Published: November 07, 2009 02:01 am      

Preston advances to state football semifinals

Second-quarter touchdowns lead Trojans to win

Herald Staff Report

MAYNARD — Friday’s 8-player quarterfinal with Preston and West Central Maynard featured the classic battle between size versus speed.

For the second time this season, speed won as the Trojans earned a trip to the UNI-Dome with a 42-26 victory. Preston, in its second season of eight-player football, will travel to Cedar Falls on Thursday to square off against Lenox at 1 p.m. Lenox (12-0), the defending state champion, beat Tri-County 43-20 on Friday. It will be Preston’s first trip to the dome since its 10-7 Class A championship game loss to Schleswig in 1988.

A late touchdown keyed the Trojans’ 23-22 victory against West Central earlier this year. This time, the defense stymied the Blue Devils in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.

Preston coach Kevin Behr said the victory was another testament to the team’s work ethic.

“They had put up a lot of points during the season,” Behr said. “We were undersized, but there was no quit in them. They won’t let anyone tell them how small they are. They’re awful big in one category and that’s heart.”

Tied 14-14 after the first quarter, Preston (12-0) running back Lucas Assenmacher rumbled in from 1-yard out to give the Trojans a 21-14 second-quarter edge. In the waning moments of the first half, David Jacobs picked off a West Central (10-2) pass and returned it 11 yards to give the Trojans a final shot at the end zone.

As time expired in the second quarter, Jason Feddersen found Shawn Assenmacher for a 6-yard touchdown pass, providing Preston with a 28-14 halftime lead, and momentum heading into the second half.

“(West Central) tried to go deep, but David outjumped the receiver and made a nice return,” Behr said. “(We) had gotten rid of the pregame jitters, and it showed how mentally tough they were to complete the drive before the half.”

Behr also said a goal-line stand, where the Trojans stuffed West Central twice inside the 1-yard-line, proved to be a turning point in the second quarter. After the stand, Preston marched the length of the field, culminated by Lucas Assenmacher’s 1-yard plunge.

The Blue Devils tacked on 12 third-quarter points, but Kyle Feller’s 12-yard touchdown run, coupled with Thomas Kirsten’s extra point, kept the Trojans from needing a late touchdown to win, as it did in the season’s earlier meeting. Lucas Assenmacher punched in an insurance score in the fourth quarter, which proved to be more than enough as the Trojans held the potent West Central offense to zero fourth-quarter points. West Central tallied 77 offensive touchdowns in 11 games this season.

“(The players) are happy, of course, as is the whole town, but we don’t want to end the year at 12-1,” Behr said. “It’s week to week, step by step, and I talked to the team that step 12 is down, and we need to work on 13 now.”

Feller totaled 210 of Preston’s 289 rushing yards. Feddersen added 59 yards on 3-of-7 passing with two touchdowns. West Central, which entered the game averaging 381 yards per game, mustered 318 total yards.

Scoring by quarters

Preston 14 14 7 7 — 42

West Central 14 0 12 0 — 26

First quarter

W — Kaleb Buhrow 3 run (Buhrow run)

P — Kyle Feller 56 run (Thomas Kirsten kick)

P — Austin Hughes 25 pass from Jason Feddersen (Kirsten kick)

W — Burow 5 run (pass failed)

Second quarter

P — Lucas Assenmacher 1 run (Kirsten kick)

P — Shawn Assenmacher 6 pass from Feddersen (Kirsten kick)

Third quarter

W — Buhrow 20 pass from Brady Byerly (pass failed)

P — Feller 12 run (Kirsten kick)

W — Buhrow 65 pass from Byerly (run failed)

Fourth quarter

P — Lucas Assenmacher 1 run (Kirsten kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Preston, Kyle Feller 27-210, Lucas Assenmacher 13-38, Feddersen 7-34, Austin Hughes 1-7; West Central, Dustin Bunn 15-69, Buhrow 8-42, Byerly 18-88.

PASSING — Preston, Feddersen 3-7-1 for 59 yards, 2 TD; Byerly 7-17-1 for 140 yards, Buhrow 0-2-0.

RECEIVING — Preston, Hughes 2-53, Shawn Assenmacher 1-6; West Central, Jake Johnston 2-(-1), Buhrow 5-132, D.J. Bivins 1-9.