Diverse offense gives West Branch football plenty of playoff possibilities

WEST BRANCH - Butch Pedersen flashed a sly grin as he pondered the possibilities.

With a bevy of offensive weapons to use, the longtime West Branch football coach has watched records fall this season. With the playoffs now at hand, opportunities for a creative surprise or two have surfaced.

'Any time you play in a playoff game, you've got to have ball security,” said Pedersen, who will lead the fifth-ranked Bears (9-0) into a Class 1A first-round playoff game against Pleasantville (7-2) Friday at 7 p.m. at the Little Rose Bowl. 'You've got to have field position. You've got to have a minimum number of penalties, and then you've just got to play to what your strengths are and maybe throw a few wrinkles in there. And we do have a few wrinkles that we're going to throw on Friday night.”

West Branch is led by junior quarterback Beau Cornwell, who is rewriting the Bears' record books in his first full season under center. After missing nearly all of his sophomore campaign with a broken collarbone, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound dual-threat quarterback now owns the single-season school record for pass completions (151), passing yards (1,970) and is tied with 20 passing touchdowns.

'It means a lot, but everyone looks at wins and losses,” said Cornwell, who ranks second in 1A passing yards and is tied for third in passing touchdowns. 'We've got to keep everything rolling. ... That's what I like about this team. We don't care about who gets this record or that record, we just want to go 9-0 and then we want to go undefeated in the playoffs and win a state championship.”

Having a quarterback flinging the ball around the field is a bit of a departure from recent years for the Bears. After star tailback Luke Lenoch took his 6,022 rushing yards and 87 TDs to William Penn University, Pedersen sought more balance on offense.

With Cornwell and receivers like senior Ben Thompson (39 catches, 658 yards and a school-record 11 TD receptions), the Bears have a variety of ways to hurt opposing defenses.

'We've always had a good offense, but we changed it up to more of a 50-50 scheme,” Thompson said. 'It's worked, obviously. We've put up a lot of points (over 37 per game) and it's just been really cool to see how diversified we are, where we weren't as much in years past.”

The passing success does not to suggest the running game has been abandoned. Sophomore Tanner Lukavsky and senior Jacob Graves have combined for 1,263 rushing yards and 17 TDs. Graves also has caught 38 passes for 512 yards and four receiving scores.

Nine Bears are playing varsity as freshmen or sophomores, including freshman defensive end Jeff Bowie, who leads the team with seven sacks. A successful blend of youth and experience produced the Bears' third undefeated regular season in four years.

'I'm extremely proud of the kids,” Pedersen said. 'One of the most coachable teams I've ever had at West Branch. Probably one of the tightest-knit groups I've ever had at West Branch.”

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com