A year later, West Delaware gets even with Waverly-Shell Rock

MANCHESTER — Forget the first down. Instead of trying to move the sticks, Nick Casey saw an opening in the Waverly-Shell Rock defense and went for it all.

Casey located a wide-open Tyler Kelley for a 48-yard, tie-breaking dagger with 3:37 left, and West Delaware upended the eighth-ranked Go-Hawks, 20-13, in a Class 3A first-round playoff football game Friday night at Brown Field.

'I saw we had something open in the middle and I got the ball to him,' Casey said. 'It was awesome.'

'Nick made a great read,' Hawks Coach Doug Winkowitch said. 'We wanted the first down, but Nick went with his No. 1 receiver over the top. It was a great play by both of them.'

West Delaware (8-2) advances to face No. 3 Solon on the road in a quarterfinal next Friday. The Spartans (10-0) routed Decorah, 34-2.

The Hawks avenged a first-round defeat to the Go-Hawks last year.

'They kicked us out last year, and we had this circled on the calendar,' Casey said.

Waverly-Shell Rock (8-2) entered the fourth quarter with a 13-7 lead, but the Hawks came up with two clutch scoring drives.

They took over at their own 16 with 9:55 left and went 84 yards in nine plays to get even. Caleb Kehrli's 4-yard run tied it with 6:56 to go, but the conversion failed.

WSR went three-and-out on its next possession, punted, and the Hawks started at their 36 with 5:47 left.

West Delaware picked up a first down, then faced third-and-8 when Casey made the read and Kelley made the catch behind the Go-Hawks' secondary.

The Go-Hawks failed to pick up a first down on the next possession, and that was the ball game.

The game was played in relative darkness in the southwest corner, where nearly an entire bank of lights was nonfunctional. Officials deemed the facility playable, and the game proceded on time.

One turnover and one big play were the difference in the first half, which ended with WSR in front, 7-0.

West Delaware put together a nice drive on its first possession, marching from its 32-yard line all the way to the WSR 1. But the Hawks fumbled and the Go-Hawks recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

WSR scored with 8:42 left in the half, when Luke Velky connected with Braden Holmquist on a 52-yard touchdown pass.

Kehrli's 6-yard run tied it at 7-7 early in the third quarter, then Velky's 4-yard keeper put WSR back in front, 13-7.

West Delaware owned a 393-224 advantage in yards. Kehrli — who missed last year's 28-14 playoff loss to WSR due to injury — ran for 126 yards, and Casey passed for 198.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com