 |
| Durant quarterback Bryce Lafrenz tries to get away from a West Branch defensive lineman during the Wildcats game with the Bears last week. |
By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor
DURANT — The 8th ranked West Branch Bears found themselves in an unusual position last Friday in Durant. Trailing in late in the fourth quarter at Durant, 23-21. It was the second, second half lead that Durant held on the state ranked Bears with just over four minutes left in the football game. The Wildcats took a 23-21 lead on a crazy play. Quarterback Bryce Lafrenz saw receiver Cole Miedema get a step on his defender, Brett Schiele, but as the football got near, Schiele recovered and nearly made an athletic one-handed interception, but he couldn’t haul it in and the ball tipped out of his hand, into the waiting hands of Marcus Engstler, who was running a trail receiving route, and crossed the goal line with the go-ahead touchdown. The Bears didn’t get down though, and their special teams made a big play with a block of the Wildcats PAT to keep the score at a two-point game. Durant had it’s chance to knock off the state ranked Bears, they just needed one more defensive stop.
It wasn’t meant to be though. West Branch junior quarterback/placekicker Beau Cornwell guided the Bears into field goal range in seven plays and made a clutch 42-yard field goal with 48 seconds left in the game to give West Branch a one-point victory, 24-23. Durant had one more chance, but Wildcat quarterback Bryce Lafrenz was intercepted by Evan O’Neil as the Wildcats were trying to get in position to get a winning score. Cornwell is tied for third in all classes with six made field goals and is the leader in placekicking in district 3. The late Cornwell kick helped the Bears to a 6-0 overall record and 4-0 district record. The Bears took over sole possession of the district by one game after Maquoketa Valley beat Clayton Ridge Friday. The Eagles were the only other unbeaten team in district 3. They now are tied with Bellevue and Maquoketa Valley for second behind the Bears. The Wildcats fall to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in district 3 play. They are tied with Tipton and North Cedar at 1-3 in district 3 and the Wildcats travel to Tipton Friday night.
The Bears have won the last four games between the two schools by a combined score of 193 to 55 since the 28-20 West Branch win at Durant in 2012. Durant has now played three state ranked teams in the past four weeks - West Branch, Bellevue and Maquoketa Valley.
Durant had 13 first downs and 282 yards of total offense. Durant quarterback Bryce Lafrenz passed for a season high 254 yards passing on 15-of-25 attempts. Lafrenz eclipsed his season high the week before of 185 yards in a road win at North Cedar. He also had three touchdown passes. Mason Compton, Engstler and Tristan Hughes caught scoring passes. Compton topped 100 receiving yards for the second straight game, hauling in six passes for 101 yards. Cale Frett and Hughes caught three passes for 68 and 48 yards. Lafrenz led Durant in rushing with 29 yards on 14 carries. Defensively, Zach Badtram and Dawson Frett each had 14 tackles. The Wildcats held the Bears to their lowest point total in a game this season at 24. The previous low was 30 in a week 2 win at West Burlington-Notre Dame.
Cornwell passed for 222 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 20 yards in the game. Tanner Lukavsky rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Ben Thompson caught nine passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Dalyn Pedersen and John Hatfield each had 9 tackles while Cameron Howsare and Jacob Graves each had 7.
West Branch also will stay in the county when the Bears play at North Cedar Friday.
West Branch led 14-7 after the first quarter after Durant scored first. A 29-yard pass from Cornwell to Thompson and a Lukavsky 5-yard run gave the Bears the lead. Durant scored the only points in the second quarter on a safety with 7:13 left before halftime when the Beavers snapped the football over the head of their punter and out of the endzone.
The Wildcats also scored the only points in the third quarter, taking a 17-14 lead with 6:47 left in the quarter on a 25-yard pass from Lafrenz to Mason Compton.
Another Cornwell to Thompson scoring pass early in the fourth quarter gave West Branch the lead back at 21-17 before the thrilling ending.
