The Westside Warriors started the playoffs hot with a big win against Bellevue West on a cold Halloween night. With Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and their offensive coordinator on the sideline the Warriors impressed, fighting their way through the cold with a 42-7 win. It was the defense that shined, holding the Thunderbirds to one scoring drive and 190 yards on the day while highlighted by a Hudson Mead pick six which was the sixth defensive touchdown by the Warriors this season.
Offensively the Warriors put up 240 yards, considerably less than their average but most of the time they had the ball within Bellevue West’s territory. Quarterback Braylen Warren threw the rock for 136 along with three touchdown passes and one on the ground. Tay Tay Jenkins, although held to 91 yards rushing most of which came on a 40 yard scamper, added another touchdown to his tally and still leads all of Class A in touchdowns. Three separate receivers hauled in a touchdown for the Warriors – Mo purify, Bryson Williams, and Eli Johnson each caught a touchdown.
Defensively Burke Brown had a team leading eight tackles including four tackles for loss. Westside’s defense also forced four turnovers, three interceptions and a fumble, bringing their turnover total to 21 on the season. This has been the bread and butter for the Warriors, providing short field for the offense to work with.
“Turnovers have been our biggest key I think,” Brown said. “Our goal is to get the offense the ball and let them work.”
In the quarterfinals, the Warriors look ahead to the 7-3 Kearney Bearcats. The Bearcats are the #9 seed in the tournament and are coming off a big win against Columbus 24-7. Kearney is once again going to hit the road and take the long drive to Omaha to play the Warriors.
The last time these two teams met was in 2023 where the Warriors beat down Kearney 56-0. The Warriors have won the last three games in this matchup with the Bearcats’ last win coming in the 2017 state quarterfinals. This will only be the fifth time in the last eight years these teams will meet and only the second time in the playoffs.
Kearney is led by quarterback Zach Atchison who passed for 98 yards and a touchdown against Columbus. Overall on the season, he has passed for 618 yards and five touchdowns along with adding two more on the ground. Alongside Atchison in the backfield is running back Levi Pofahl who leads the Bearcats in rushing with 528 yards and 7 touchdowns with two games over 100 yards rushing. Receiving has not been the Bearcats’ strong suit, with the highest in yardage coming from junior Canon Cope who has 210 on the season. Only four players above 100 yards and no others have over 200 yards receiving.
On the defensive side it has been an up and down season for Kearney, allowing 140 points in their three losses on the season. However their biggest weapon, just like the Warriors, have been turnovers. The Bearcats have forced 15 interceptions and nine fumbles for 24 turnovers all together, averaging over two a game. The Bearcat defense has also allowed 10+ points in only five games this season going 2-3 in those games. In the other five games they have been a lockdown force, starting the season with back to back shutouts and having three in total this season.
This game will show a lot from both teams. Kearney is looking to drive into Phelps and hand the Warriors their second home loss this season, the first coming from Omaha Central. Kearney has done it before this season knocking off then ranked Omaha North. Westside looks to make another statement win after beating the T-birds in the first round. If the Warriors win, they will most likely face off against Millard South in the state semi finals which would be a rematch of the state championship game from last year.
“We never want to overlook a team, they [Kearney] came into the metro and a couple of years ago they knocked off Bell West,” Brown said. “They are a team that we have a lot of respect for but we have to go in and play our game.”
