Published: October 29, 2009 06:58 am      

Football roundup: West Branch overpowers Bellevue

Herald Staff Report

WEST BRANCH — Bellevue found the going tough on offense and had trouble stopping West Branch when the Bears had the ball, falling 34-6 in an Iowa Class 1A substate football game Wednesday night.

The Bears scored twice in each of the first two quarters, building a 28-0 halftime lead. They outgained Bellevue 252-42 in the half.

West Branch (10-0), ranked third in the state, held Bellevue’s 1,000-yard rusher, Chase Junk, to 48 yards on 14 carries, and the Comets combined for 42 yards rushing on 20 carries.

Meanwhile, the Bears piled up 280 yards on the ground, most from Cole Kelly. He finished with 205 yards on 24 carries and scored twice. Kelly wasted no time getting rolling, either. He carried the ball eight times on West Branch’s opening possession, finishing the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

The Comets (6-4) avoided the shutout early in the fourth quarter when Bret Boeckenstedt threw a long pass that Derek Hammann ran under and hauled in for a 74-yard touchdown play. Boeckenstedt was 4-for-20 for 120 yards.

WEST BRANCH 34, BELLEVUE 6

Scoring by quarters

Bellevue 0 0 0 6 – 6

West Branch 14 14 6 0 – 34

WB – Cole Kelly 2 run (Brandon Young kick).

WB — Travis Kaufman 1 run (Young kick).

WB — Kelly 23 run (Young kick).

WB — Logan Murry 18 pass from Kaufman (Young kick).

WB — Murry 29 interception return (Kaufman pass failed).

B — Derek Hammann 74 pass from Bret Boeckenstedt (kick failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Bellevue, Chase Junk 14-48, Trevor Roling 4-3, Bret Boeckenstedt 2-minus-8. West Branch, Cole Kelly 24-205, Jayson Madsen 9-54, Rilen Carew 8-33, Travis Kaufman 1-1, Travis Maher 1-minus-1, Brandon Young 2-minus-7.

PASSING — Bellevue, Broeckenstedt 4-21-1-120, Derek Hammann 1-1-0-18. West Branch, Kaufman 4-6-0-69, Young 1-4-0-10.

RECEIVING — Bellevue, Hammann 2-105, Roling 2-10, Alex Weinschenk 1-18. West Branch, Logan Murry 2-38, Matt Tucker 1-26, Carew 1-10, Kelly 1-5.

Maquoketa drops third straight

DECORAH — The late-season slump for Maquoketa continued Wednesday as the Cardinals (7-3) were shut out for the second week in a row, closing their season with a 24-0 loss to Decorah in a Class 3A substate game.

Decorah’s Collin White rushed for 122 yards on 24 attempts to leading the Vikings’ ground game. Decorah, a Class 3A finalist a year ago, improved to 8-2.

DECORAH 24, MAQUOKETA 0

Maquoketa 0 0 0 0 — 0

Decorah 0 14 0 10 — 24

D — Chris Wanless 52 pass from Lucas Kane (Cody Sacquitne kick).

D — Zach Kerndt 3 pass from Kane (Sacquitne kick).

D — FG Sacquitne 28.

D — Kane 32 run (Sacquitne kick).