Matt Coss

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – With Regina’s football team driving and the game hanging in the balance Friday night, Cale Seydel anticipated quarterback Gentry Dumont would look in Jackson Naeve’s direction.

Who could blame him?

Naeve is the leading receiver in Iowa Class 1A through the opening month of the season and already had four catches for 127 yards in the District 5 clash.

This time, Seydel and West Branch rose to the challenge.

The senior cornerback intercepted a deep pass near the sideline intended for Naeve at the Bears’ 8-yard line in the final three minutes as West Branch handed third-ranked Regina its first setback of the season at the Little Rose Bowl, 21-17.

“It was man coverage,” Seydel said, “and I like man. I stayed on (Naeve’s) hip, turned around and the ball landed in my hands.”

Seydel, with four interceptions on the season, was a difference-maker in West Branch’s second consecutive win over Regina.

He picked off a fourth-down pass in the end zone early in the fourth quarter.

Then on West Branch’s game-winning drive, Seydel hauled in two receptions and had an 18-yard run to set up quarterback Brennen Dale’s 1-yard touchdown sneak.

“It has been back-to-back years of me and Naeve going at it,” Seydel said. “It is fun guarding good receivers. He’s a really good receiver and I give him a lot of respect.

“This just feels amazing. This is our homecoming game and everyone is just happy.”

Regina (5-1, 2-1) had more first downs, a 351-280 advantage in total yards and eight fewer penalties.

The Regals had the ball inside the Bears’ 40-yard line on four occasions in the final three quarters and mustered only three points.

Besides Seydel’s two picks, West Branch also forced a turnover on downs in the second quarter and held Regina to a field goal after it had first and goal at the 8.

“We had our chances,” Regina coach Jason Dumont said. “That makes it a little difficult because we had our opportunities. We just made some mistakes.”

West Branch (4-2, 3-0) started the season with losses to state-ranked Williamsburg and Dike-New Hartford, but it has reeled off four straight victories.

The Bears can clinch the district championship with a road win over unbeaten Wilton next Friday.

“We’re under the radar,” Dale said. “Nobody is really looking at us because we’re not ranked right now. Regina is a big game for us every year, that’s a rival.

“It felt great to go out there and execute.”

Regina averaged more than 45 points a game in its first five wins, but West Branch established a consistent pass rush on Gentry Dumont.

Sophomore Cooper Gates went from “full-time linebacker to part-time linebacker and part-time defensive line this week.”

Gates said it was the first time he’s been on the line since fifth or sixth grade.

Gates wreaked havoc with four tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks.

“The pass rush was relentless,” West Branch coach John Hierseman said. “Cooper is quick, athletic and a wrestler, just another body to get after them. For a sophomore, he hasn’t batted an eye playing varsity. He gets in there and plays hard.”

Quin Rocha and Logan Wright each had a pair of tackles for loss as West Branch recorded 11 in the game and held Regina to a meager 66 rushing yards on 23 attempts.

“I was trying to set the tone for everybody,” Gates said. “Our defense has always been really good, and we’ve been good on the pass all year. We stepped up our game tonight.”

The heavy pressure disrupted Regina’s timing.

Gentry Dumont passed for 285 yards, but needed 33 attempts to do so.

“At the end of the day, we need to get our running game going a little more,” Coach Dumont said. “You have to be able to run the football a little bit more so they can’t just tee off.

“(West Branch) has a couple guys up front that are just very difficult to block. We’ll get there.”

After a West Branch fumble led to Regina’s first touchdown, it countered with two touchdowns on fourth-down plays.

Dale darted in from 29 yards on fourth and 8 to even the game in the opening quarter.

Then midway through the second quarter, Dale hit Seydel for a 34-yard touchdown on fourth and 6 to give the Bears a 14-7 advantage.

Dale completed 10-of-14 passes for 152 yards and had a hand in all three West Branch scores.

“I get better every week,” he said. “I’m working hard at practice and feeling more comfortable each week. It is just staying calm under pressure and delivering.”

Regina responded with 10 straight points.

Naeve adjusted on an underthrown deep ball and scored from 59 yards to give the Regals a 17-14 lead in the third quarter.

It remained that way until Seydel’s end zone interception triggered an 11-play, 80-yard drive for the Bears.

Dale was 4-for-4 on the series, including a 33-yard screen pass to Auron Marsh on second and 23.

The possession concluded with Dale scoring on a sneak with 4:13 remaining in the game.

“(Regina) is a good team, and it is hard to put long, sustained drives against them,” Hierseman said. “We had a few wrinkles here and there, a big play here and there and had just enough to keep things going.

“That’s a great way to win when you’re down and able to come back. Hopefully, it will springboard us for the rest of the season.”

Coach Dumont told his team afterward it has two choices in how it responds.

“We can go downhill or rally on Sunday, watch the film, get better Monday and get a couple more victories in the district and springboard us into the playoffs,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world.

“It is one game, and we’ve been playing some really good football. Tonight, we made some mistakes that frankly I haven’t seen all year, but I’m going to (own) that as the head coach. The ball didn’t bounce our way a couple times, but my guess is we’ll probably see these guys again (in the playoffs).”

West Branch, meanwhile, was going to savor this for a bit.

“We weren’t looking so hot at the beginning of the year,” Gates said, “but we got some things figured out. Our team has developed really fast and we just need to keep working and improving.”

                                     ICR                 WB

First downs                 17                    13

Rushes-yards              23-66               38-128

Comp-Att-Int              19-34-2           10-15-1

Passing yards              285                  152

Total yards                  351                  280

Punts-avg.                   4-24.5              3-47.3

Fumbles-lost               0-0                   1-1

Penalties-yards           4-39                 12-10-5

Regina                          7          3          7          0   –   17

West Branch              7          7          0          7   –   21

ICR – Jack Clark 2 run (Emiliano Herrera-Sinnwell kick)

WB – Brennen Dale 29 run (Reese Gingerich kick)

WB – Cale Seydel 34 pass from Dale (Gingerich kick)

ICR – FG Herrera-Sinnwell 25

ICR – Jackson Naeve 59 pass from Gentry Dumont (Herrera-Sinnwell kick)

WB – Dale 1 run (Gingerich kick)

Individual statistics

RUSHING – Regina: Jackson Naeve 4-46, Gentry Dumont 9-12, William Aitchison 6-7, Jack Clark 1-2, Edwin Gangba 3-(-1). West Branch: Zach Capper 12-47, Brennen Dale 14-31, Cale Seydel 2-18, Joe Hamann 1-16, Auron Marsh 6-13, Cooper Gates 2-4, Team 1-(-1).

PASSING – Regina: Dumont 19-33-1, 285 yards; Naeve 0-1-1, 0. West Branch: Dale 10-14-1, 152; Seydel 0-1-0, 0.

RECEIVING – Regina: Naeve 4-127, Tate Wallace 5-63, Alex Jensen 3-59, Ty Joss 2-19, Aitchison 4-19, Gangba 1-(-2). West Branch: Seydel 4-58, Trenton Schutte 2-35, Marsh 2-35, Holden Arnaman 1-14, Conner Capper 1-10.

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