Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CEDAR FALLS – It was a week three non-district contest but Friday’s top-10 clash between West High and Cedar Falls came with the feeling and flare of a postseason matchup.

The finish was one for the ages.

Traevis Buchanan hauled in a two-point conversion pass from Evan Flitz in overtime to lift Class 4A No. 3 West High to a 32-31 win over eighth-ranked Cedar Falls (2-1) at the UNI-Dome.

“It felt like that type of postseason game in the Dome,” West High senior Trumell Roberts said. “It was loud, it was close we just wanted to pull it out and we were able to do that.”  

West High rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit with 21 unanswered second half points and following a Cedar Falls touchdown sent the game to overtime with a 35-yard Lucas Karwal field goal with 1:16 left.

Both teams scored on their lone possession in overtime with the two-point conversion grab by Buchanan from a scrambling Flitz the difference.

“I didn’t run the correct route that I supposed to be running at all,” Buchanan said. “I just ran in there, got to the back of the end zone where I was supposed to be at and Evan got me the ball.”

Friday looked a lot like two teams fully capable of setting up a UNI-Dome rematch in November.

Defending 4A runner-up West High endured a furious first-half push from the Tigers and a monster game from senior quarterback Luke Gillett to win its seventh straight regular season game dating back to last season.

“Cedar Falls, they are a good team, they are going to be there in the end,” West High coach Garrett Hartwig said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see them playing in the Dome in November.”

 

Flitz had 188 of his 204 passing yards after halftime and threw a pair of second-half scoring strikes as West High erased a 17-point halftime deficit.

The senior quarterback completed 15-of-20 passes after halftime and had a 5-yard touchdown in overtime that set up his game-winning two-point toss to Buchanan.

“A lot of it was mojo,” Flitz said. “We got a couple of completions early and that’s how we like to start both halves, getting some solid completions to our playmakers and those guys make plays.”

The teams traded punches for 48 minutes of regulation.

Cedar Falls closed the first half with bang when Gillett hit Logan Wolf for a 30-yard touchdown pass with five seconds left in the second quarter to put the Tigers up 17-0 at the half.

“At halftime we just talked about staying focused,” Roberts said. “We knew what we needed to do, we knew what we did wrong we just had to correct it.”

West High didn’t waste any time getting back in the game.

The Trojans marched 80 yards in 11 plays on the opening possession of the second half, cutting the lead to 17-7 on a 2-yard touchdown plunge by fullback Owen McAreavy.

Following a Cedar Falls three-and-out Wet High went 48 yards in six plays and cut the lead to 17-14 when Flitz tossed a perfect fade pattern to Jalen Gaudet for a 2-yard touchdown.

“We didn’t make major adjustments we just had to play better and credit our guys,” Hartwig said. “This is the type of test you need pre-district. Those are the games that matter but you learn a lot about your teams at this point of the season and guys played hard.”

West High took its first lead of the game at 21-17 when Flitz found Buchanan for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 8:43 to play.

Cedar Falls answered with a 6-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard scoring strike from Gillett to Blake Christensen

Gillett was 4-for-4 for 75 yards on the touchdown drive that put Cedar Falls up 24-21 with 6:43 left and finished 21-of-32 for 296 yards with two touchdowns and also ran for a team-high 63 yards.

“I am going to give a ton of credit to Cedar Falls because our DBs got beat tonight but they were in position on most of those balls and credit Cedar Falls,” Hartwig said. “They are a good team, they are well-coached and I have a ton of respect for that program.”

West High marched down the field, converting a fake punt on a 9-yard run by Landon Green, and tied the score at 24 on the 35-yard field goal by Karwal.

Cedar Falls scored on the first play of overtime when Gillett hit Christensen for a 10-yard TD pass.

West High needed just two plays as Flitz scrambled in from 5 yards out to make it 31-30.

Rather than kick an extra point and play another overtime Hartwig opted to go for two.

“We play to win,” Hartwig explained. “Nothing more needs to be said.”

Flitz rolled to his right and found Buchanan streaking across the back of the end zone. The senior receiver made the catch and got a foot down inside the sideline.

“That’s where he excels,” Flitz said of Buchanan. “He is a playmaker, he always has been. That’s just how he works, he makes plays and we are on the same wave length.”

 

Cedar Falls finished with a 461 to 367 edge in total yards but came up just short of a win.

The Tigers had a chance to win the game in regulation but a 46-yard field goal attempt by Matthew Cook came up just short.

Christensen was excellent for Cedar Falls finishing with seven catches for 149 yards and a touchdown.

Gaudet led West High with seven catches for 76 yards and a score while Buchanan had five for 73 and a touchdown.

“We put the points up and forced them in a situation at the end and they made a play in the corner for two points,” Cedar Falls coach Brad Remmert said. “They’re a highly ranked team, they were in the finals last year and they’ve got a lot of kids back from that team. To stand in there toe-to-toe, and we really had an opportunity to win the football game but we didn't make enough plays.”

                                  ICW                 CF

First Downs               20                    19

Rushes-Yards            42-163             31-100

Comp-Att-Int             16-24-0            22-33-0

Passing Yards            204                  361

Punts-Avg.                 4-34                 4-31

Fumbles-Lost             2-1                   2-0

Penalties-Yards         4-19                 3-17

West High      0   0  14  10  8  –  32

Cedar Falls    0  17  0    7   7  –  31

CF – Sam Gary 6 run (Matthew Cook kick)

CF – Cook 27 field goal

CF – Logan Wolf 30 pass from Luke Gillett (Cook kick)

ICW – Owen McAreavy 2 run (Lucas Karwal kick)

ICW – Jalen Gaudet 2 pass from Evan Flitz (Karwal kick)

ICW – Traevis Buchanan 10 pass from Flitz (Karwal kick)

CF – Blake Christensen 20 pass from Gillett (Cook kick)

ICW – Karwal 35 field goal

CF – Christensen 10 pass from Gillett (Cook kick)

ICW – Flitz 5 run (Buchanan pass from Flitz)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – CF: Sam Gary 15-51, Luke Gillett 14-63, Team 2-(-14). ICW: Andre White 15-75, Evan Flitz 19-68, Trumell Roberts 2-5, Dylan Miene 2-4, Owen McAreavy 2-3, Landon Green 1-9, Team 1-(-1).

PASSING – CF: Luke Gillett 21-32-0 296, Logan Wolf 1-1-0 65. ICW: Evan Flitz 16-24-0 204.

RECEIVING – CF: Blake Christensen 7-149, Dalton Closson 5-83, Jakob Courbat 4-35, Logan Wolf 3-49, Sam Gary 1-19, Colin Klatt 1-5, Reese Gardner 1-1. ICW: Jalen Gaudet 7-76, Traevis Buchanan 5-73, Dillon Doyle 2-30, Parris Taylor 1-13, Austin Geasland 1-12.