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Bears plunge into semi-finals
by Gregory R. Norfleet · Sports · November 10, 2009
The Clayton Ridge Eagles burst onto the Dome field, striking quickly against the Bears, scoring on the second play of the game by lofting a pass high for a 54-yard touchdown and extra-point after only 53 seconds of play.
West Branch players didn’t even blink.
OK, maybe a little.
“That was an awakening,” senior running back Cole Kelly said. “It must have been a good thing.”
But senior quarterback Travis Kaufman said the team “never got down.”
With the remaining 47 minutes, 7 seconds, the Bears wrapped their big paws around the Eagles and consumed them. Their opponents clawed and scratched and even came close to breaking away, but the Eagle never landed.
Final score: 27-7 Bears.
West Branch advances to the semifinal round 10 a.m. Saturday back at the University of Northern Iowa Dome. The No. 3 Bears will face No. 10 South Winnishiek-Calmar, which on Friday beat No. 6 Turkey Valley-Jackson Junction by a score of 22-20. South Winn beat No. 2 Emmetsburg the week before.
The quarterfinal game turned into a highlight reel of do’s and don’ts in a football game, with West Branch solidly in the “do’s” column.
Kelly, Kaufman, junior wideout Logan Murry and sophomore fullback Eli Elliott all scored touchdowns, three of which came in the first half.
Head Coach Butch Pedersen said Kaufman played his best game of the season and team chemistry is peaking.
Kelly agreed.
“Travis stepped up big tonight,” he said of his fellow co-captain.
Kaufman said he was pleased with his 136 yards of passing as well as the six-pointer, but said the experience of playing in the Dome was most helpful after losing there in 2008.
“This was a good preparation game for next week,” he said.
Kelly said it was good to “know what it is like to run” on the artificial turf with no cleats.
Senior center and co-captain Mitch Moon remembers playing in the Dome in 2008, and said Friday’s experience “only benefits us.”
“We know what to expect,” he said, especially younger players who did not make the 2008 trip.
Moon said defense “really stepped up after the first drive.”
“We knew we could stop them,” he said.
Pedersen said discipline held the team together after the Eagles opening drive.
“They don’t give up,” he said. “That’s the sign of a man.”
Pedersen said he was proud of the Bears attitude and how it translated on the field.
“That was a gutsy performance,” he said. “They believe in each other and they take coaching well.”
Moon was most pleased with fourth-down stops.
“When we needed big plays, we got them,” he said.
Pedersen said the defensive ends put good pressure on the Eagles quarterback and that, especially in the second half, good ball control and field position kept the clock running and the Eagles out of the end zone.
The dry air in the Dome caused a lot of cramping — players often took a moment between whistles to touch their toes and stretch. Kaufman and Pedersen said the team went through a lot of bananas and water during halftime.
Pedersen said he is very glad to see West Branch become one of the four teams left standing after 64 teams entered the post-season.
“It’s really a big deal,” he said.
West Branch is now 12-0, the best season record since the team won the state championship in 1992. This Saturday will be the team’s seventh Final Four appearance.
The team has appeared in the playoffs 17 times and won the conference or district championship 15 times.
The Bears have won 23 of the last 25 games and have an overall record of 225-55 — an 80 percent win record — under Pedersen. In the last five years, the team had a 48-6 record, a win percentage of 88.
The drives
With Sen. Charles Grassley looking down from the south balcony, the Bears kicked toward him to open the game. Clayton Ridge brought the ball back to start the drive on their own 38. Wide receiver Jeremy Greve popped out for an 18-yard gain on the first play, getting them to the Eagle 46.
Then quarterback Mitchell Glawe hoisted a long pass and connected with wide receiver Logan Keehner for a 54-yard touchdown. Kicker Caleb Krapfl dropped in the extra point and the Eagles put the first points on the board with 11:07 on the clock.
On the next kickoff, Bear junior Travis Maher returned the ball to the West Branch 38 to start their first drive. Kaufman, Kelly and senior fullback Jayson Madsen used the next eight plays to run the ball back to the Eagles 20. Switching to passing plays, the ball fell incomplete twice before Kaufman connected with Kelly at about five yards out. Glawe tried pushing Kelly out of bounds, but Kelly pushed back and dove toward the end zone, extending that dive in mid-air by pushing off the one-yard hash mark with one hand and stretching a palmed football into the end zone just enough to knock over the pylon.
Sophomore kicker Brandon Young followed up with the extra point to even up the score at 7-7.
With a little more than half the quarter left, Clayton Ridge started its next drive on their own 25 and burned off the next 4 1/2 minutes with mostly running plays to get themselves to the Bears 25. When a third-and-nine pass fell incomplete, the Eagles decided to attempt a field goal, but it flew too far left of the goal posts.
The Eagles held the scrimmage line on the next Bears possession, and West Branch opted to punt, putting Clayton Ridge back on its own 30.
The Eagles’ next series overlapped into the second quarter and midway through that drive, Madsen received a bruised wrist when it got stepped on; he left the field and he would return later with a brace. Though Clayton Ridge gained a first down in the drive, penalties set them back to the 30 again and they punted on a fourth-and-23.
West Branch started its next drive on their 43, evenly mixing passing and running plays to get to the Eagles 8. On a fourth down, the Bears tried a field goal, but it hit the top of the left upright and bounced out.
The Eagles took over on their 20. Two plays later, Eagle junior Cody Preston would sustain a leg injury and need assistance to get to the sidelines.
On the next play, Bear senior defensive end Jake Rozinek would break through the line and sack Glawe, forcing a fumble which was recovered by Bear senior linebacker Matt Tucker.
That put the Bears 15 yards away from the end zone, and two runs by Elliott and a reception by Carew set up a three-yard run by Kaufman, who joined a gang pushing match of several linemen that fell into the end zone.
