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West Branch hits Grundy Center buzzsaw
by Gregory R. Norfleet · Sports · November 06, 2024
No. 1 Grundy Center lived up to their ranking by defeating West Branch, 42-7, on Friday to close out the Bears’ football season in the Round of 16.
West Branch remained scoreless until senior Ethan Miller picked off a pass and ran it 69 yards the other way for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
With three sacks, four interceptions, only five yards of penalties, and six touchdowns, the Spartans showed why they earned their top ranking in Class 1A and why they have now won 36 games in a row.
“They’re showing their true colors,” Bears Head Coach John Nestor said.
However, Nestor said West Branch did not play to its potential.
“We didn’t do anything well. We struggled with blocking. We struggled with tackling. All the fundamentals … showed their ugly head tonight. We couldn’t get it going. We couldn’t get the ball down the field,” he said. “It was rough.”
Grundy Center scored 35 points before the end of the first half, prompting a running clock, while holding West Branch to 30 yards of total offense. Spartan junior quarterback Judd Jirovsky accounted for four touchdowns — two in the air and two on the ground.
The West Branch coach said he appreciated Miller’s pick-six to “get us on the board.”
“I’m happy for him. That’s his last time he will ever play football and for him to do that as a West Branch Bear, to get a pick-six — he’s going to tell stories about that for a long time,” Nestor chuckled. “I’m sure he’s going to embellish that story, but I was happy for him. It was great!”
West Branch finishes the year by reaching the second round of the playoffs, which seemed improbable with a previous 3-6 record — the Bears outlasted 32 other teams after an upset win over No. 7 Sigourney the week before.
To call it a rollercoaster season would be an understatement. Not only did West Branch face four ranked teams — Regina, Williamsburg. Wilton, and Dike-New Hartford — during the regular season, it lost several starters due to injuries yet still upset a Top Ten team in the playoffs.
Nestor said he talked to the team about how it got this far even with so much going against them.
“At the start of the week, there were 16 teams left in 1A and (we’re) one of them. There were 32 teams this week that wanted to be where we were in practice. For (us) to stick together, to battle, to fight through, and to stay the course and knock out a 1-seed in the first round — that was awesome!” he said. “No one expected that.”
Nestor credited Grundy Center for playing well in all facets of the game.
“They’re obviously coached well and have a good football team. They have a 35-game win streak … and a lot of big guys,” he said. “We’re young. We’re immature. We’ve got to grow up. Those are things we have to fix. When we fix that, the fundamentals start to get fixed. But it starts with us — we have to coach better. It’s not all on the kids. I have to do a better job.”
The coach said that means off-season work for the many starting players who will return in 2025.
“We have a lot of experience coming back,” Nestor said. “I think we have seven to eight young guys on both sides of the ball, a lot of them both ways, who are going to come back. That’s a lot of experience. I’m excited about that.”
The coach said he would spend the weekend thinking about the seniors and their parents and their contributions to the team before he starts thinking about next year’s team.
“I’m overall somewhat happy with how this year went, which sounds weird. You go 2-6, you limp into the playoffs, but you knock out a one-seed — that felt awesome, I was so happy for these guys,” he said.
However, he finds it confusing to look only at the team’s record when the Bears faced one of the toughest schedules in its class.
“If you look at the playoffs right now, there’s four or five teams going into tonight that were on our schedule that are still in the playoffs,” Nestor said. “Beckman was the other team, but they lost last week. We played a hard schedule, we have a young team and we’ll have a lot of guys back. The future’s exciting.”
Losing hurts, he said, “but we’re going to bounce back.”
West Branch played three different quarterbacks in 2024 but will bid farewell to senior Connor Rios with graduation. During the Grundy Center game, this reporter heard Spartan coaches wondering why junior Brennen Dale was not under center — since that is who they scouted — not knowing Dale stepped away from that position due to an arm injury.
Nestor said Dale and junior Nolan Staker, who captained the team through the playoffs, will get time to heal and improve and duke it out for that starting role in 2025.
