Western Dubuque beats Marion, keeps control of district

MARION - Once Western Dubuque stopped shooting itself in the foot, the Bobcats took aim at Marion.

Nolan Baumhover ran for two touchdowns and Western Dubuque overcame three first-half turnovers to spoil Marion's homecoming, 28-6, last night in a Class 3A District 4 game at Thomas Park.

Western Dubuque (5-2, 4-0) is in first place in the district and assured of a playoff berth.

'The turnovers were something we could handle,” said Baumhover, the Bobcats' senior quarterback. 'They were fixable and we fixed it.”

Baumhover ran for 73 yards and completed 10-of-16 passes for 122 yards. After a sluggish first quarter when a couple of passes were dropped, he completed 9-of-10, including three straight for 55 yards during a 63-yard touchdown drive at the end of the first half that gave the Bobacts a 14-0 lead.

'We started catching the ball and the line started meshing,” Baumhover said.

Western Dubuque ran for 213 yards. Ben Burds had 90 and a touchdown.

Western Dubuque was coming off a 7-6 upset of Xavier last week. The Bobcats play Solon next week, but Baumhover said they weren't looking back or ahead.

'We were solely focused on this game,” he said. 'We knew we had to play well to win.”

Western Dubuque Coach Justin Penner said the slow start was nothing new.

'Our biggest opponent has been us,” said Penner, who became the coach in July. 'It's a pretty special group. I didn't think taking over so late that I would build the attachments I have with these guys.”

Penner is guiding his seventh playoff team. He also coached at Carroll Kemper and Mason City,

Marion (1-6, 0-4) lost its sixth straight and was all but eliminated from a playoff berth.

The Indians were led by Kory Walsh's 87 yards rushing. The only scores came on a 16-yard pass from Gage Kray to Hayden Meisterling in the third.