Team Statistics:
DUR WB
First Downs 13 17
Rushes-Yards 28-28 33-122
Comp-Att-Int 16-38-1 17-29-2
Passing Yards 254 222
Punts-Avg. 7-27.7 2-41
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 6-45 5-40
Total yards 282 344
Quarter Scores:
1 2 3 4 Final
Durant 7 2 8 6 23
West Branch 14 0 0 10 24
Scoring Summary:
1st Qtr (6:32) - DUR – Tristan Hughes 30-yard pass from Bryce Lafrenz (Hector Gonzales kick)
1st Qtr (4:16) - WB – Ben Thompson 29-yard pass from Beau Cornwell (Beau Cornwell kick)
1st Qtr (1:29) - WB – Tanner Lukavsky 5-yard run (Beau Cornwell kick)
2nd Qtr (7:13) - DUR – Team Safety
3rd Qtr (6:47) - DUR – Mason Compton 25-yard pass from Bryce Lafrenz (Bryce Lafrenz pass)
4th Qtr (8:07) - WB – Ben Thompson 32-yard pass from Beau Cornwell (Beau Cornwell kick)
4th Qtr (4:06) - DUR – Marcus Engstler 16-yard pass from Bryce Lafrenz (Kick failed)
4th Qtr (0:48) - WB – Beau Cornwell 42-yard Field Goal
Individual Statistics:
Rushing: West Branch - Tanner Lukavsky 12-66, Jacob Graves 13-46, Beau Cornwell 10-20. Durant - Bryce Lafrenz 14-29, Tristan Hughes 9-6, Cale Frett 3-10, Mason Compton 1-(-3).
Passing: West Branch - Beau Cornwell 17-for-29 222 yards 2 TD’s, 2 INT’s. Durant - Bryce Lafrenz 15-for-25 254 yards, 3 TD’s, 1 INT.
Receiving: West Branch - Ben Thompson 9-176, Jacob Graves 3-30, Brett Schiele 2-3, Tanner Lukavsky 2-(-2), Peter Espensen 1-15. Durant - Mason Compton 6-101, Cale Frett 3-68, Tristan Hughes 3-48, Cole Miedema 2-21, Marcus Engstler 1-16.
Defensive Statistics:
Tackles (S-A-T): West Branch - Dalyn Pedersen 3-6 9, John Hatfield 5-4 9, Cameron Howsare 3-4 7, Jacob Graves 2-5 7, Andrew Black 2-2 4, Brett Schiele 2-2 4, Ben Thompson 4-0 4, Jeff Bowie 0-3 3, Jacob Barnhart 1-2 3, Billy Friis 2-1 3, Evan O’Neil 1-1 2, Peter Espenen 1-0 1, Dakota Kalbert 1-0 1, Tanner Lukavsky 1-0 1.
Durant - Zac Badtram 7-7 14, Dawson Frett 4-10 14, Tristan Hughes 7-4 11, Marcus Engstler 3-6 9, Curtis Lilienthal 3-3 6, Cale Frett 3-3 6, Mason Bird 1-4 5, Joe Lilienthal 0-5 5, Bryce Lafrenz 1-3 4, Jonah Wirth 2-2 4, Ethan Schlapkohl 1-2 3, Carter Voelkers 1-1 2, Mason Compton 1-2 3, Kegan Head 1-0 1, Cameron Ruggiero 0-1 1, Jake Willkomm 0-1 1.
Tackles For Loss: West Branch - Dalyn Pedersen 2, John Hatfield 2, Jeff Bowie 2, Andrew Black 2, Jacob Barnhart 1, Billy Friis 1, Jacob Graves 1, Cameron Howsare 1, Tanner Lukavsky 1. Durant - N/A.
Sacks: West Branch - Jeff Bowie 2, Dalyn Pedersen 2, Cameron Howsare 1, Billy Friis 1, Andrew Black 1, Jacob Barnhart 1. Durant - N/A.
Interceptions: West Branch - Evan O’Neil 1-28 yards. Durant - Mason Compton 1-25 yards, Curtis Lilienthal 1-0 yards.
Fumble Recoveries: West Branch - John Hatfield 1. Durant - none.
Kicking Statistics:
Kick-Offs: West Branch - Javier Zamudio 5-221 yards, Beau Cornwell 1-60 yards. Durant - Hector Gonzales 4-195 yards.
Kick-Off Returns: West Branch - Brett Schiele 3-47, Jacob Graves 1-22. Durant - Mason Compton 4-66 yards.
Punts: West Branch - Beau Cornwell 2-82 yards, 41.0-yard ave. Durant - Bryce Lafrenz 6-173 yards, 28.8-yard ave.
Punt Returns: West Branch - Brett Schiele 1-(-5). Durant - N/A.
PAT’s: West Branch - Beau Cornwell 3-for-3. Durant - Hector Gonzales 1-for-2.
No comments:
Post a Comment