“There is no quarterback controversy, is there?” the coach laughed. “It’s a long year from now. Brennen plays basketball and all these kids are active. I’m hoping he gets healthy. I don’t have any doubts he’ll get healthy.”
He said the Bears’ roster includes talented players in both skill positions and power positions who will return.
“There’s a lot of positions: The Gates boys, Dale and Nolan (and Brandon Pedersen) — there’s a lot of guys back,” Nestor said. “Bodee and Mike Montgomery. There’s a lot of guys who weren’t out here tonight who definitely could have helped us. The future’s bright here. There’s a lot of guys coming back. It sucks to lose, but there are positives we’ve taken away from this year.”
The Bears finish the season with a 3-7 record; the Spartans advance to the quarterfinal round and host Sumner-Fredericksburg on Friday in Grundy Center, with the winner advancing to the University of Northern Iowa Dome for the semis.
Highlights
West Branch opened with game by kicking off and the returner stopping the ball at the Grundy Center 26. Aside from a five-yard offsides penalty against the Bears, the Spartans moved the ball eight to 10 yards per play by mixing the run and the pass, with junior quarterback Judd Jirovsky calling his own number for the final eight-yard run.
Junior Aiden Betts kicked the extra point and the home team led 7-0 less than three minutes into the game.
A touchback put West Branch on its 20, and runs by junior quarterback Nolan Staker and a pass to junior receiver Oliver Trepanier picked up a first down. But two sacks that combined for 15 yards and an illegal motion penalty had the Bears punting on fourth and 30 from their 18.
Grundy Center struggled in this drive, losing two yards on a Bear tackle for loss and losing a down after a Spartan facemask call before punting to a touchback.
The Bears’ second drive included a TFL and a sack, with West Branch punting on fourth and 23 from their eight-yard line.
Grundy Center returned that punt to the Bear 24, eached the 12, and threw a pass to senior Tiernan Vokes for the second touchdown of the night. Betts’ second PAT made the score 14-0 after about 10 minutes.
West Branch went three-and-out, and the punt rolled to the Spartan 35.
The return drive entered the second quarter, and on second and 14 from their 31, then Jirovsky threw a 49-yard pass to senior Brody Zinkula to put the home team just 10 yards out. A fake handoff allowed Jirovsky to sweep left and score untouched and Betts made his third extra point of the night for a 21-0 lead.
On the subsequent kickoff, the ball bounced off the chest of the returner, who scrambled after it. He and a Spartan player both landed on the ball and referees determined that West Branch got the recovery.
However, on the first play from the Bear 16, Grundy Center senior Ryker Thoren picked off the pass and returned it to the West Branch 26.
West Branch held the line, allowing only four yards before Grundy Center turned the ball over on downs. Three plays later, the Spartans picked off another pass, this time by Jirovsky, bringing the ball to the Bear 8.
Two handoffs to Spartan junior Pete Lebo covered seven yards, then Jirovsky ran a sneak for the final plunge. Betts’ kick made it 28-0 with under seven minutes to halftime.
Starting on their own 23 for the next drive, West Branch handed the ball to sophomore Keaton Gates for a 12-yard, tackle-shaking run for a first down at the Bear 35. A catch by senior Connor Rios and keepers by junior quarterback Nolan Staker got the ball to the West Branch 47. However, a passing play got cut off by Lebo, who ran the ball back to the 15.
Again the West Branch defense dug in, but on fourth and nine from the Bear 14, Jirovsky connected with Vokes for Grundy Center’s fifth touchdown.
Betts made it five for five on PATs, and the home team led 35-0 with three minutes until the break.
The kickoff also started a running clock due to the 35-point rule, and the Bears began the next drive on their 25. Two plays in, the Spartans called a time-out and the Bears made no forward progress.
After an incomplete pass by West Branch, Grundy Center called another timeout. West Branch returned to the field to punt it away. The home team brought the ball back ot their 42 and time expired before after a short run.
