Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The West High football team had two specific goals that it wanted to accomplish against Cedar Falls on Friday besides, of course, winning.

West High wanted to avoid falling behind like it did in the first game against Cedar Falls on Sept. 8 and it wanted to put pressure on Cedar Falls quarterback Luke Gillett.

It was mission accomplished in both cases as the top-ranked Trojans defeated No. 6 Cedar Falls 27-9 in a Class 4A quarterfinal at Trojan Field.

Friday’s victory, which improved West High’s record to 11-0, was different than the first game against Cedar Falls when the Trojans had to overcome a 17-0 deficit to prevail 32-31 in overtime in Cedar Falls.

“We did a horrible job last time getting pressure,” said West High senior linebacker Dillon Shephard. “We worked at it all week and we knew we had to have a big game.”

Shephard spent much of the game in the Cedar Falls backfield, while Gillett spent much of the game running for his life. He was sacked at least six times and finished with minus 21 rushing yards.

Cedar Falls running back Sam Gary caused problems for West High by rushing for 187 yards, but he also had a costly fumble in the fourth quarter and struggled to gain yards in the red zone.

Gary scored his team’s only touchdown on a 1-yard plunge with 10 seconds left in the third quarter. However, the kick was blocked, giving West High a 13-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

West High quarterback Evan Flitz then scored on a 10-yard run with 8:19 left to play, and Cole Mabry added a 2-yard touchdown run after lining up in the wildcat formation to complete the scoring for West High with 2:55 remaining.

“We had to (get pressure), they lit us up up there in week three and we knew we had to get in (Gillett’s) face because he’s one of the best in the state and they have receivers to play with,” said West High coach Garrett Hartwig said. “Our guys deserve a lot of credit for that. They did a great job.”

West High improved to 11-0 on the season and will play fourth-ranked Bettendorf (10-1) in the semifinals next Friday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Cedar Falls finished the season 9-2 with both losses coming against West High.

“I don’t think either team made huge adjustments from that first game,” Hartwig said. “I think both teams were just a product of hard work and developing through the season. You had two physical, good teams playing tonight.”

 

In addition to being physical, West High also was balanced on offense as Flitz passed for 146 yards, while senior Trumell Roberts complemented him with 130 rushing yards.

“In the playoffs you have to be (balanced),” Hartwig said. “You want to run the ball and you have to stop the run. They ran the ball on us, but we stiffened when we needed to. And we have a chance to get better next week,”

Roberts was a force on both sides of the line of scrimmage. He also played middle linebacker and helped to pressure Gillett throughout the game.

“We responded great, I feel like,” Roberts said. “We didn’t lose focus at all. We stayed disciplined and we played physical.”

Roberts has come on strong as a running back late in the season and is now his team’s primary ball carrier.

“It’s definitely getting easier to read holes and staying patience,” Roberts said. “From the beginning of the year I was just learning and I feel like I’m there now.”

Flitz also faced some pressure in the pocket, but the Cedar Falls defenders struggled to contain him on most of the plays when he scrambled.

At the advice of his offensive coordinator Andrew Durham, Flitz worked hard on his running ability during the offseason and it paid dividends in Friday’s game.

“I worked on my speed this offseason,” said Flitz, who rushed for 41 yards on eight carries. “Coach Durham wanted to get me more involved in the rushing game. I was all for it. It helps the team and keeps us balanced. I’m excited to see what we can do this next week.”

Hartwig feels confident knowing that he has an experienced senior quarterback directing his offense.

Flitz led West High to the Class 4A championship game last season where it lost to West Des Moines Dowling.

“He’s an excellent student and I think that’s reflective in his play because he understands the offense and he understands what’s happening” Hartwig said of Flitz. “When you play enough football the game slows down, and I think that’s what has happened for Evan right now.”

Austin West scored West High’s first touchdown on an 18-yard pass from Flitz with 2:37 left in the first quarter.

Junior Jalen Gaudet led the West High receivers with six catches for 78 yards.

Kicker Lucas Karwal also played a significant role for the Trojans by making field goals from 23 and 20 yards and by converting all three of his point-after kicks.

Shephard said West High had something to prove on Friday despite having defeated Cedar Falls in the regular season.

“We just knew that they were going to come out the same way as last time and we had to step up,” Shephard said. “We had a bad (first) half the last game. We just wanted to improve since last game and show them we’re a different team now.”

West High is now two victories from achieving its goal of winning a state title. Some doubted whether the Trojans could play at this level after losing some key players from last season, including star receiver Oliver Martin and standout running back Devontae Lane.

But now the Trojand are undefeated and peaking at the right time behind a balanced offense and a relentless defense.

“People were questioning us after losing every player last year,” Shephard said. “We’re 11-0 now and we’re going back to where we were and we’re not finished yet.”

                               CF              ICW

First downs            18               22

Rushes-yards         44-166       30-179

Passing yards         115             146

Fumbles-lost           3-1              2-1

Penalties-yards       6-50            3-25

Cedar Falls     0  3  6   0  –  9

West High       7  3  3  14  – 27

ICW – Austin West 18 pass from Evan Flitz (Lucas Karwal kick)

ICW – Karwal 23 FG

CF – Matthew Cook 40 FG

ICW – Karwal 20 FG

CF – Sam Gary 1 run (kick blocked)

ICW – Flitz 10 run (Karwl kick)

ICW – Cole Mabry 2 run (Karwal kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – CF: Sam Gary 31-187, Luke Gillett 13-(-21). ICW: Trumell Roberts 17-130, Evan Flitz 8-41, Andre White 4-3, Cole Mabry 1-2.

PASSING – CF Luke Gillett 11-19-115, Sam Gary 0-1-0 0. ICW: Evan Flitz 13-19-0 146

RECEIVING – CF: Blake Christensen 7-69, Logan Wolf 2-25, Dalton Closson 1-14, Reese Gardner 1-7. ICW: Jalen Gaudet 6-78, Traevis Buchanon 3-35, Austin West 2-34, Owen McAreavy 1-2, Jacob Gannon 1-(-3).