West dominates, sets up district-title showdown

IOWA CITY - Iowa City West picked a perfect homecoming foe, but the way the Trojans played Friday night they might have handled a much better opponent.

West scored on five of its first six possessions and rolled to a 42-14 victory over Davenport North. The victory sets up next week's showdown with Pleasant Valley for the district championship.

'There are some similarities between Davenport North and Pleasant Valley on offense,” West Coach Garrett Hartwig said. 'But we gave Davenport North our full attention. We got the win tonight and now it's time to talk about the biggest game we've played all year.”

The Trojan offensive line (Logan Stevens, Joe Ranard, Alex Kleinow, Hayden Hendricks, Griffin Blackhurst) was dominant from the first play, blowing open big holes for various running backs and providing cloak-like protection for quarterback Aaron Bleil.

'The line did an amazing job,” senior running back Michael Krupp said. 'We really picked it up this week, and they made big holes when we needed them. This is the first game I've really gotten in and I knew I had to step up, and the line did a great job.”

Krupp rushed just six times but gained 110 yards and scored two touchdowns.

'My assistant coaches who work with the line do a great job,” Hartwig said. 'And our kids listen and pay attention. It takes time to get chemistry and find the right combination.”

On the one drive in the first half in which the Trojans (5-3) had a fourth-down play, they executed a fake punt and up-back Connor Greene passed to Bryson Adcock for the first down. Four plays later Greene ran seven yards over right tackle into the end zone to boost the lead to 35-0 just before halftime.

'I learned from the best: Nate Boland and Aaron Bleil,” Greene joked. 'It's something we picked up in practice, and it was a good time to use it. I surprised myself too.”

Bleil was 7-for-7 passing for 113 yards, all in the first half.

The Wildcats (1-7) had only one victory coming in and their inability to duke it out in the trenches had to be a big reason. They were able to move the ball only with a series of inside double handoffs late in the half. They did score twice against reserves in the second half.