Iowa City West season ends in overtime

IOWA CITY – Iowa City West rallied again in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough to knockout Bettendorf.

Bett quarterback Cyle Cox's 9-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Scheib in overtime gave the 10th-ranked Bulldogs a thrilling 27-24 win over No. 5 Iowa City West last night in a Class 4A second round playoff game at Trojan Field.

The Trojans (9-2) rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to force overtime.

'It's tough to put it into words because you're talking about the end of careers,' West Coach Brian Sauser said. 'As a coach, you feel terrible. You wish you could have done more for your seniors.'

Cox threw for a season-high 195 yards and three touchdowns.

Bett (9-2) will play Pleasant Valley on Friday in a quarterfinal matchup.

West trailed 21-14 with two minutes left and faced an improbable fourth-and-24 with its season on the line. Quarterback Nate Boland heaved a 41-yard pass to Tyler Eads in the end zone – somehow sneaking the ball past two Bett defensive backs.

The Trojans got the ball back at midfield with a minute left, but Connor Gordon's 40-yard field missed short and left as time expired.

Gordon came back in overtime to boot a 25-yard field goal, but the Trojans couldn't get a stop on Bett's possession.

'It's hard when careers come down to one or two plays here or there,' Sauser said. 'They're a great group of kids that kept coming back and coming back and had an opportunity to win the game. Unfortunately, they finished a play short.'

Bett's big break came at the end of the first half when the Bulldogs recovered a muffed punt at the West 15-yard line. Cox ran for a touchdown on the next play – a turning point for an offense that had struggled to find yards until that point.

'That was a huge spark for us,' Cox said.The momentum carried into the second half. Cox connected with Scheib for a 66-yard touchdown on the very first play of the third quarter.

Cox threw a 36-yard TD to Mark Well on the Bulldogs' next possession for 21 unanswered points.