No. 1 Iowa City West crushes Cedar Rapids Washington in playoff opener

IOWA CITY – Iowa City West possesses a potent pass game.

The Trojans rank among the state's best throwing the ball.

With miserable conditions, including cold temperatures, a strong wind and waves of freezing rain falling to the turf, West turned to its rush attack. It turns out that they can do that pretty well, too.

The top-ranked Trojans amassed 388 yards on the ground and ran over Washington, 49-7, Friday night in the opening round of the Class 4A state football playoffs at Trojans Field.

'You have to run the ball in the playoffs,” West Coach Garrett Hartwig said. 'Tonight, we stepped up and got it done.

'The pass game has been there. When you have conditions like this, you have to be able to run the ball. We've always felt we could run the ball. We've just been able to throw it with such a good quarterback and receiving corps.”

Trumell Roberts was a key part of the run game, leading the way with 184 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He actually ranked third on the team in rushing yards before the playoff victory. Roberts surpassed Andre White and Evan Flitz in season yardage, despite their 88 and 56 rushing yards Friday.

'Trumell is a great kid,” Hartwig said. 'He's a heck of a football player. He's a huge part of our defense, too.

'We knew that was in him. It was just a matter of time before he got it done.”

West utilized the elements, starting with the wind at their back. The Trojans started in Washington territory each of their first five possessions, converting good field position into four touchdowns.

Dillon Doyle played a big role early. He beat a defender on the fifth play of the game, hauling in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Flitz to cap a 44-yard drive. Doyle added a 1-yard run on the following drive, making it 14-0 with 6:38 to play in the first quarter.

Flitz only threw for 40 yards, including 28 to Doyle.

Roberts had big carries early, running for more than 10 yards on four of his first five touches, but he really took over in the second quarter with two long scoring runs that really squashed any doubts.

'This whole week I've been trying to be more patient and waiting for blocks to form,” Roberts said. 'They are there. Our line gets them. I just have to be more patient and that's what I did.”

Roberts had 136 rushing yards in the opening half. With the Trojans up, 21-0, he took a handoff and bounced backward off the scrum at the line of scrimmage. He briefly stalled, gathered himself and burst forward in pinball fashion to a 34-yard TD.

'Once I hit the hole, there was no hole,” Roberts said. 'I saw it wasn't there. It's like instinct took over. I just stepped back and hit it again.”

Roberts capped a 62-yard, 5-play drive with his second score. Roberts went around left end, made a couple cuts to lose defenders and bolted down the far sideline for a 41-yard TD, giving West a 35-0 halftime edge that enacted a running clock for the third quarter.

Cole Mabry and Peter Breitbach added TD runs for West (10-0).

Washington (5-5) was unable to move the ball, managing just three first downs before the break and ending the half on two consecutive sacks. West's defense held Washington to 132 with half of that total coming on just two possessions.

'I think everything clicked tonight,” Doyle said. 'It was a lot of fun.”

Haven Henningsen provided a lone highlight late, rushing for 66 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the final minute. Henningsen finished the season with 1,233 rushing yards and 12 scores.

The Warriors didn't have much of an answer after an early deficit.

'They're good and they played their tails off,” Blue said of West. 'They're a good football team. They made plays and got us on some stuff.

'Our kids tried. The effort was there. They were better than us tonight, no ifs, ands or butts.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8679; kj.pilcher@thegazette.com