Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

After two months of near perfect Friday night football weather Mother Nature unleashed on Eastern Iowa on Friday.

A soaking rain and temperatures in the 40s made for less than ideal playing conditions for quarterfinal games across much of the state on Friday.

The winning teams on Friday night didn’t mind the weather conditions as much and they won’t be a factor going forward.

24 teams across six classes secured spots in the state semifinals at the UNI-Dome next week, a list that includes one Your Prep Sports area team.

West Branch returned to the UNI-Dome for the 10^th time in program history and first since 2011 with a come-from-behind 27-24 win over MFL Mar Mac on Friday.

Other than the weather what stood out from Friday night?

We take a look in the quarterfinal edition of Your Prep Sports rapid reaction.

What Stood Out?

West Branch With a Rally for the Ages

West Branch acting head coach John Hierseman was honest.

“It looked bleak for a while,” Hierseman admitted on Friday night.

He was right.

West Branch trailed MFL Mar Mac 24-13 with under 10 minutes to play with its leading rusher and tackler sidelined with an injury and a driving rain falling.

The Bears rallied anyway.

Tye Hughes ran for a pair of touchdowns and Reese Trepanier recovered two fumbles in the final three minutes to secure a 27-24 come-from-behind win.

West Branch rallied without the services of Andy Henson with Hughes and junior Cale Seydel combining for 186 second-half rushing yards and three touchdowns.

“The whole game it was really hard to throw the ball, it was really slippery,” Hughes said. “Cale did a great job coming in for Andy and our offensive line did a great job of opening holes.”

Hughes Comes up Huge

Hughes has been a huge addition for West Branch in his first season leading the Bear offense.

The senior quarterback has passed for more than 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns.

With weather conditions wreaking havoc and Henson sidelined Hughes went from quarterback to de facto running back in the second half on Friday.

He responded with 98 rushing yards in the final two quarters, finishing with 121 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdowns.

Hughes also had 2.5 tackles as a defensive back.

“He made some huge runs for us,” West Branch coach John Hierseman said. “He is a great runner. The kid is a football player. Period. He’s a football player.”

Mount Vernon Stuffs Solon

Solon entered Friday’s 3A quarterfinal showdown against Highway 1 rival Mount Vernon averaging 234 rushing yards per game.

The Spartans were averaging 259 yards per game on the ground during a seven-game winning streak they took into Friday night and had run for at least 200 yards in six of those games.

There was no room to run against the Mustang defense on Friday.

Mount Vernon held Solon to a season-low 89 rushing yards on 38 carries in a 17-0 shutout of the Spartans at First Street Stadium in Mount Vernon.

The previous season-low rushing total for Solon was 128 yards in a week-two loss to the Mustangs.

In the rematch the Spartans had even less room to run as Mount Vernon made 12 tackles for loss and held Solon’s top two rushers, Brett White and Blake Timmons to 90 combined yards on 36 carries.

Carlisle Run Game the Real Deal

While the weather caused problems for many offense across the state on Friday it did nothing to deter the power running game of Carlisle.

The Wildcats rolled up 527 yards on the ground while averaging 7.5 yards per carry in a 56-28 win over Liberty High.

Carlisle nearly surpassed its season average of 327 yards per game on the ground this season in the first half with 316 yards while building a 35-7 lead.

All but three of the yards and three of the 70 carries for the Wildcats came from senior running backs Jack Laughlin and Jes Krcil.

The 195-pound Laughlin had 279 yards and five touchdowns on 33 carries and the 205-pound Krcil had 245 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries.

Who Stepped up?

Cale Seydel

The West Branch junior running back took over for senior standout Andy Henson after halftime and filled in admirably.

Seydel rushed for 97 yards on 14 carries, all in the second half, and scored on a 50-yard run as West Branch scored 21 second-half points.

Seydel also had 1.5 tackles in the West Branch come-from-behind win.

What’s Next

The Game to Watch Next Week

West Branch (11-0) vs. Van Meter (10-1) – A couple of the premier small school programs in the state meet for the first time since Van Meter defeated the Bears 31-21 in the 2018 quarterfinals.

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