Younkin, turnovers doom West

IOWA CITY -- It was the headwear under the helmet that symbolized Blake Younkin.

He exhibited a sort of black cap, designed with skulls and crossbones.

Tough kid. Tough team.

Younkin rushed for 246 yards and three touchdowns, and fourth-ranked Bettendorf recorded four takeaways in a 45-13 whipping of Iowa City West in a Class 4A football quarterfinal Friday night at Trojan Stadium.

"He was all-conference, all state ... whatever ... he was all-everything tonight," said Bettendorf Coach Aaron Wiley.

The Bulldogs (11-1) face No. 6 Cedar Falls in a semifinal next Friday at the UNI-Dome. Cedar Falls (11-1) held off Cedar Rapids Washington, 35-32.

Younkin ran roughshod, and the Bulldogs' defense stymied West's explosive offense.

"They have a heck of a team," West Coach Brian Sauser said after the Trojans retired at 9-3. "They wore us down on both sides of the ball.

"They were the more physical team, and they deserved to win."

Daniel Sullivan intercepted two passes, recovered a fumble and provided the game's pivotal moment.

West marched downfield on its first possession of the game -- Charles Rogers connected with Richard Bryant for a 23-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead -- and recovered a fumble at the Bettendorf 46 on the ensuing kickoff.

Three plays netted five yards, then Sullivan intercepted Rogers on fourth-and-5 and returned the ball to the West 30.

"A lot of people would say you punt the ball there, but we had the momentum and I thought we had a chance there," Sauser said.

Instead, Younkin carried the ball four straight times, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run that tied the game. Jon Brueggen's 26-yard field goal put the Bulldogs up 10-7, and that's how it stood at halftime.

The second half was all Bettendorf.

"They had a lot of guys that played both ways, and most of our guys just go one way," Younkin said. "We're going to be in better shape."

Younkin had 148 yards in the second half, and the Bulldogs scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, three more in the fourth.

At 45-7, the continuous clock went into effect from the 4:44 mark of the fourth quarter (when David Cribbs returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown) until 2:01 remained, when Rogers connected with Jeremy Morgan for a 30-yard score.

Rogers completed 10 of 33 passes for 113 yards and three interceptions. Bettendorf, on the other hand, threw it just three times. And that's how the Bulldogs like it.

No frills. No tricks. Just bread-and-butter football.

Skull-and-crossbones football.

TEAM STATISTICS

Bettendorf

IC West

First downs

13

13

Rushes-yards

54 - 275

26 - 58

Passing yards

3

113

Comp-Att-Int

1 - 3 - 0

10 - 33 - 3

Total yards

278

171

Fumbles-lost

2 - 2

2 - 1

Punts-average

3 - 33.0

6 - 35.3

Penalties-yards

4 - 30

4 - 42

Rushing:

 Bettendorf –

Blake Younkin 39-246 ,

Bryson Owens-Johnson 3-18 ,

Nick Hughes 2-9 ,

Nate Shaw 2-6 ,

Justin VanHoutan 2-4 ,

Shayne Boles 1-3 ,

Malique Hudson 1-1 ,

Alex Hernandez 1-0 ,

Nick Heimendinger 1--9

 IC West –

Charles Rogers 15-28 ,

Richard Bryant 3-25 ,

Anthony Brown 7-8 ,

Colin Baker 1--3

Passing:

 Bettendorf –

Heimendinger 1-3-0-3

 IC West –

Rogers 10-33-3-113

Receiving:

 Bettendorf –

Austin Bries 1-3

 IC West –

Jeremy Morgan 5-69 ,

Bryant 2-21 ,

Dondre Alexander 2-15 ,

Mondo Williams 1-8

Bettendorf

7

3

14

21

–

45

IC West

7

6

–

13

ICW - Richard Bryant 23 pass from Charles Rogers (Alex Troester kick)

B - Blake Younkin 2 run (Jon Brueggen kick)

B - Brueggen FG 26

B - Younkin 9 run (Brueggen kick)

B - Nick Hughes 9 run (Brueggen kick)

B - Younkin 3 run (Brueggen kick)

B - Justin VanHoutan 2 run (Brueggen kick)

B - David Cribbs 50 interception return (Brueggen kick)

ICW - Jeremy Morgan 30 pass from Rogers (run failed)

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