Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Prior to the season everyone at West Branch from head coach Butch Pedersen to quarterback Beau Cornwell had rave reviews for the Bears’ group of skill position players.

One of the leaders of that group demonstrated on Friday the reason for the preseason excitement.

Senior Brett Schiele matched a school record with three touchdown receptions in a 49-14 win over Wapello on Friday that improved Class 1A third-ranked West Branch to 2-0.

“I think we can be pretty good as a group,” Schiele said of the West Branch receivers. “I think that we filled those two spots that we lost from last year well with some good players and I think we can be really dangerous.”

The holes Schiele mentioned were created by the graduation of the Bears’ top two receivers from a year ago in Ben Thompson and Jacob Graves.

With those two gone the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Schiele has become the leader of a receiving corps that features seven players that have already made a catch this year.

Schiele tied for second on the team with 40 grabs last season for 397 yards and two touchdowns.

Two games into his senior season Schiele is well on his way to surpassing those numbers.

After his four catches for 76 yards on Friday, Schiele has caught eight passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns.

“Last year I was one of the main receivers but this year as the only returner of those main receivers I have to step up and get guys to follow my lead,” Schiele said. “I have to do what I can to lead that group.”
Schiele did his part on Friday.

He became the sixth player in program history with three touchdown grabs in a game joining, Pat Reid, Ricky Riley, Pat Gates, Tyler Donovan and Ben Thompson.

Thompson was the last to accomplish the feat, snagging three touchdowns in a win over Jesup last season.

Schiele grabbed touchdown passes of 9, 33 and 10 yards from Cornwell on Friday as West Branch built a 49-0 second-quarter lead and finished with 373 total yards.

“I think it really helps having a year together with Beau especially since we are good friends off the field too,” Schiele said. “We worked together all summer and I think we went to six camps together and I think that has helped.”

MAKING HISTORY: Liberty High made history last week when it lost to City High in the first varsity game in program history.

The first home game in program history was a much more memorable moment for the Lightning.

Liberty High built an 18-0 first quarter lead and held on for an 18-6 win over Waterloo East for the first win in program history.

HELLO 2-0: For the second time in the past 13 seasons Clear Creek Amana has opened the season with back-to-back wins.

Clear Creek Amana improved to 2-0 for the second time in three seasons with a 29-0 win over Fairfield on Friday.

The Clippers, which lost three consecutive games to open last season, can match their win total from a year ago with a win over Fort Madison (2-0) on Friday.

GREAT ESCAPE: Class 3A third-ranked Solon forced three turnovers and notched its first shutout of the season on Friday against West Liberty.

The Spartans still needed an overtime touchdown run by Cam Miller and a late defensive stop to escape West Liberty with a win.

Solon stopped West Liberty quarterback Seth Feldman shy of the end zone on fourth down to escape with a 7-0 overtime win over the Comets.

Adam Bock had a team-high 12 tackles in the win while Ryan Geistkemper had four tackles for loss among his 5.5 stops.

OFFENSIVE PERFORMER OF THE WEEK: Beau Cornwell has had a lot of strong showings over the past two seasons but Friday’s performance at Wapello was toward the top of that list.

Cornwell completed all 10 of his pass attempts while throwing for 171 yards and four touchdowns all in the first half of a 49-14 win over Wapello.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Cornwell also rushed for 27 yards and a score.

BEST OF THE REST: Clear Creek Amana senior quarterback Andrew Rohret completed 8-of-15 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 97 yards and two scores in a 29-0 win over Fairfield.

Regina senior running back Scott Blondin rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-15 win over Anamosa.

West High senior receiver Jalen Gaudet caught four passes for 124 yards including a 90-yard touchdown grab in a 10-7 loss to Bettendorf.

DEFENSIVE PERFORMER OF THE WEEK: Nick Milder has picked up right where he left off last season when he led Regina in tackles in his first season as a starter.

Milder had a team-high six tackles in the season opener against Xavier and racked up an eye-popping 16 tackles in a 34-15 win over Anamosa on Friday.

The 5-10, 193-pound Milder had a career-high 14 solo stops and a sack among his 16 tackles on Friday as Regina improved to 1-1.

BEST OF THE REST: Clear Creek Amana sophomore defensive end TJ Bollers had four tackles for loss and a sack among his 5.5 stops in a 29-0 shutout of Fairfield.

West High senior defensive tackle Landon Green had four tackles for loss and a sack among his team-high 9 tackles in a 10-7 loss to Bettendorf.

West Branch junior linebacker Tanner Lukavsky had two sacks and returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown in a 49-14 win over Wapello.