Published: November 05, 2009 07:15 am      

Preston ready for football rematch

By Jon Gremmels

Herald Sports Editor

PRESTON — Home field or previous results. What carries more weight? Preston coach Kevin Behr isn’t sure, and he doesn’t know if it matters as his fifth-ranked Trojans football team prepares to face No. 8 West Central on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Iowa Eight-Player high school football playoffs.

Preston (11-0) handed West Central its lone loss of the season when it beat the Blue Devils 23-22 on Oct. 2. But that game was in Preston, and the 7 p.m. rematch is in Maynard, a town just northeast of Oelwein.

“I don’t know if either team has an advantage,” Behr said Wednesday night.

He does know one thing, though.

“We’ve talked to the team about how hard of a fight it’s going to be,” he said.

West Central has built its 10-1 record with a powerful running game that features a pair of 1,000-yard rushers — seniors Kaleb Buhrow (1,223 yards, 20 touchdowns) and Dustin Bunn (1,042 yards, 23 touchdowns). But Behr said the Blue Devils could do more than run.

“They’re a little more diverse (since the first matchup),” he said. “They’re throwing a little more, and that has made them tougher.”

Behr said West Central’s size was a concern, too. It has five players who weigh 225 pounds or more, including quarterback Brad Byerly, and three players tip the scales at 265 or heavier.

While the Trojans will see a different Blue Devils team, the reverse is true, too.

“I’d like to feel we’re slightly better,” Behr said. “We have changed a few people’s positions around, and I think it has made us a better team.”

Like West Central, Preston has a strong running game, led by senior Kyle Feller (210 carries, 1,316 yards).

Behr also has seen improvement from sophomore quarterback Jason Feddersen, who threw a key touchdown pass in the final seconds of the first half in the first meeting to help rally Preston. Feddersen has passed for 707 yards and run for 550, with a team-high 16 touchdowns on the ground.

“That (first meeting) was back six games ago, almost three-quarters of a season,” Behr said. “So far in the playoffs, he has been playing well.”

The same could be said for the rest of the Trojans. After beating Clarksville 73-0 in the substate round, they defeated No. 11 Northeast Hamilton 33-20 on Monday.

West Central advanced with a 32-28 win against Janesville, followed by a 52-36 victory against No. 10 Corwith CWL on Monday.

The similarities and differences should create an interesting rematch, with the winner advancing to the semifinals a week from today in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

“It’s definitely a different situation than last week with Northeast Hamilton, when we hadn’t seen them at all,” Behr said about studying film and scouting reports for a team it has played already. “I’m sure both of us have few new wrinkles that weren’t around in Game 6.”