West Branch stops Beavers

The Warriors ended Beaver Local's 21-game regular season streak 28-6.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
ROGERS -- The West Branch High football team continued one streak and ended another Friday night.
The Warriors forced five turnovers and burned Beaver Local with big plays on both sides of the ball en route to a 28-6 road victory in a match up of 2004 playoff teams.
It was the 12th straight victory over the Beavers for West Branch, which now holds a 19-2-2 advantage in the series that dates back to 1960. The teams had not played since 1993.
In the process, West Branch ended Beaver Local's 21-game regular season winning streak. The Beavers had not tasted defeat in the regular season since the 2002 season-finale against Edison.
Close until the end
The contest was closer than the final score may indicate. Despite turning the ball over five times, Beaver was still in the game until late in the fourth quarter. It wasn't until Patrick Stecker's 45-yard touchdown run with 2:07 remaining that West Branch put the Beavers away.
It was the second touchdown of the game for Stecker, a 5-foot-8, 150-pound receiver/defensive back. And while latter score sealed the West Branch victory, his first proved to be more critical to the game's outcome.
With the Warriors ahead 14-0 late in the second quarter, Beaver Local was driving, thanks to the bruising running of Jim Bowersock. The Beavers pounded the ball down the field, and inside the West Branch 10.
Key interception
But on a third-and-5 and the 6, Stecker stepped in front of a Bobby Flint pass attempt at the 2, cut across the field and returned the interception 98 yards for the score. The return is believed to be a school record.
All of a sudden what easily could have been a 14-7 game turned into a 21-0 West Branch lead at halftime.
"That was a huge turning point in the game," said West Branch coach Bob Altenhof. "Patrick made two nice plays tonight and our defense was able to keep hitting and force them to drop some balls.
"We had some trouble moving the ball consistently tonight, but our big-play guys made plays and we were finally able to put together a nice drive to seal it up."
Produced five turnovers
Although the West Branch (2-0) defense surrendered 369 yards rushing, including 163 by Bowersock, the unit came up with the big hits at just the right times. The Warriors recovered three fumbles, including two in the first half with the Beavers driving, and had two interceptions.
The offense turned to its speed and big-play potential, jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. After recovering a Beaver Local fumble on the Beavers‚ opening drive, Eric Balputnis ripped off a 42-yard run on the first offensive play. That set up Scott Thomas' 6-yard TD run on the next play.
On West Branch's next possession, Thomas hauled in a shovel pass from quarterback Matt Catania, bounced off several tacklers and darted 74 yards for the score. That put the Warriors ahead by two scores.
Beaver Local (1-1) coach Rich Wright, while disappointed with the loss, thought his squad played West Branch pretty even, except on a few critical plays.
"They're pretty good, but I didn't think we played as well as we can," said Wright. "We were able to move the ball, but we made some crucial mistakes in the red zone. They dropped the ball a few times, too, but they fell on their fumbles.
"We got rattled a couple of times and that interception hurt because it could have been 14-14 at halftime, but instead it was 21-0. I just think with the exception of five or six plays, we hung with them. Hopefully, we can get on another streak and meet up with them again."