Iowa City West beats Hempstead through the air

DUBUQUE --- Dubuque Hempstead simply did not have an answer for Iowa City West's passing attack.

Aaron Bleil completed 15 of 18 passes in the first half and finished the game with 214 yards and two touchdowns as the Trojans beat Hempstead, 31-14, on Friday night at Dalzell Field.

Bleil finished the first half with 166 passing yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to Oliver Martin near the end of the first quarter.

'My line gave me tons of time and our receivers ran great routes,' said Bleil, who completed 21 of 28 passes. 'I just put the ball where I wanted to and they were making plays.'

Martin and Connor Greene were the primary beneficiaries of Bleil's throws, combining for 10 receptions. Martin finished with a game-high 75 receiving yards while Green finished with 22.

Fullback Mason Koch put the Trojans (4-3, 2-0 Class 4A District 7) in front, 14-0, with a 1-yard TD plunge midway through the second quarter.

Hempstead's Brad Kramer blocked a punt and set the Mustangs (5-2, 1-1) up with a first down at the 50-yard line late in the second quarter, but penalties derailed the drive and eventually forced a punt. Armed with all three timeouts and more than 2 minutes of clock, West drove down field and took a 17-0 halftime lead on Connor Gordon's 21-yard field goal with 0.1 seconds left on the clock.

'Coach (Garrett Hartwig) preached all week that (Hempstead) circled us on their calendar,' Bleil said. 'So, we had a great week of practice, we started off the game strong and we finished it.'

Yeshuwa Hicks added a 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Alex Henderson caught an 11-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.

Bailey Paulsen got Hempstead on the board with a 20-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

The Mustangs got back within three scores on Matt Zenner's 6-yard touchdown run late in the fourth, but John Milani sealed West's victory with an interception in the final minute.

I saw Zenner go out in the flat, so I followed him out,' said Milani, whose sole job on defense was to shadow Hempstead leading rusher Matt Zenner. 'I could feel there was a hook right behind me, so I jumped back on the hook and the ball was thrown right there and just kind of grabbed it.'

With Milani shadowing him, Zenner was limited to 66 rushing yards on 16 carries.

'(Milani) was their best player, so coming into the game we had a good feel of where we thought he would be,' Hempstead coach Bob McIntyre said. 'Then they made some adjustments. He was the one player we needed to account for on defense. Give them credit, they did a nice job.'

Paulsen completed 9 of 18 passes for 115 yards for Hempstead. He finished with 15 rushing yards.