West Branch wins another thriller

WEST BRANCH — For the second straight week, West Branch had its resolve tested.

The Bears passed yet again.

The 'cardiac' Bears blocked an extra point, hit a field goal in the final minute and then intercepted a pass to kill the clock and secure a thrilling 24-23 victory Friday night at Durant.

Beau Cornwell hit a 42-yard field goal for the game-winning score.

'It was a back-and-forth game,' West Branch Coach Butch Pedersen said. 'One of those games, now two weeks in a row, that you hate to see anybody lose, because both of those teams left their heart and soul on the field. That's what high school football is all about.

'I thought both teams played extremely hard.'

All three phases played a major role after Durant drove down and took a late 23-21 lead. Jacob Barnhart broke through the line to block the point-after attempt, keeping it a two-point lead.

'That was a big play,' Pedersen said.

Cornwell directed about a 37-yard drive that started with about four minutes left and ended with his go-ahead kick and 48.9 seconds remaining. Evan O'Neill ended Durant's ensuing drive with his first pick of the season.

'They showed a lot of resilience late when they could have folded it up and didn't,' Pedersen said. 'They came back.'

Last week, West Branch replaced Bellevue as the seventh ranked team in Class 1A, beating the Comets, 45-41, in an exciting game that saw four lead changes in the final quarter before the Bears sealed it late.

West Branch demonstrated the characteristics that have led to a 6-0 record and 4-0 mark in 1A District 3, sitting alone in first with wins over the next two teams.

'They have shown what they have all year,' Pedersen said. 'They showed a lot of character.'

Three records were matched or broken in the win over Durant, according to Gazette correspondent Jason Miller.

Ben Thompson had 176 receiving yards, breaking a single-game record set by teammate Jacob Graves with 168 against Bellevue in Week 5. Thompson's two receiving touchdowns gives him nine, tying a school mark for single-season TD catches.

Cornwell's decisive kick was his sixth field goal in eight attempts this season. Both are school records.

West Branch accomplished all that while losing its top rusher to injury. Despite 66 rushing yards on 13 carries, sophomore running back Tanner Lukavsky left the game with a sprained ankle. Pedersen said he did not know when Lukavsky would return, but the Bears absorbed his loss admirably.

'We had some kids play out of position a little bit,' Pedersen said. 'It's the 'next one in' thing. You have to be ready to go. We've stressed that all year long. For the most part, they stepped in and did a pretty good job.'

BENTON BOUNCES BACK

Benton Community survived a brutal three-week stretch of its schedule. The Bobcats sandwiched a home game against previously ranked Decorah between road contests at Class 3A top-ranked Xavier and No. 9 Waverly-Shell Rock.

The Bobcats (3-3, 1-3) posted a dramatic 31-29 victory over South Tama on Friday at Van Horne, winning their first district contest on a 25-yard field goal by Vance Bartelt with 13.5 seconds remaining.

South Tama led 21-7 with 4:30 left in the third, but Benton battled back to tie it, 21-21, with 8:49 to play.

Spencer Touro power the Bobcats with 443 total yards. He rushed for 177 and all four Benton TDs.

SCORING OUTBURST

Newton defeated Fort Dodge on Friday night, 71-70, in a Class 4A District 4 clash at Newton. The 141 total points is the fourth-highest scoring 11-player game in Iowa.

Newton improved to 6-0, amassing 562 yards and nine touchdowns rushing. Senior Jaron Roush had 246 yards on the ground and four scores. Fort Dodge quarterback Drake Miller threw for 359 yards and five TDs, hitting Trey Mosley seven times for 166 yards and two TDs.

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