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Different strengths, strategy; Coaches say players will decide how we finish
by Gregory R. Norfleet · Sports · August 19, 2009


The Bears football team’s offensive line is smaller, they are losing a record-setting quarterback and running back, and there are fewer players with varisty experience taking the field this year. And right now, Head Coach Butch Pedersen ranks his own team as sixth of eight in the district.


Is the 2009 football season going to be a reality check for West Branch? Has the team been riding momentum that finally reached its end with a trip to the Dome last November?

“This isn’t last year,” Pedersen said. “This is this year.”

However (and you knew there was a “however” coming, didn’t you?) this is the West Branch Bears.

Last week, an Iowa High School Athletic Association review of the last five seasons shows West Branch with the second-best winning percentage in Iowa high school football.

At 213-55, almost 80 percent, the Bears are second to Council Bluffs.

“We’re proud of that,” Pedersen said. “That’s a tribute to our players. We want to carry on that tradition.”

This year’s team motto is “Few walk where we walk.” And the coaches have their own: “Pressure is a privilege.”

So when Pedersen puts his team sixth, that’s at the start of the season. Agreeing with Assistant Head Coach Larry “Lurch” Rummells, Pedersen said that where the team finishes this season is up to the players.

“You never really know what you’ve got until the first game,” Rummells said.

While waiting for that bigger picture, one which the Tipton Tigers will help the Bears paint on Aug. 28, the coaches see several strengths.

On the offensive line, which Rummells is responsible for, “I’ve been pleasantly surprised.”

“We still have a long way to go, but they’re working hard,” he said.

And adjusting to a spread field, he said, making for a more one-on-one tackling situation, can help compensate for the smaller sized players.

At quarterback, sophomore Brandon Young and senior Travis Kaufman, both who have QB experience at junior varsity, are battling it out for starting position.

For now, the two are learning the varsity level basics.

“We’re doing things they are confident with,” Rummells said, “then we’ll get deeper into the playbook.”

Pedersen said it will be “difficult to replace Adam Donohoe.”

Young has “tremendous talent,” and is “versatile and explosive,” the coach said, but needs to work on his strength and mental toughness.

Kaufman is “intelligent and has the leadership,” Pedersen said.

“He does not try to force things, but lets the flow come to him,” he said.

Both Young and Kaufman are “really confident” and both want the job, he said.

Young, a sophomore, is also vying for starting position at kicker, with Jackson Hollingsworth.

Rummells said the quarterback position requires cool-headed thinking, not just talented hands.

“You do have to be mentally tough,” he said. “And not everybody can handle that kind of pressure.”

For lead running back on a team that is known for its running game, there was no question: Cole Kelly. As a junior, he set the school record for longest kickoff return with 91 yards.

“At running back, we should be pretty solid,” Rummells said.

The same goes for receivers, he said.

“We’ve really got competitive players,” the assistant head coach added.

For all positions, not just special skill positions, the coaches continue to challenge the players mentally and physically in practice.

“The game is a breeze compared to practice,” Rummells said.

That’s relative, though, Pedersen said, when West Branch is in such a tough league. After subtracting those lost to graduation, Pedersen sees Eddyville-Blakesburg, Belle Plaine and Pekin starting the season with the strongest field presence.

That being the case, the Bears chose seniors Jack Rummells, Cole Kelly, Mitch Moon and Travis Kaufman to take that first step onto the playing field this year.

Rummells, son of the assistant head coach, is packed with knowledge, Pedersen said. At 6-4 and 240 pounds, he’s surprisingly quick on his feet. Pedersen said that Iowa State University is already trying to recruit him.

Kelly, a third-year starter, has “tremendous speed” — he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds — and doubles as a good hitter on defense. He also has caught they eye of a variety of colleges, Pedersen said.

Kaufman, a candidate for quarterback, is a starting safety on defense and is “one of the best leaders” Pedersen has ever seen.

“He’s team first, me second,” Pedersen said. “He’s a pleasure to be around.”

And Moon, holding spots as tight end and linebacker, is one of the most dependable and versitile players on the team “on both sides of the ball,” the head coach said.

“He’s very physical and likes to hit people,” he said. “And he’s extremely intelligent.”

As for defense, neither Pedersen nor Rummells seems worried. Both of them say the defense is the Bears’ top strength.

“They’re very physical,” Pedersen said. “The special teams will carry us a little while so we can get our feet on the ground offensively.”

Rummells said that coaches work to push the team to cover all the essentials before the first game.

“We only have so much patience and time,” he said. “After I tell them three or four times, I’m going to demand they step up and learn and start executing.”

While no team controls what their opponents do, the Bears strive to control what they do, he said. Too many mistakes can easily change the outcome.

“If we eliminate mistakes like turnovers and penalties and if we can (create) a few sustained drives, we have a chance to win them,” he said.

Strangely enough, it was the loss to Wilton in the second game of the 2008 season that set a fire under West Branch and coaches believe carried their season into November.

“(That) was the turning point in the season,” Pedersen said.

Like Tipton, Wilton is a 2A team, one level up from West Branch. Pedersen likes to start the season with teams that will reveal any remaining weaknesses.

“I’m excited to get in there and see what they can do,” he said.