Woodbury Central ends East Buchanan’s run in the Class A state football semifinals, 28-20

CEDAR FALLS — Woodbury Central finally saw the ball in the second half.

The Wildcats knew what to do with it.

Quarterback Drew Kluender led a post-intermission surge, and second-ranked Woodbury Central fought past East Buchanan, 28-20, in a Class A state football semifinal Thursday afternoon at the UNI-Dome.

“You let a good player get hot, and that’s what happens,” East Buchanan’s Hunter Bowers said.

With the Wildcats trailing 14-7 at halftime, Kluender engineered three second-half scoring drives. He passed for 205 yards (130 after halftime), completing 10 of 15 passes.

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Kluender passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more.

As a result, Woodbury Central (12-0) will face No. 3 West Hancock (11-1) for the Class A championship here at 1 p.m. next Thursday. West Hancock defeated No. 4 Madrid, 39-14, Thursday.

“I’m glad we get to come back here next week,” Kluender said. “We’ve got more work to do.”

Woodbury Central had plenty of work to do and adjustments to make Thursday.

East Buchanan (9-3) hogged the ball in the first half, with a time-of-possession advantage of 18:39-5:21. It was 24 minutes of near-perfection.

“We were able to get to the second level (in the first half),” all-state lineman and future Iowa Hawkeye Cody Fox said.

East Buchanan put together scoring drives of 4:06 (capped by a 6-yard run by Bowers) and 7:24 (a 15-play gem that ended in a QB sneak by Trystin Russell.

Then, at 14-7, they ran off 7:09 at the end of the half, but came away empty.

“Holding them (scoreless) there, that was huge,” Kluender said. “If they would have scored at the end of the half, it was going to be tough.”

Woodbury Central forced a three-and-out to start the second half, and the momentum flipped.

East Buchanan’s offense was never the same — “Their linebackers stepped up and shut us down,” Fox said. And, as Bowers noted, Kluender heated up.

“Their snowball got rolling,” the Bucs’ Tanner Thurn added.

Kluender connected with Sam Monk on a 47-yard pass, then hit Eric McGill in the corner of the end zone for a 25-yard TD pass to tie the game.

Two possessions later, Kluender’s 3-yard scoring run put Woodbury Central in front, 21-14.

“I voted him first-team all-state last year. He’s a tall, lanky guy,” East Buchanan Coach Jerry Alden said. “I thought he gave us more trouble with his feet than his arm.”

A fumble gave Woodbury Central a chance to break it open, but Thurn’s interception gave the Bucs the ball right back. On the next play, Bowers got loose for an 83-yard touchdown run to get the Bucs within 21-20 with 10:44 left.

They were going to attempt a two-point conversion for the lead, but a false start killed that plan. The PAT kick sailed wide, and the Wildcats maintained a one-point lead.

Kluender’s 4-yard TD run made it 28-20 with 8:14 left, East Buchanan’s final drive ended at the Woodbury Central 22, and the Wildcats killed the last 3:39.

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Photos: East Buchanan vs. Woodbury Central in Class A semifinals

Bowers rushed for 158 yards, Thurn 89. Those two and Fox have been prominent members of the varsity program since they were freshmen.

Their ledger included two semifinal appearances, plus one quarterfinal run.

“(This season) was one to remember,” Fox said. “We were 2-2, and we didn’t know how it was going to end up.”

They won the next seven games, and looked good doing it. They knocked off No. 1 Saint Ansgar on the road, then gave themselves a chance Thursday.

“We did a lot of good stuff,” Bowers said. “Today doesn’t define us.”

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Woodbury Central 28, East Buchanan 20

Class A Semifinal, at Cedar Falls

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: EB 15, WC 17

Rushes-yards: EB 52-255, WC 34-139

Passing yards: EB 37, WC 205

Passing: EB 2-7-0, WC 10-15-1

Total yards: EB 292, WC 344

Fumbles-lost: EB 1-1, WC 0-0

Punts-average: EB 3-32.3, WC 2-39.5

Penalties-yards: EB 7-51, WC 4-40

SCORING SUMMARY

East Buchanan 6 8 0 6 — 20

Woodbury Central 7 0 14 7 — 28

EB — Hunter Bowers 6 run (run failed)

WC — Jayden Lloyd 53 pass from Drew Kluender (Lloyd kick)

EB — Trystin Russell 1 run (Bowers run)

WC — Eric McGill 25 pass from Kluender (Lloyd kick)

WC — Kluender 3 run (Lloyd kick)

EB — Bowers 83 run (kick failed)

WC — Kluender 4 run (Lloyd kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

East Buchanan — Hunter Bowers 23-158, Tanner Thurn 25-86, Carter Wilgenbusch 2-9, Trystin Russell 1-1, Team 1-1. Woodbury Central — Zack Butler 19-95, Drew Kluender 13-51, Team 2-(minus 7).

Passing

East Buchanan — Russell 2-7-0-37. Woodbury Central — Kluender 10-15-1-205.

Receiving

East Buchanan — Bowers 1-20, Thurn 1-17. Woodbury Central — Eric McGill 4-75, Sam Monk 2-55, Butler 2-19, Jayden Lloyd 1-53, Jacob King 1-3.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com