Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Butch Pedersen has been part of a lot of memorable games over the course of 35 seasons as the head coach at West Branch.

It’s games like Friday’s 45-41 win over Bellevue that keep him coming back.

“I love games like this, I love it,” Pedersen said. “That’s why I keep doing this.”

The win on Friday pulled Pedersen into a tie with legendary Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas for 13th all-time in state history with 292 victories.

It was a win that won’t soon be forgotten by Petersen or West Branch players.

Class 1A No. 9 West Branch let a 31-14 third-quarter lead slip away only to score go-ahead touchdowns twice in the final 6:31 to improve to 5-0 on the season with its first win over a ranked team this season.

“We had a lead, we let it go, kind of had some problems with our special teams and came back and never quit,” Pedersen said. “I think that’s the sign of a champion.”

This game was one for the books.

West Branch junior quarterback Beau Cornwell broke a single-game passing record that had stood for better than two decades with 343 yards.

His top target on Friday, senior Jacob Graves had five catches for a school record 168 yards.

Both Cornwell and Graves were both at their best with the game on the line.

Cornwell completed his final three passes on Friday, all coming with West Branch trailing by three points in the final quarter.

Those three passes went for 122 yards and included a 63-yarder to Graves that set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Graves with 54 seconds left that proved to be the game winner.

The 63-yard strike to Graves was the first play of a go-ahead six-play, 86-yard touchdown drive and came when Cornwell rolled right out of the pocket and found Graves streaking alone down the sideline.

“That’s just all chemistry between us,” Cornwell said. “I broke the pocket and then I came around the end and he broke it off and knew where the defender was. He made a great play and I just had to put it up where he could grab it.”

Sophomore Tanner Lukavsky had his fifth straight 100-yard rushing performance, running for 160 yards on a career-high 29 carries and scored two touchdowns.

“I was so proud of our guys,” Pedersen said. “Both teams were tired, both teams are great football teams you hate to see anybody lose a game like that but our kids were resilient the whole time.”

Welcome Back

It’s not exactly as if Evan Flitz was lacking for receiving options but the West High quarterback welcomed back another weapon to the Trojans’ high-powered West High offense on Friday.

Senior receiver Austin West returned from an injury to catch two passes for 29 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown grab in his first action since week one.  

West also had a tackle for loss for second-ranked West High in a 48-28 win over No. 6 Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Zach Being Zach

How good has Zach Jones been this season?

Jones has been so impressive through five games that Friday’s 10-catch, 129-yard, two-touchdown performance against Clinton has become more of an expectation than a cause for celebration.

Through five games Jones leads the state with 47 receptions and his 650 yards rank fourth in Iowa.

Jones had had double figure receptions three times this season and has had 128 yards or more in all three of those games.

With four regular season games remaining Jones needs 19 receptions and 504 receiving yards to set single-season school records for catches and yards.

Offensive Player of the Week

Limited by an ankle injury for the last three games, City High senior running back Davonte Foster appeared to be back to full strength on Friday.

Foster rushed for 211 yards on 16 carries scoring on touchdown runs of 74, 2 and 70 yards in a 41-29 win over Clinton.

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Regina senior running back Isaac Vollstedt had 155 total yards (82 rushing, 73 receiving) on six touches and scored two touchdowns in a 45-7 win over Highland.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>West High senior quarterback Evan Flitz accounted for 351 total yards (252 passing, 99 rushing) and six touchdowns in a 48-28 win over No. 6 Cedar Rapids Prairie.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>West Branch junior quarterback Beau Cornwell passed for a school-record 343 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 15 yards and the go-ahead score in a 45-41 win over Bellevue.

Defensive Player of the Week

It hasn’t taken Cole White long to make an impact at Regina.

In two games since becoming eligible White ranks fifth on the team with 13.5 tackles and is coming of the best game of Regal career on Friday when he posted seven tackles and three sacks in a 45-7 win over Highland.

Best of the Rest

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Solon senior defensive end Spencer Wegmann had two sacks among his three tackles as Solon defeated Oskaloosa 43-7.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>Clear Creek Amana senior Matt Brimeyer had a team-high 10 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and a sack in a 35-14 win over Center Point-Urbana.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>·         <!–[endif]–>West Branch senior Ben Thompson had 4.5 tackles and the game-clinching interception in a 45-41 win over Bellevue.