By Pat Harty

WEST BRANCH – With some time, Jacob Barnhart will come to appreciate what he and his West Branch teammates accomplished on the football field this fall.

But for now, it hurts to know that it’s over.

A season that saw West Branch finish undefeated during the regular season ended abruptly on Friday as Pleasantville defeated the Bears 32-13 in the first round of the Class1A playoffs at the Little Rose Bowl.

West Branch ended the season at 9-1, while Pleasantville advances to the next round with an 8-2 record.

“Just to do what we did, I think we should be proud of ourselves,” Barnhart said with tears streaming down his face. “I’m not proud of the outcome of this game, but I’m sure later on in life we’ll look back and appreciate what we did this year.”

Barnhart, a standout two-way lineman, is one of just seven seniors on the West Branch roster. He is being recruited to play football at the collegiate level, but nothing will replace the thrill and honor of being a West Branch Bear.

“I don’t think anyone on the outside can appreciate what it’s like playing for West Branch,” Barnhart said. “There is just so much family here. I mean everyone has got your back no matter what. So I’m going to miss this more than anything I think.”

The togetherness to which Barnhart referred was evident as West Branch coach Butch Pedersen addressed his team after the game. By the time Pedersen was finished speaking, most of the West Branch fans had walked on to the field to offer their support.

Pedersen had a specific message for his players, especially for his seniors.

“Don’t define the season by one game,” Pedersen said over and over. “You have nothing to be a shame of.”

West Branch didn’t have an answer for Pleasantville senior running back Hunter Tyree, who in addition to rushing for 223 yards and scoring on touchdown runs of 54 and 78 yards also returned a kick 86 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Tyree’s kick return came just seconds after West Branch had trimmed the lead to 16-13 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Jacob Graves with 4 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third quarter.

“It was absolutely huge,” Pedersen said of Tyree’s kick return in which he squirted loose from a pile of West Branch defenders. “We just didn’t execute, but that happens sometimes.”

Tyree scored the game’s first touchdown on a 54-yard run with 58 seconds left in the first quarter, which ended with West Branch trailing 7-0.

West Branch answered back with a 15-yard touchdown run by quarterback Beau Cornwell with 1:29 left before halftime. Cornwell also converted the point-after kick to even the score at 7-7.

Pleasantville then drove into West Branch territory in the closing seconds of the first half. The Trojans took a 10-7 lead into halftime as kicker Kyle Amendt made a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.

The 5-foot-10, 150-pound Tyree broke free for a 36-yard touchdown run that expanded Pleasantville’s lead to 29-13 with 10:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Cornwell spent much of the game trying to avoid Pleasantville’s pressure in the pocket. He completed 17-of-29 passes for 152 yards, but also threw two interceptions, including one by Tyree late in the fourth quarter.

Amendt completed the scoring for Pleasantville by making a 26-yard field goal with 1:44 left to play.

“That’s a very good football team,” Pedersen said of Pleasantville. “(Tyree) is a great back. He's really quick. When he gets to the edge, he’s going to go. And we let him get out there too much.”

Pedersen has been the West Branch head coach for over 30 years, but it doesn’t get any easier having to say good bye to another senior class. He is optimistic about the future with so many returning players, but the pain from losing was evident as Pedersen fought back tears.

“They played their hearts out,” Pedersen said. “And it’s going to be hard.”

                                         PV                 WB

First downs                    12                 17

Rushes-yards               30-230         37-125

Passing yards               21                 152

Penalties-yards             5-40              7-91

Fumbles-lost                 1-1                 2-0

Pleasantville            7   3   13  9  –  32

West Branch           0   7    6   0  –  13

PV – Hunter Tyree 54 run (Kyle Amendt kick)

WB – Beau Cornwell 15 run (Beau Cornwell kick)

PV – Amendt 42 FG

PV – Tyree 78 run (kick failed)

WB – Jacob Graves 2 run (pass failed)

PV – Tyree 86 kick return (Amendt kick)

PV – Tyree 36 run (kick failed)

PV – Amendt 26 FG

Individual statistics

RUSHING – PV: Hunter Tyree 21-223, Cael Lester 6-7, Owen Worthington 2-1. WB: Jacob Graves 16-58, Beau Cornwell 17-58, Tanner Lukavsky 4-9.

PASSING – PV: Owen Worthington 6-14-0 21. WB: Beau Cornwell 17-29-2 152

RECEIVING –  PV: Hunter Tyreee 3-24, Gauge Van Haalen 2-13, Kyle Amendt 1-15. WB: Jacob Graves 10-81, Brett Schiele 6-57, Tanner Lukavsky 1-18.