Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Heading on the road with a quarterback making his first career start after opening the season with back-to-back loss isn’t a position any team wants to be in.

For West Branch and City High that spot turned into a golden opportunity on Friday.

City High and West Branch each snapped two-game losing skids to open the season with road wins behind impressive performances from rookie quarterbacks in week three.

Junior Bobby Bacon accounted for four touchdowns to lift City High to a 49-28 win at Ames while West Branch sophomore Brennen Dale had three scores as West Branch (1-2) earned its first win with a 30-23 come from behind victory at Waterloo Columbus.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of this team this week, it’s maybe as proud of I’ve been of our team in three years,” City High coach Mitch Moore said. “They just buckled down and bought in more to what we are doing even being 0-2.”

Bacon took over for injured starter Drew Larson last week at Liberty High completing 8-of-22 passes for 110 yards.

In his first career start on Friday at Ames the 6-foot-1, 165-pound Bacon completed 17-of-24 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

“I don’t want to call Bobby a backup but for all intense and purposes when you have one of the best players in the state in front of you that’s what you are but he has treated every rep, every day, every practice as a chance to get better,” Moore said. “Holy cow did it show. He was confident, he was poised, he knew what he was doing, he knew what the defense was giving him and he played really, really well.”

Bacon also rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the win over the Little Cyclones as City High posted season-highs in rushing yards (268), total yards (491) and points (49).

“Our guys really rallied around a guy that has a big-time infectious personality,” Moore said. “That is one of his endearing traits is that he has this great personality and bravado about him and he also works hard.

He has some leadership intangible that is pretty neat and it boosted our team’s morale when we needed it most.”

Dale was equally impressive in his first career start.

The West Branch sophomore completed 15-of-25 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown in a 30-23 win.

“The kid is a gamer,” West Branch coach John Hierseman said. “He stepped up and made some real veteran plays for a young kid. He was good with the ball.”

Dale also rushed for 20 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears scored a season-high 30 points.

West Branch also had season-highs in rushing yards (143), passing yards (169), total yards (312) and yards per play (4.59) in the win.

“He has really good energy and it’s not fake and you can’t fake it,” Hierseman said of Dale. “It’s not cockiness but just very good energy and confidence when he’s out there and the other kids feed off of it.”

News and Notes

Pick-6 Game Winner: Dale was fantastic in his first career start but it was West Branch senior defensive lineman Logan Wright that had the play of the game in the 30-23 win at Waterloo Columbus.

Wright intercepted a screen pass with under four minutes to play and returned it 39 yards for the go-ahead touchdown as West Branch earned its first win of the season.

The senior defensive tackle had three tackles including 1.5 for loss to go with his interception return for a score.

Joss Does It All in Win Over Mediapolis: The week three stat line of the night belongs to Regina do-everything senior Ty Joss.

Joss caught six passes for 114 yards and a touchdown on offense in the Regals 45-7 win at Mediapolis.

On defense Joss had 3.5 tackles, including three solo stops and half a tackle for loss and intercepted a pass.

Joss was a factor on special teams as well blocking a punt and punting twice, averaging 38.5 yards per punt.

Career Night for Beckman: As good as Graham Beckman has been throughout his career the Liberty High senior quarterback keeps finding a way to one up himself.

Beckman had another career high on Friday throwing for a career-high 518 yards and five touchdowns in a wild 56-39 loss to Pleasant Valley.

Through three games Beckman leads the state with 1,072 passing yards and his 10 touchdown passes rank 13^th in the state and fourth in Class 5A.

Beckman has completed 79-of-128 passes and has also rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown this season.

Another Big Night for Naeve: A stellar start to the season for Regina senior receiver Jackson Naeve continued with another huge night on Friday.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Naeve had six receptions for 162 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 11 yards and a touchdown in a 45-7 win over Mediapolis.

It was the second consecutive 100-yard receiving game and the third straight multi-touchdown game for Naeve.

On the season Naeve ranks 14^th in the state with 357 receiving yards, his six receiving touchdowns are tied for fourth in the state and his 21 yards per reception rank second state-wide.

Parlet Runs Wild: Junior Bobby Bacon wasn’t the only new look in the City High offensive backfield in the Little Hawks’ win at Ames.

Senior tailback Miles Parlet rushed for a career-high 206 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries in his first extended play on offense this season.

The big game from Parlet helped City High rush for a season-high 268 yards while averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

Sutton A Versatile Playmaker: A third of the way through the season its tough to find a more versatile or productive running back than Liberty High junior Sutton Koller.

Koller turned in the best game of his career on Friday, a five-touchdown effort in a 56-39 loss to Pleasant Valley.

The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Koller rushed six times for 21 yards and a touchdown against the Spartans and also caught 10 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns.

On the season Koller has run for 117 yards and a team-high three touchdowns while averaging 4 yards per carry and is tied for the team lead with 26 receptions for 351 yards and four touchdowns.

Players of the Week

Offensive player of the week: Regina senior quarterback Gentry Dumont had the best game of his career on Friday completing 20-of-27 passes for a career-high 397 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-7 win over Mediapolis. Dumont also rushed for 13 yards and a touchdown.

Defensive player of the week: West High senior defensive lineman Quinn Abbott had a big game as West High got back on track with a 42-20 win over Muscatine.

Abbott had 6.5 tackles including five solo stops and a sack as West High improved to 2-1 on the season.

Special teams player of the week: Solon senior Keenan Kruse recovered a fumble on a high punt snap for a touchdown in the first quarter of a 41-6 win over Central DeWitt. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Kruse also recovered another fumble and made four tackles in the win.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: West High junior quarterback Jack Wallace was razor sharp in a 42-20 win over Muscatine completing 18-of-25 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for a touchdown.

Offense: West Branch senior receiver Joe Hamann caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in a 30-23 win over Waterloo Columbus.

Defense: City High junior Dom Salibi returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown to help City High pull away for a 49-28 win over Ames.

Defense: Regina senior Jack Clark had five tackles, including three solo stops and a sack in a 45-7 road win at Mediapolis.

Special teams: West High junior Evan Anderson went 6-for-6 on PAT attempts and also averaged 35 yards per punt on four punts in a win over Muscatine.

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