By Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – It’s easy for Beau Cornwell to look back at last season and ask ‘what if’.

What if the first-year West Branch quarterback hadn’t had his season sophomore cut short by a broken collar bone in the second game or what if backup quarterback Brandon Rummelhart hadn’t sustained his own season-ending injury before week six?

With Cornwell under center would the Bears have been better than their 6-4 record? Could West Branch have extended its streak to four straight seasons with a postseason win?

Cornwell spent the final eight weeks of the season contemplating each of those questions and playing out different scenarios.

With last season and his injury squarely in the rearview mirror Cornwell has his sights set on the future not the past as West Branch seeks a 10th consecutive playoff appearance.

“It was hard seeing all the guys out there playing and doing their thing when I wanted to be out there helping them but I try not to think about that,” Cornwell said. “Last year is in the past and I’m excited for this season. I’m very excited for the first drive and just more excited to be back out there with those guys.”

Cornwell will be the leader of a revamped West Branch offense that is preparing for life after Luke Lenoch.

The all-time leading rusher at West Branch, Lenoch graduated with more than 6,000 career yards after serving as the focal point of the Bear offense for the past three seasons.

Now that distinction belongs to Cornwell.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound junior who has just two career starts and a game and half of experience but brings back a strong group of receivers and an offensive line with three returning starters.  

“I think Beau is throwing the ball as well now as I have seen anybody throw the football here in a while,” Long-time West Branch coach Butch Pedersen said. “He throws a good ball and he has a lot of receivers, a lot of gifted receivers.”

The stats are modest for Cornwell.

He completed 2-of-6 passes for 40 yards before his injury but it wasn’t a lost season for Cornwell who used his time on the sideline to bone up on opponents and schemes.

“I still got to see a lot of what the teams do during film sessions,” Cornwell said. “I still picked up on what teams were trying to do so I think I learned a lot.”
A basketball standout at West Branch the athletic Cornwell is a dual threat with the ball in his hand.

Fans saw the evidence of that in his only full game last season when Cornwell rushed for 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 40-20 season-opening win at West Liberty.

“He’s going to be a big difference this year,” West Branch senior offensive tackle Jacob Barnhart said. “Beau can be a big playmaker and that could be a changer for our season.”

Cornwell will be the director of a new-look West Branch offense that Pedersen expects to be equal parts run and pass.

“We are going to be more diversified on offense,” Pedersen said. “I think if you don’t do that then teams start loading the box on you and I think a little of that has happened in the past. I think we are going to be close to 50-50 (run and pass).”

Two of the top pass catching options for the Bears return in seniors Ben Thompson (6-1, 170) and Jacob Graves (5-9, 170).

An all-state defensive back a year ago, Graves caught 14 passes for 198 yards and three scores and Thompson added 16 grabs for 186 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s very exciting, I think we can be very explosive,” Cornwell said. “Spreading it out is going to be fun but we still have to show people that we can pound it in between the tackles which I still think we can do pretty good.”

A two-time all-state pick, Barnhart (6-6, 300) leads an experienced West Branch offensive line that also returns senior guard Andrew Black (6-2, 220) and junior tackle Drake Bloem (6-0, 255).

“That’s kind of our feeling here at West Branch is we need to develop the offensive and defensive line and if you do that you can be successful,” Pedersen said. “A lot of people can run through a hole but we have to have those linemen to open up a hole. That’s what it’s going to take this year our offensive and defensive line will decide how good we are going to be.”

Despite the loss of Lenoch, Pedersen likes the look of the West Branch backfield.

Sophomore Tanner Lukavsky had a strong freshman season as a linebacker with 39.5 tackles and the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder is the lead candidate to take over at running back.

“We have three or four backs that are going to surprise some people,” Pedersen said. “They can hit the hole and they have good balance, and they catch the ball out of the backfield so they are fairly well-rounded.”

Graves leads the list of defensive returners after snagging seven interceptions a year ago.

The Bears bring back three of their top four tacklers in Lukavsky, Graves, Thompson and Black and senior defensive end Billy Friis (6-2, 210) return after leading the Bears with four and three sacks respectively.

“We can go as far as we work for,” Cornwell said. “If we keep doing what we are doing and focus on each week and prepare each week like it’s our last and go out and give 110 percent each week I think the sky is the limit.”