Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Andy Henson prefers to keep his focus on running the football and leaves the game planning and preparation up to the West Branch coaches.

Yet leading up to the regular season finale with Wilton on Friday night Henson had a pretty good idea of what the offensive game plan was going to be for the Beavers.

“Last year when we played them we ran on them and this year I didn’t think we’d do anything else,” Henson said. “I knew we were going to run the ball all game.”

Add good memory to the long list of attributes for Henson.

Last season Henson rushed for 166 yards and a score in a 43-8 win at Wilton.

Henson was right on in his assumption it would be a repeat performance on Friday as he rolled up a career-high 236 yards and four touchdowns in a 28-12 West Branch win that secured a home playoff game for the Bears.

“He told me at halftime ‘give me the ball I can run this sucker’,” West Branch coach Butch Pedersen said of Henson. “I said, ‘you are going to get the ball’.”

The career-high rushing total sent Henson past the 1,000-yard mark for the season giving the 205-pound junior 1,108 yards on the season.

It was the third 200-yard rushing effort for Henson in the last six games and his 10^th 100-yard performance in his last 13 games.

“He’s fast and he’s physical,” Petersen said. “He’s hard to bring down in the open field.”
With Henson reaching 1,000 rushing yards West Branch has now had a 1,000-yard rusher in nine of the past 11 seasons dating back to 2009.

One of the only seasons West Branch didn’t have a 1,000-yard back during the last decade was last season when Henson ran for 893 yards in just eight games.

Henson has more averaged 162 rushing yards and scored 13 touchdowns in his last six games and will look to continue that success on Friday when West Branch (6-2) hosts Cardinal (5-3) in a Class 1A playoff opener.

“I feel like we have the momentum coming off this game,” Henson said. “He havd a big run game and all-around good game from Carver (Boelk) and the receivers and the defense. We just need to keep it going.”

Henson wasn’t the only area running back to surpass the 1,000-yard barrier on Friday.

West High senior Mason Applegate rushed for 139 yards on 16 carries in a loss at Cedar Rapids Prairie on Friday pushing his season total to 1,099 yards in just seven games.

The 1,099 yards for Applegate rank second in Class 5A and he has 12 rushing touchdowns and is averaging 10.2 yards per carry on the season.

Applegate became the first West High player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since Ezra Reiners rushed for 1,075 yards in 2012.

The last West High player to reach 1,000 yards rushing during the regular season was Alex Kanellis in 2004.

Three more area running backs are within striking distance of 1,000 yards.

Regina junior Levi Daniel has rushed for 935 yards in six games this season entering Friday’s home game with Cascade (4-4).

Solon junior Sean Stahle has 936 yards entering the regular season finale with Keokuk (2-6) while Liberty High senior Darius Willis-Newell has 945 rushing yards entering the regular season finale at Clinton (2-6)

News and Notes

Postseason Time: For the four smallest classes the postseason starts now.

Class 2A down to 8-player open postseason play on Friday with 32-team fields in all four classes.

Regina (8-0) and West Branch (6-2) each host Class 1A opening-round games on Friday.

Third-ranked Regina hosts Cascade (4-4) while West Branch welcomes Cardinal (5-3).

Following opening round games the teams will be reseeded and second-round matchups will be released.

RPI Rankings: City High (7-1) remained eighth in Class 5A in the most recent set of RPI (Ratings percentage index) rankings released by the Iowa High School Athletic Association following week eight games.

The RPI is used to determine all 16 playoff qualifiers in 5A and will determine four at-large qualifiers in Class 4A and 3A.

Clear Creek Amana (5-3) is No. 14 in Class 4A and Solon (8-0) is fifth in Class 3A.

Undefeated Tracker: The number of undefeated teams is down to 25 with two of those teams coming from the Your Prep Sports area.

Regina is one of six remaining undefeated teams in Class 1A while Solon is one of four unbeaten teams in Class 3A.

There is one undefeated team in Class 4A (North Scott) and 5A (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) and no remaining unbeaten teams in Class 2A.

Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week: Regina junior quarterback Jack Tierney produced perhaps the best game of his career on Friday accounting for more than 250 yards of total offense in a win over Durant.

Tierney completed 14-of-18 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries in a 34-16 win over the Wildcats.

Defensive Player of the Week: Solon senior defensive lineman Gage Marty was a one-man wrecking crew on Friday against Grinnell.

The 6-foot-, 245-pound Marty had a sack and 4.5 tackles for loss among his team-high 8.5 tackles as Solon clinched the Class 3A, District 5 title with a 35-17 win.

Special Teams Players of the Week: City High returners Ronnie Major and Gable Mitchell share the honors after reach registering a return touchdown in a 76-0 win over Davenport West.

Major returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and Mitchell brought back a punt 71 yards for a score as the Little Hawks set a single-game scoring record for the second time this season.

Helmet Stickers

Offense: City High sophomore quarterback Quinton Tran completed 12-of-14 passes for 196 yards and four touchdowns in a 76-0 win over Davenport West.

Offense: Solon junior tailback Sean Stahle rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns in a win at Grinnell.

Offense: Liberty High junior Christian Barney caught four passes for 65 yards and a touchdown and also had a team-high 10 tackles and a tackle for loss in a 20-18 loss to Burlington.

Defense: Solon senior safety Logan Sieverding had two tackles but came up with perhaps the biggest play of the game in a win at Grinnell picking off a pass and returning it 77 yards for a touchdown late in the first half to give the Spartans a 14-10 halftime lead.

Defense: Regina senior Aidan Udell continued a stellar season with a 10-tackle, two-sack effort in a 34-16 win over Durant.

Defense: West Branch senior Cash Woody had seven tackles, including five solo stops and picked off a pass in a 28-12 win over Wilton.

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.