Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – West Branch’s defenders, whether on the line or in the secondary, seemed to know exactly what was coming from South Hardin’s offense.

It was almost uncanny how the Bears anticipated plays in their 42-0 victory in a 1A first-round playoff game at Butch Pedersen field.

The defense produced two turnovers, both of which resulted in Bear touchdowns, and held the Tigers to seven first downs, 66 yards rushing and only 85 passing.

Junior linebacker Reese Trepanier blocked a punt and senior Andy Henson recovered a fumble in Tiger territory.

The Tigers tried to convert on fourth down three times, and the Bears held each time to regain possession.

It didn’t take long for West Branch’s players to feel they had taken control.

“Right from the get-go,” Henson said. “Once we got a three-and-out defensive stop (on the Tigers’ first possession of the game), we knew it was going to be over.”

As a result of their dominance on defense the Bears dominated field position.

Five times in the first half the Bears took over in Tiger territory and a sixth was on the 50-yard line.

The Bears had short fields all night and took full advantage.

“Our line was making holes for me and Andy to bust through, and then our corners and safeties really locked down,” Trepanier said. “Our outside linebackers just really did their jobs of containing.”

The first touchdown came after taking over on the Tiger 48.

Quarterback Tye Hughes faked a handoff to Henson that froze the defense and hit senior Jack McCullough for a 42-yard gain.

Henson later scored the TD.

The second touchdown came after Henson recovered a fumble at the Tiger 34-yard line.

Henson finished the drive with a 16-yard TD run.

“I think our defensive line missed a read but I just saw the ball rolling and went off it,” Henson said.

In the second quarter the defense stuffed South Hardin’s attempt on fourth down and took over on the Tiger 36.

Hughes’ quarterback draw fooled the Tigers, and he romped 26 yards for the score and a 21-0 lead.

On the next series Kinnick Boelk leaped high to intercept a pass that was intended for a receiver several yards behind him.

“My job in those trips plays is to cover the middle of field,” Boelk said. “The quarterback can’t see our weak safety coming across the field, so they think their receiver is open. In reality we’re pretty much always there.”

And his jump?

“That was the maximum of my vert, I’ll tell you that,” he said, laughing.

Boelk nearly had two more interceptions and was aces tracking down the Tigers’ top receivers.

“Me and my brother Carver watched a lot of film this week. I mean a lot,” Boelk said. “We had a couple days off from school, so we just sat around our house and watched. Once you watch film for a while you notice tendencies. Our coaches did a great job as well, putting us in the right situations so we could execute.”

“He played amazing; he was in the right spots at the right time,” Henson said of Boelk.

Henson ran 36 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage after the interception and the Bears led 28-0.

Trepanier blocked a Tiger punt on the ensuing possession.

“I was looking at my coach and I was like ‘Should I go rush?’ And he pointed at me to go in, so I just went in and got it,” Trepanier said. “I saw my guy was leaving early and he kept making a bigger and bigger hole, so I just went.”

Just one play earlier Trepanier just crunched South Hardin quarterback Josh Vander Wilt for an 8-yard sack.

“We’d been switching up our defense and I saw a wide-open gap, so I went and took it,” Trepanier said.

The Tigers tried an onside kick coming out of halftime, but West Branch senior Jaxson Kaalberg recovered and the Bears turned that short field into another touchdown.

The 35-0 lead put the continuous clock into play.

The final score came on a brilliant 56-yard run by Kinnick Boelk down the right sideline.

“I didn’t know if I was going to make it there to be honest,” he said. “I just kept running. Once you’re past the corner you’re pretty much gone from there.”

The Bears offense scored six touchdowns rolled up 236 yards rushing and 88 passing, which was not up to its usual standards.

But that was a result of the short fields and the continuous clock for all but a minute and a half of the second half.

Henson finished with 140 yards on the ground. Hughes completed 8-of-13 passes for 88 yards.

The Bears (9-0) will play host to another playoff game next Friday with an opponent to be determined.

This has been a difficult week for the West Branch players and coaches, not to mention the entire community. Coach Pedersen told the team Monday that he will begin to undergo treatment for cancer next week, and yet the team put together an outstanding performance in all phases.

“The big thing was Coach will take care of himself,” Boelk said. “He told us how we’re supposed to play. We stayed calm and collected and we’re disciplined, and that’s what makes us a great team.”

“Every game and every practice they’ve done everything they possibly could,” Pedersen said. “And when you do that you’re going to be a winner. I told them that. The West Branch program is not just about winning; it’s about doing things right.”

                                                    SH                    WB

First downs                              7                      11

Rushing-yards                         25-66               26-229

Comp-att-int                           11-24-1           8-13-0

Passing-yards                          85                    88

Punts-avg.                               5-40                 4-40

Fumbles-lost                           1-1                   0-0

Penalties-yards                       5-37                 6-45

South Hardin              0   0    0   0  –   0

West Branch              14  14  14  0  –  42

WB – Andy Henson 1 run (Wyatt Fiderlein kick)

WB – Henson 16 run (Fiderlein kick)

WB – Tye Hughes 26 run (Fiderlein kick)

WB – Henson 36 run (Fiderlein kick)

WB – Hughes 2 run (Fiderlein kick)

WB – Kinnick Boelk 56 run (Fiderlein kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – SH: Kayne Harrell 11-35, Josh Vander Wilt 10-19, Jaxson Drury 4-12. WB: Andy Henson 14-140, Kinnick Boelk 1-56, Tye Hughes 5-32, Evan Striegel 5-(-2).

PASSING – SH: Josh Vander Wilt 11-23-1 85, Kayne Harrell 0-1-0 0. WB: Tye Hughes 8-13-0-88.

RECEIVING – SH: Drury 2-38, Ryan Walters 6-24, Sam Benson 2-21, Harrell 1-2. WB: Jack McCullough 1-42, Boelk 5-32, Holden Arnaman 1-13, Trenton Schutte 1-1.

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