Wahawk Athletics

By JIM NELSON, jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com | Posted: Friday, September 9, 2011 11:45 pm

WATERLOO, Iowa --- One hit the upright, and the other split it.

The difference was inches.

Dubuque Senior's Brent Wilker connected on a 20-yard field goal in the first overtime to lift the Rams to a 24-21 Mississippi Valley Conference football win over Waterloo West Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Senior twice rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter, scoring on a Robby Jones 1-yard plunge with four seconds left to force overtime.

The Wahawks (0-3) missed a 20-yard field goal with the first possession of overtime.

The win snapped a 13-game losing streak for the Rams (1-2).

"That one kick wasn't the game," West coach Lonnie Moore said. "That wasn't the game. There was other stuff that happened throughout the game.

"My wish is these guys can't let one turn into two, so we can't let this affect us next week. We have to learn from it, turn the page and get better. I love these guys, they work their tails off."

The teams were tied at halftime, 7-7, and the second half was a barnburner.

Wahawk back-up quarterback Brandon Tovar hit Skyler Capelle with a 31-yard pass in the third quarter to give West a 14-7 lead.

After Senior tied it in the fourth quarter, West answered with a 14-play, 78-yard drive capped by a 7-yard Dequayvious Martin with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left.

"That was a heck of a drive," Moore said. "That was great for our team. We just have to make more plays and have less mistakes. I think we had three turnovers. Those things come back to haunt you."

Martin led West with 146 yards on 31 carries.

But the Rams (1-2) responded with their own gut-check drive, marching 78 yards in 14 plays before Jones barely pushed the ball across the goal line to tie it and force overtime.

The key play was a 34-yard pass from Jones to Brandon Richey on a fourth-and-13 from the Ram 30-yard line.

West scored on its opening drive, an eight-play, 79-yard drive culminating in a 1-yard Shawn Bowers touchdown run with 8 minutes, 25 seconds left.

It stayed that way until Zayne Moore broke off a 54-yard run to set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Robby Jones to Jordan Kalmes that was batted up into the air by a Wahawk defender before Kalmes grabbed it with 4:03 left in the second quarter.

West hurt itself with three first-half turnovers - one interception and two lost fumbles.

Senior 0 7 0 14 3 - 24
West   7 0 7  7 0 - 21

West - Shawn Bowers 1 run (Haris Hadzalic kick)
Senior - Jordan Kalmes 5 pass from Robby Jones (Brent Wilker kick)
West - Skyler Capelle 31 pass from Brandon Tovar (Hadzalic kick)
Senior - Jones 2 run (Wilker kick)
West - Dequayvious Martin 7 run (Hadzalic kick)
Senior - Jones 1 run (Wilker kick)
Senior - Wilker 20 FG

TEAM STATISTICS
                          DS            WW
First downs          12              22
Rushes-yards   32-156        55-260
Passing Yards    156            124
Passes            18-26-2      10-15-1
Return yards         0                0
Punts-avg.         3-22.0          0-0
Fumbles-lost       1-0             2-2
Penalties-yards   6-32           7-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
SENIOR - Zayne Moore 23-153, Jones 8-2, Alex Duster 1-1.
WEST - Martin 31-146, Bowers 13-87, Tovar 10-44, Rashon Burrell 1-3.

Passing
SENIOR - Jones 18-26-2, 156 yards.
WEST - Bowers 5-7-0, 52 yards; Tovar 5-8-1, 72 yards.

Receiving
SENIOR - Keegan Gallery 6-60, Brandon Richey 4-51, Kalmes 1-12, Wilker 3-17, Moore 2-13, Jon Powers 1-12, Ethan Lembke 1-3.
WEST - Zach Newell 3-22, Martin 3-34, Elliott Moeller 2-21, Alex Brown 1-16, Capelle 1-22.