West Branch diversifies offensively, starts out 4-0, with huge game Friday against Bellevue

WEST BRANCH — Funny how the game works sometimes.

Luke Lenoch is the best running back West Branch High School ever has had. He was prolific, produced career yardage totals that rank him in the top 20 all time in Iowa.

Yet the Bears are averaging more points per game offensively this season than they did last season. Again, they had Lenoch in 2016, he's at William Penn University now.

How's that work?

'Luke, I can't even describe how good he was. He made it so easy for us,' said West Branch senior lineman Jacob Barnhart. 'Every play was potentially going to be a big play with Luke. We leaned on him, relied on him so much. But now with him gone ... It kind of opened up the game for us a little more. We pass it a little more, there's a little more split. When we had Luke, everyone knew it was going to Luke 80 percent of the time. Now we've got a little bit more of an even offense.'

That even offense has helped West Branch get off to a 4-0 start and No. 8 ranking in Class 1A going into its big game Friday night at the Little Rose Bowl against fellow unbeaten No. 7 Bellevue. The threat of the run and pass has defenses game planning differently and the Bears averaging a smidge under 36 points per game.

Last season's average was 31.

'We're able to be a little more diversified this year,' said legendary West Branch Coach Butch Pedersen. 'We have a passing game, as well as a running game. We've played pretty good field-position football as well.'

'I didn't think we'd be able to move it as effectively,' said sophomore running back Tanner Lukavsky. 'But I've just learned over the first four games that it's the linemen that do everything. We've got just as great of a line as we did last year.'

Led by the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Barnhart. Make that 6-5 1/2, as he reported after Wednesday's practice.

He's a Division I college lineman, Pedersen promises, a gigantic kid who has become a 'meaner' player, which has helped him get the attention of schools like nearby Iowa and Iowa State. He just turned 17 years old in August, which is another plus.

Beau Cornwell is back healthy at quarterback, breaking the last of former WB great (and current Iowa City Regina head coach) Marv Cook's school records by completing 23 passes (in 29 attempts) in the Bears' 38-21 win last week over Maquoketa Valley. Cornwell, a junior, started the first game of 2016 but broke a collarbone after playing one series in game two and missed the rest of the way.

He is 65 of 97 through four games, with 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions. Jacob Graves (team-best 20 catches) and Ben Thompson (17 grabs, six TDs) have been his favorite targets.

'I feel like I'm doing well at taking care of the ball. I'm not forcing anything,' Cornwell said. 'I'm sliding, getting down, so I don't get hurt again. I feel like I'm doing well at being a leader, which was one of my goals this year. To be a better leader, to get the guys going.'

Lukavsky has taken over lead-back duties and has 477 yards and 10 total touchdowns (seven rushing, three receiving).

'Through the first week of camp, we figured it out that Tanner could do all of the running-back stuff,' Cornwell said. 'He's been doing really well. The offensive line has been doing the same thing they've been doing forever: blocking hard and doing their thing. Then our receiving group knew that they would have to step up and be a factor this year, and, so far, they have.'

'I'm real surprised and real happy with the chemistry,' Pedersen said. 'I'm not surprised by the chemistry, just surprised by where they are at right now, because we've got seven fresh-soph kids playing, and that's a lot. Usually at West Branch, we've had one or two, but not seven. We don't use it as an excuse, we use it almost as if we have a chip on our shoulder. People saying we're not very good because we're young, but we're better than people think. We have really improved a lot, they are very coachable, they have a lot of passion, and my coaching staff has done as good a job this year as any coaching staff that I've ever had.'

Bellevue will provide West Branch its stiffest challenge, a high-powered offense that's averaging 43 points in its first four games. The Comets beat the Bears last season in Week 5, though West Branch already has avenged one of its three regular-season losses from 2016 (West Burlington/Notre Dame).

You get the feeling this could be one of those last-team-with-the-ball-wins kind of games.

'It's crazy. I don't think anyone felt we'd do this,' Barnhart said. 'At the beginning of the year, we had our doubts, too. But every day, we've just come here and gotten better. The offensive line really meshed, our skill positions got better, and we just take it one game at a time, one opponent at a time. Here we are 4-0, and we've got our biggest game, yet, Friday night. This will really show what kind of team we are.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com