 tackles and four interceptions for the stingy G-K defense.

Jake Niedel, jr., DB, DeKalb: Niedel made 22 tackles this year, but he had seven interceptions on the season to wreak havoc with opposing teams' passing games.

Isaiah Baerenklau, sr., DB, Kaneland: Baerenklau had 36 tackles and an interception this year while also playing at receiver for the Knights.

Matt Coovert, sr., DB, Sycamore: In addition to being a reliable receiver for the Spartans, he was the team's top defensive back – not to mention was all conference in punting as well for his play in the secondary. He had 22 solo tackles and returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdowns.

​Honorable mention

Giovanni de los Reyes, sr., DL, DeKalb; Ryan Grant, sr., DL, Sycamore; Austin Vickory, sr., DL, Kaneland; Lio Arrendondo, jr., DL, Kaneland; Abe Gonzalez, soph., OL; Hiawatha; Klint Wewetzer, jr., LB, Genoa-Kingston; Hunter Regelbrugge, jr., LB, Kaneland; Tyler Paulson, sr., DB, Kaneland; Bryce Hansen, sr., DB, Sycamore; Taylor Geisman, sr., DB, DeKalb