Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

West Branch

Head coach: Butch Pedersen (38th season, 316-77)

Assistant coaches: John Hierseman, Tyler Bailey, Kevin Braddock, Jason Pedersen, Chet Wisniewski, Roger Suchomel

Last season: 10-1 (Class 1A quarterfinals)

Returning starters: Jeff Bowie, Sr., OT/DT; Gavin Hierseman, Sr., QB; Cael Fiderlein, Sr., LB/WR/OL; Morgan Hartz, Sr., OL

Other returning letterwinners: Kelby Burger, Sr.; Jack Buol, Sr., Trey Schutte, Sr., Kaleb Sexton, Sr.; Dominic Culver, Sr.; Jack Buol, Sr.,; Matt Westcott; Peyton Miller, Jr.; Cole Bailey, Jr., OL/LB; Drake Berry, Jr., OL/DT; Andy Henson, Soph., RB.

Newcomers to watch: Simon Palmer, Sr., WR; Kinnick Boelk, Soph., RB/DB; Carver Boelk, Soph., WR/DB; Cash Woody, Jr., WR/OLB; Brady Hunger, Jr., WR/OLB

Playoff history: 27 appearances (1988-1996, 1998, 2000, 2002-2005, 2008-2019). West Branch won Class 1A state titles in 1989, 1991 and 1992.

District: Class 1A, District 5

Circle the date: September 4 at West Liberty. The Bears travel west for a rivalry matchup with a West Liberty team that has reached the playoffs each of the past three seasons. West Liberty was 7-4 a year ago and gave eventual 2A runner-up Waukon a tussle before falling in the quarterfinals.

Headliner: Iowa recruit Jeff Bowie is a difference maker anywhere he lines up on the field. A force at offensive tackle, Bowie has been most dominant on the defensive side of the ball where he has amassed 47.5 tackles for loss including 22 sacks over the past three seasons. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Bowie is coming off the best season of his career when he posted career highs in tackles (44.5), solo tackles (31) and tackles for loss (22).

Unsung hero: Cael Fiderlein went largely unnoticed last season during a stellar junior season in which he led the Bears with 55.5 tackles including 11 for loss. That won’t be the case for long as the senior linebacker and offensive lineman appears in be set up for a big senior season. Where Fiderlein often was overlooked was his work in the kicking game where he went 44-of-45 on PATs and made all seven of his field goal attempts.

Keep an eye on: Sophomore running back Andy Henson has some big shoes to fill in replacing the production of two-time 1,000-yard rusher Tanner Lukavsky but the staff at West Branch likes what Henson brings to backfield. Henson flashed his potential last season while getting his feet wet at the varsity level, averaging 5.2 yards per carry while rushing for 146 yards.

Biggest question: Who quickly can the newcomers get up to speed? With the loss of a strong senior class and with just four full-time starters coming back there are holes to fill. However, few teams in Class 1A routinely reload better than the Bears who haven’t missed the postseason since 2007. The key during this shortened season will be getting those first-year starters up to speed quickly as West Branch opens with back-to-back rivalry games against Class 2A opponents Tipton and West Liberty.

Quotable: “I’m really motivated personally and I know the rest of the team is super motivated too because a lot of people don’t think we are going to be that good just because we had a huge senior class last year with a ;ot of guys in it that were really good,” West Branch senior lineman Jeff Bowie said. “So a lot of guys have to step up and we are taking a lot of pride in getting those guys up to speed and proving that we can be just as good or hopefully better than last year.”

2020 Schedule

August 28: Tipton

Sept. 4: @West Liberty

Sept. 11: Cascade

Sept. 18: @Wilton

Sept. 25: Northeast

Oct. 2: @Durant

Oct. 9: @Dyersville Beckman

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