Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

West High head coach Garrett Hartwig wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from his defense in its season opener against Liberty High on Friday.

If Hartwig did have an inkling about what the West High defense was capable of he wasn’t saying.

“I wasn’t sure,” Hartwig said when asked what he expected defensively. “You never know in game one.”
If Hartwig wasn’t bullish on the West High defense before Friday’s opener the seventh-year head coach surely is now.

West High held Liberty High under 100 yards of total offense and set a school record by not allowing a passing yard in a 27-0 win over the Lightning in North Liberty.

“We looked at who we had out there, we don’t have the biggest guys out there but they are all good athletes, they are strong kids, they are fast and they play hard and that’s all you can ask,” Hartwig said. “They showed up and we’ll need another one like that on Friday.”

Last season West High allowed 311 total yards per game while giving up an average of 191 rushing yards during a 4-5 season.

Opponents averaged 5.6 yards per play and 22.1 points per game as West High broke in a large group of first-year players on the defensive side.

All of those numbers took a nose dive on Friday as the experience of last season showed for the Trojans.

“We went back and looked at what we were doing last year and in a lot of ways just simplified things and tried to make it easy for the players so they could just play,” Hartwig said. “When you try to overcoach sometimes things go back and we may have done that last year at times. I think coach (Tyler) Meade called two defenses the whole night and just let the guys play.”

The shutout was the first for West High since a 35-0 win at Davenport Central on October 4 of 2018, a span of 13 games.

West High limited Liberty High to 98 total yards, all on the ground, while allowing less than 2.5 yards per snap.

The Trojans had five sacks from four different players led by senior Mo Simpson who had 2.5.

Mason Applegate and Conor O’Neil each had sacks while Boaz Amramoff teamed up with Simpson for another.

“They were going against a team that wants to run the ball and we knew that so we had those guys geared up,” Hartwig said. “They were challenged all week in practice and they’ll be challenged again this week against another team that wants to run the ball.”

Strong Starts for Area QBs: The Your Prep Sports area features some of the top quarterbacks in the state and several area QBs got off to stellar starts to the season on Friday.

West High senior Marcus Morgan accounted for 275 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in a win over Liberty High, passing for 200 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 75 yards and another score.

City High senior Raph Hamilton threw for 112 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 80 yards and a score against Davenport Central and Regina senior Ashton Cook went 21-of-33 passing for 246 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to 4A Pleasant Valley.

West Branch senior Gavin Hierseman was 23-of-32 passing for 222 yards and two touchdowns in a 17-8 win over Tipton.

Offensive performer of the week: There was no rust for Alec Wick in his return to the football field.

Wick picked up right where he left off in his first game after a hip injury ended his junior season catching 10 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder, in a 45-13 loss to Class 4A Pleasant Valley.

Best of the rest: Clear Creek Amana senior Alex Figueroa rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries in a 28-27 loss to Mount Pleasant.

West Branch junior receiver Peyton Miller caught nine passes for 105 yards in a 17-8 win over Tipton.

City High junior running back Jamari Newson ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in a 35-13 win over Davenport Central.

Defensive performer of the week: Every player in a gold West High helmet deserves praise for their effort on Friday but senior Mo Simpson was at the forefront of a Trojan defensive charge that posted its first shutout since 2018.

Simpson had 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss among his five tackles as West High racked up five sacks in a 27-0 win over Liberty High.

Best of the rest: West Branch sophomore Carver Boelk made five tackles, including four solos, and picked off a pass in a 17-8 win over Tipton.

West High junior defensive lineman Mason Applegate had 5.5 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack in the Trojans’ 27-0 win over Liberty High.

Clear Creek Amana junior linebacker Gage Freeman had nine solo stops and a tackle for loss among his team-high 9.5 tackles in a 28-27 loss to Mount Pleasant.

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