Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – West Branch didn’t play a perfectly clean game on Friday night.

The Bears didn’t even flirt with the notion of perfection in its Class 2A, District 5 matchup with Cedar County rival Tipton.

What West Branch lacked in flawless execution it more than made up for in toughness, determination and grit.

West Branch overcame a 6-0 halftime deficit to down Tipton 10-6 in a defensive slugfest on Friday at the Little Rose Bowl in West Branch.

“Getting a win with all the mistakes I am proud of them,” West Branch coach Matt Hughes said. “They kept battling, it shows the character of this team. We fumbled the ball four times in the first half, lost two of them, had an interception and it was pretty much a disaster of mistakes. So to come out on top I am proud of them.”

West Branch had three turnovers, committed seven penalties for 55 yards and completed one pass for 11 yards but still found a way to stop a two-game losing skid.

Senior Keaton Gates rushed for 212 yards and a touchdown and freshman quarterback Teddy Bucknell rushed for 55 yards as West Branch improved to 2-4 on the season and 1-2 in District 5 play.

“It’s something where we make mistakes but we have to learn and the only way you can learn is making the mistakes,” Gates said. “We made the mistakes and we will get it figured out in practice this week and hopefully be better next week but we were able to get a win today and that’s what matters.”

West Branch committed turnovers on three consecutive first-half drives while falling into a 6-0 hole.

Tipton (2-4, 0-3) took a 6-0 lead when senior quarterback Justin Boedeker scored on a 2-yard run on fourth down to cap a 13-play, 53-yard touchdown drive.

The touchdown drive was set up by Oakley Kruse picking off a Bucknell pass at the Tiger 47 yard line.

West Branch outgained Tipton 139-79 in the first half, with all 139 yards coming on the ground but trailed 6-0 at the half.

“We dominated the trenches and we were playing hard we just had some little mistakes that cost us,” Gates said. “I kind of yelled a little bit at halftime but it must have worked.”

West Branch quickly flipped the momentum after halftime.

On the second play of the half sophomore Brooks Seydel picked off a Boedeker pass as the Tipton 22 yard line.

“I was reading the quarterback, he was rolling out and I saw him stop and I saw a receiver in front,” Seydel said. “I just had to go up and get it.”

Seydel made the catch on the interception despite playing with a large cast on his left hand, the result of an injury sustained in a week-three win over Camanche.

“Brooks made a big play and he only has one hand so that was a little surprising,” Gates said.  “That changed the energy for sure.”

Gates carried the ball on six consecutive plays on the ensuing West Branch drive as the Bears marched 27 yards and overcame a false start penalty to take a 7-6 lead on a 3-yard Gates touchdown run.

“It’s really impressive to watch him run,” West Branch sophomore fullback Motley Johnston said. “I look up to him in the way he runs and the way he fights to get that extra inch.”

The West Branch defense limited Tipton to just 169 total yards including just 90 yards in the second half.

West Branch tacked on a 26-yard field goal by McGavin Smith with 1:58 remaining to cap a 14-play drive that nearly seven minutes off the clock.

“We just have to play with great effort and that’s what these guys bring all the time is effort and I am proud of that,” Hughes said. “We still make a lot of mistakes because we are so young but we are getting better and better every week and we are starting to not play like such a young team and it’s the perfect time getting into these last two games to really grow up.”

The West Branch defense came up with one final stop in the final two minutes to preserve the win.

“Really at halftime it woke us up, we realized we needed to get going,” Johnston said. “We talked at halftime, adjusted where we needed and came out and gave all we had.”

After a 1-4 start the postseason and even a home playoff game remains a very real possibility for West Branch which closes the season with a road game at Anamosa (4-2) next week and a home game against Bellevue (2-4) in week eight.

“Coach Hughes is big on improvement and we have nothing to lose,” Gates said. “We are going to give it our damndest to win these last two games and have a home playoff game.”

                                       WB                 TIP

First downs                17                    9

Rushes-yards             49-275             28-55

Comp-Att-Int            1-4-1               7-18-1

Passing yards             11                    114

Total yards                286                  169

Punts-Avg.                 1-33                 4-29

Fumbles-lost              4-2                   2-0

Penalties-yard           7-55                 3-25                     

Tipton                        0  6  0  0  –  6 

West Branch           0  0  7  3  –  10

TIP – Justin Boedeker 2 run (Kick failed0

WB – Keaton Gates 3 run (McGavin Smith kick)

WB – Smith 26 field goal

Individual Statistics

RUSHING – WB: Keaton Gates 29-212, Teddy Bucknell 11-55, Motley Johnston 5-21, Arik Marsh 1-1, Gabe Depoorter 2-(-2), Team 1-(-14). TIP: Justin Boedeker 11-28, Oakley Kruse 7-26, Jackson Timmerman 6-6, Armando Toro 2-4, Keaton Schultz 1-(-2), Team 1-(-7).

PASSING – WB: Teddy Bucknell 1-4-1 11. TIP: Justin Boedeker 7-16-1 114, Oakley Kruse 0-2-0 0.

RECEIVING – WB: Thomas Pedersen 1-11. TIP: Oakley Kruse 5-103, Noah Johnson 1-2, Kai Kruse 1-9.

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