Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

West High

Head coach: Garrett Hartwig (7^th season, 46-23)

Assistant coaches: Tyler Meade, Andrew Durham, Josh Flammang, Stephen Breitbach, Paul Breitbach, Bobby Thompson, John Milani, Travis Meade, Conner Greene, Evan Flitz, Ty Haren, John Gluesing, Tim Sturgell, Barry Westemeyer, Mitch Yoerger, Noah Breitbach, Brendon Panther, Justin Preuschl

Last season: 4-5

Returning starters: Ben Alden, Sr., OL/DL; Mason Applegate, Jr., DL/RB; Liam Becher, Jr., OL/DL; Tyuss Bell, Sr., DB/RB; Fabian Brown, Sr., DB/RB; Joey Chase, Sr., OL/DL; Mikey Crutcher, WR/DB; Dijon Genus, Sr., LB; Grahm Goering, Sr., WR/DB; Kalen Haworth, Sr., LB/TE; Ian McAreavy, Sr., LB/WR; Alex McKay, Sr., TE/DE; Marcus Morgan, Sr., QB/P; Owen Smith, Sr., K; Fred Syata, Sr., OL/DL; Aiden Terrill, Sr., TE/OL; Eric Torres, Sr., WR/DB

Other returning letterwinners: Zach Anderson, Sr., WR/DB; Nate Deyak, Sr., OL/DL; Jesus Gonzalez, Sr., LB; Mo Simpson, Sr., WR/LB; Pasil Salih, Sr., LB

Newcomers to watch: Will Towler, Jr., OL/DL; Boaz Abromoff, Jr., LB/FB; Nick McDonnell, Jr., TE/LB; Damarion Williams, Sr., WR/DB; Trey King Jr., Sr., RB/DB; Conner O’Neil, Jr., QB/LB

Playoff history: 18 appearances (1994-1999, 2002-2003, 2009-2018) West High won Class 4A state titles in 1995, 1998 and 1999.

Circle the date: October 9 vs. Cedar Rapids Kennedy. After a one-year hiatus the rivalry between two of the premier 4A programs on the eastern side of the state recommences in a regular season finale at West High. The Cougars were 10-2 and advanced to the 4A semifinals last season before losing to eventual champion West Des Moines Dowling. This will be the first meeting for the team teams since a 38-14 West High win in the opening round of the 2018 playoffs.

Headliner: Senior dual-threat quarterback Marcus Morgan is a three-year starter and one of the best all-around athletes in the state. Morgan owns divisional I scholarship offers in football and baseball and is coming off a junior season in which he accounted for nearly 1,900 yards of total offense and 13 touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Morgan completed 61 percent of his passes as a junior throwing for 1,723 yards and 11 scores.

Unsung hero: Senior placekicker Owen Smith exploded onto the scene last fall, earning all-state honors in his first ever season of football at any level. Smith made all 20 of his PAT attempts and connected on 6-of-9 field goal attempts including a 51 yarder. Also a weapon on kickoffs, Smith had three touchbacks in 36 kickoffs.

Keep an eye on: Senior tailback Fabian Brown will attempt to build on the late-season success of 2019 when he scored touchdowns in each of the Trojans’ final three games. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Brown averaged a team-best 6.6 yards per carry last season while rushing for 132 yards and four touchdowns, all in the final three games.

Brown closed the season with the best game of his career, rolling up a team-high 99 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries in a win over City High.

Biggest question: How much improvement can the Trojans make on defense? West High has been one of the best offensive teams in the state over the past several seasons overshadowing how good the Trojans were on defense during that time. While going 31-6 from 2016 to 2018 the Trojans didn’t allow more than 16.8 points per game for a season. Last year that number jumped to 22.1 points per game, the highest for a West High defense since it allowed 28.9 per game while going 4-7 in 2015.

West High has the talent and experiencing returning to make a big jump on the defensive side of the ball this season with its five of its top eight tacklers, including two of its top three in McAreavy and Applegate.

Quotable: “There was something to be said last year when we have that many young kids getting experience and realizing how hard it is to win varsity football games we were very close in four or five losses only to lose them in the end,” West High coach Garrett Hartwig said. “We didn’t feel like we got beat a lot of games we felt like we lost a lot of games and that really motivated a great group of seniors that we are excited about and we have a group of juniors that is a decent sized class but they fit in right where the senior class may not have some depth.”

2020 Schedule

August 28: @ Liberty High

Sept. 4: City High

Sept. 11: @ Waterloo West

Sept. 18: Dubuque Hempstead

Sept. 25: @CR Jefferson

Oct. 1: @Dubuque Senior

Oct. 9: Cedar Rapids Kennedy

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