HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM: West Delaware drives to victory

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By Riley Cole, West Delaware seniorMANCHESTER - West Delaware and Dyersville Beckman not only took it to each other on the football field last Friday, but both schools also participated in KFXA's Goodwill "Drive to Victory" contest earlier in the week.The Hawks came out on top both on and off the field.Goodwill parked a donation truck at both schools from Sept. 2-6. Both were encouraged to donate household items, clothing and any other useful items all week. The contest winner was determined by which school could raise the most pounds of donations. Dyersville Beckman came up with 4,019 pounds and West Delaware had  7,703 pounds, totaling all donations to 11,722 pounds."When our community is asked to step up and support a great cause you can always count on them to do the best they can," West Delaware Coach Doug Winkowitsch said. "It's just another indication of how blessed we are."As for the action under the lights last Friday, both teams put on an intense show for the packed stands. West Delaware sophomore kick returner Deandre Daniels ran Beckman's opening kickoff back for a Hawk touchdown, giving the Hawks the lead, 6-0. But, Beckman's Grant Hammann ran West Delaware's kickoff back for a Blazer touchdown and sealed the extra point, making the score, 7-6, in favor of Beckman.When the clock ran out of time for the first half, West Delaware was leading the Blazers, 22-7. The Hawks still had the lead late in the third quarter, 29-7, but the Blazers didn't stop there. Beckman scored three unanswered touchdowns, tying the game at  29-29.With just under a minute left, the Hawks junior quarterback  Brent Lammers threw to senior reciever Timmy Tutton, who caught and ran the ball to the Beckman end zone for a 76-yard score."Catching that ball from Lammers and scoring that long touchdown catch on our last play was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had," Tutton said. "The fans were loud and going crazy once I scored and I was pumped up and it was definitely one game I won't forget."Tutton and  Lammers scored two TDs apiece, Daniels had one and Alex Reetz connected on a field goal.Lammers was thankful for the opportunity to come back from the team's season-opening loss to DeWitt Central."It put us back in the mindset for the rest of the season," Lammers said. The Hawks are looking forward to playing quality opponents while learning and gaining experience all season."We will take one game at a time and try to improve each week," Winkowitsch said.