Young booted another extra-point and the Bears led 14-7.
With four minutes left to the half, the Eagles started at their 27 and largely kept the ball on the ground, taking their time between plays. They called for time-out with 44 seconds left, facing a fourth-and-seven on the West Branch 48. They stepped back to punt, but the kicker had to kneel to grab a bad snap and the ball was whistled down, giving it back to the Bears on their own 39 with 34 seconds to go.
Carew took the ball to the Bears 17 on two plays when West Branch called for a time-out. The Bears attempted a field goal, but a bad snap caused holder Kaufman to fall back on a passing play the team had been practicing. Kaufman rolled right and fired and, despite being triple-teamed, Murry cut into the end zone, jumped, outstretched the defenders and pulled down the pass, giving the Bears six points instead of three.
The last six seconds of the half ticked off and the Bears led the Eagles 20-7.
Clayton Ridge kicked to open the third quarter and Kelly brought the ball back to the Bear 39.
Penalties slowed progress, but West Branch got the ball to the Eagle 9. A running play fell short and the Eagles took over on downs.
Mostly keeping the ball on the ground, Clayton Ridge brought the ball back to the Bears 33 but an incomplete pass gave the ball back to West Branch.
The Bears came up two yards short of a first down and ended up punting. The ball fell at the Eagle 36 into the arms of the 200-pound, 6-2 Keehner, who dodged the first few Bears and headed for the Bears sidelines, shaking tackles that slowed but did not stop him until Young, the last Bear between him and the end zone, pushed him out of bounds at the Bear 19.
It was the best field position the Eagles would see at the beginning of a drive, but the Bears, with the help of a four-yard-loss sack delivered by sophomore tackle Austin Finnegan, kept them from gaining a first down.
Now into the fourth quarter, West Branch moved the ball back to their 24, but punted on the third down and gave the ball back to Clayton Ridge at their own 34.
In a play that reminded fans of the game’s opening drive, Glawe powered a lofting pass to Keehner, who caught it despite heavy coverage, to pick up 41 yards and move the ball to the Bears 25. But a penalty set the Eagles back 10 yards and they only made up six of those before a fourth-and-14 pass into the end zone sank through the heavily defended receiver’s hands and fell incomplete.
With less than six minutes left to the game, West Branch kept the ball on the ground to run the ball forward and the clock down. Kelly, Elliott, Kaufman and a wrist-splinted Madsen plugged away behind their defensive line and, despite two Eagle time-outs, kept the momentum going to the Clayton Ridge 2. Elliott took it in with 24 seconds left, and Young’s kick put the last point on the board.
The Eagles tried quick passing plays, but the game would end with West Branch on top 27-7.
GETTING INVOLVED
The Bears face South Winnishiek-Calmar Saturday with kickoff at 10 a.m. under the UNI-Dome.
West Branch High School will pre-sell the $6 tickets from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday (No school Friday).
WBHS will also offer a pep bus to interested community members and students. K-8 pupils will need to have a parent ride with them.
Students can ride for $7 and adults $10. Please contact the High School office to sign up.
The football team will gather for breakfast at 6 a.m. Saturday in the high school commons.
Friends, fans and family are invited to the team send-off before the buses leave at 6:40 a.m.
West Branch 27, CR 7
WB CR
First downs 17 11
Rushes-yards 41-196 35-108
Yards-passing 136 156
Total Yards 332 264
Passes 8-13-136-2 6-13-147-1
Punts-average 3-43.6 1-40
Fumbles-lost 3 lost 0 2 lost 1
Penalties 8-55 yds 3-25 yds
West Branch Statistics
Rushing — Cole Kelly 18-87; Eli Elliott 10-46, TD; Jayson Madsen 3-24; Travis Kaufman 6-22, TD; Rilen Carew 4-17
Receiving — Rilen Carew 3-18; Cole Kelly 2-31, TD; Jordan O’Neil 1-41; Eli Elliott 1-29; Logan Murry 1-17, TD
Passing (Cmpl-Att-yd) — Travis Kaufman 8-13-136
PATs — Brandon Young 3 for 5
Punts — Cole Kelly 1 for 43 yards; Brandon Young 2 for 86 yards
Kickoffs — Brandon Young 5 for 268 yards
Punt returns — Jordan O'Neil 1 for 15 yards
Kickoff returns — Travis Maher 1 for 22 yards; Cole Kelly 1 for 24 yards
Tackles (solos-assists-sacks) — Jordan O'Neil 5-0-0; Mitch Moon 2-5-0; Matt Smith 0-1-0; Travis Kaufman 1-3-0; Logan Murry 0-3-0; Rilen Carew 0-3-0; Cole Kelly 3-3-0; Eli Elliott 3-6-0; Matt Tucker 0-4-0; Jake Rozinek 0-7-1; Jack Rummells 1-4-0; Mitch Jennings 0-1-0; Zach Lukavsky 0-2-0; Logan Avant 0-2-0; Jake Joens 0-1-1; Austin Finnegan 1-0-1; Brandon Young 1-1-0; Logan Lukavsky 1-0-0
Scoring
West Branch 7 13 0 7 27
CR 7 0 0 0 7
First quarter
CR — Mitchell Glawe 54-yard pass to Logan Keehner; Caleb Krapfl kick, 11:07
WB — Travis Kaufman 20-yard pass to Cole Kelly; Brandon Young kick, 6:30
Second quarter
WB — Kaufman 3-yard run; Young kick, 4:00
WB — Kaufman 17-yard pass to Logan Murry; kick fails, 6 seconds
Fourth quarter
WB — Eli Elliott 2-yard run; Young kick, 24 seconds
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