West Delaware excited about Pella, Clayberg challenge

CEDAR RAPIDS - Most of them stick out on tape. They're defending state champs and on a 26-game win streak for a reason.

Pella's football team has a lot of good players.

But the one guy West Delaware guys bring up without prompting is Noah Clayberg. And for good reason.

Pella's quarterback is the real deal.

If the Hawks want to win Thursday night's Class 3A playoff semifinal at the UNI-Dome, they need to pay extra special attention defensively to the Dutch's senior leader.

'Pella is an outstanding team with a tremendous quarterback,” said West Delaware Coach Doug Winkowitsch.

'Really dynamic, hard to bring down,” said West Delaware's Sam Maloney. 'He's one of the best kids we've faced all year. We've got to try and bottle him up as much as we can.”

Bottling him up might be impossible. Slowing him down probably should be the more realistic goal.

Clayberg is a solid 5-foot-11, 200-pounder who has put up amazingly balanced statistics in 2015. He has completed 70 percent of his passes for 1,333 yards and 19 touchdowns, though that only tells half the story.

On the ground, he has 1,338 yards rushing and another 23 TDs. That's putting the 'dual” in dual-threat quarterback.

'You watch him, and you can tell he's got next-level stuff,” said West Delaware's Colin Weber. 'We've faced some good quarterbacks this season, which will help. He's real fast. To see the way he runs and gets around people is very impressive.”

He's not the only impressive Pella guy.

Running back Nathan Henry has 13 touchdowns, receiver Will Warner has 11. The Dutch (12-0) score 47 points a game, a gaudy average that has actually increased to 52 in the playoffs.

'They're good, won it last year,” Maloney said. 'They have a really good team. But we love a challenge.”

The free safety-wide receiver and his mates certainly aren't conceding anything, nor should they. West Delaware also is 12-0 and brings a balanced offense of its own to this semifinal party.

Senior running back Coy Roussell has broken most school rushing records, a 2,000-yard guy this season. Senior Max Ridenour has stepped in at quarterback and made the Hawks particularly balanced.

A good offense sometimes is the best defense.

'Our mentality is to continue to move the chains,” Winkowitsch said. 'This is a tremendous group. They are relentless, love the game. We expected to have a good team, and the kids have followed through.”

This is West Delaware's first semifinals appearance since 2010. This group of seniors was in eighth grade back then.

'It has kind of been our dream,” said Weber, a two-way lineman. 'I remember watching that 2010 team in eighth grade and thinking ‘If they can get to the Dome, why can't we?' ... We are very excited. We know the competition only gets better and better as you go along in the playoffs. You can't not get excited playing the best team in the state.” The West Delaware-Pella game is scheduled to kickoff at 8:21 p.m. Norwalk (11-1) and Sergeant Bluff-Luton play the preceding 3A semifinal at 5:36 p.m.

Eight-Player semifinals begin a full day at the UNI-Dome. Don Bosco faces Newell-Fonda and Glidden-Ralston plays Marcus MMC.

All four teams are undefeated, though they've played a different amount of games: Don Bosco 10, Glidden-Ralston and MMC 11 each and Newell-Fonda 12.

Class A and Class 4A semifinals are Friday. Class 1A and 2A semis are Saturday.

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