To open the second half, Grundy Center kicked off and West Branch junior Cooper Gates returned the ball to the Bear 21. Three plays later, Spartan junior Grant Newston made himself the fourth player to intercept a West Branch pass, giving the ball to the home team at the West Branch 36.
Jirovsky ran for 22 yards to the 14, then three more plays got down to the Bear 5-yard line. On fourth and one, Grundy Center got called for delay of game, losing five yards. But Zinkula covered all 11 yards on the fourth-and-six to score.
Betts made it 42-0 midway through the third quarter.
West Branch went three-and-out from their 19, punting away to a fair catch at the Spartan 48.
Grundy Center sent in senior Brayden Wallis at quarterback and the drive entered the fourth quarter with the ball getting down to the Bear 31. On fourth and 14, a passing attempt got cut off at the 25 by Bear senior Ethan Miller, who ran along the Spartan sideline. Junior Cooper Gates provided a key block to give Miller an open field, and the senior outran another tackle to score a 69-yard pick-six.
Junior Reece Gingerich kicked the extra point, and West Branch got on the board for the first time with about 10 minutes left to go in the game.
Grundy Center went three-and-out, punting to the Bear 45. The Bears could not move the ball and gave it back on downs.
The Spartans put in their third quarterback, freshman Lake Schrage, and the drive looked to stall until a personal foul call against West Branch provided Grundy Center with 15 yards and a first down on the Bear 23. The home team took a knee to run out the clock and end the game, 42-7.
West Branch 7, Grundy Center 42
Scoring
West Branch 0 0 0 7 7
Grundy Center 14 21 7 0 42
WB Grundy Ctr.
First downs 3 16
1st downs: Rush-pass-penalty 2-1-0 8-7-1
Rushing yards 9 122
Passing: Completions-Attempts 4-16 9-18
Passing yards 21 154
Passing: TD-Interceptions 0-4 2-1
Total plays 33 48
Offensive yards 30 276
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-40 1-5
Defensive sacks-yards lost 0-0 3-29
Time of possession 20:53 27:07
3rd down efficiency 1 of 8 2 of 8
4th down efficiency 0 of 1 1 of 3
Punts-average yards 5-33.59 2-40.5
First quarter
GC: Judd Jirovsky 8 run; Aiden Betts kick; 9:12
GC: Jirovsky 12-yard pass to Tiernan Vokes; Betts kick; 1:38
Second quarter
GC: Jirovsky 7 run; Betts kick; 10:38
GC: Jirovsky 1 run; Betts kick; 6:36
GC: Jirovsky 14-yard pass to Vokes; Betts kick; 2:55
Third quarter
GC: Brody Zinkula 11-yard run; Betts kick; 6:13
WB: Ethan Miller 69-yard pick-six; Reece Gingerich kick; 10:14
Passing: Nolan Staker 4-21, 4 INT
Rushing: Keaton Gates 6-16; Nolan Staker 10-(-7). Team totals: 17-9
Receiving: Oliver Trepanier 1-16; Connor Rios 2-0; Ethan Miller 1-5. Team totals: 4-21
Tackling (solo-assist-sack): Brennen Dale 1-1-0; Oliver Trepanier 2-2-0; Connor Rios 6-1-0; Brandon Pedersen 2-0-0 Logan Christoffel 0-1-0; Ethan Miller 1 INT, 1 touchdown; Keaton Gates 1-2-0; Cash Hatfield 3-4-0, 1 TFL; Cooper Gates 4-4-0, 1.5 TFL; Conner Capper 0-2-0; Lincoln Naber 3-1-0, 2.5 TFL; Tate Frantz 2-4-0, 2 TFL. Team totals: 24-22-0, 7 TFLs, 1 INT, 1 touchdown.
Kick returns: Keaton Gates 3-47; Cooper Gates 2-22. Team totals: 5-69
Punt return: 1 fair catch
Punting: Nolan Staker 5-144
Kicking: Reese Gingerich 2-73
PAT: Reese Gingerich 1-1
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