Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

The Western Boone football team knows they still have work to do to get where they want to be at the end of the season. But they are continuing to come along, and with another quick-scoring explosion, did enough to top Western 26-0 and improve to 2-0. Head coach Justin Pelley was proud of the way the team handled some of the adversity this week – from changing practice times, to the game being suspended Friday night until Saturday morning – and hopes it builds some of the character they will need to have to be successful. “That’s how football is, so it’s good but at the same time we have to grow up a little bit too,” Pelley said. “We have to embrace that adversity, because the other team is dealing with it as well. So we have to learn from it, adjust and modify.” The Stars led 3-0 when the game was suspended at the end of the first quarter. After a punt, the Stars drove down to the Western 25, but fumbled the ball away to end the threat. But after they got the ball back, they showed the quick-strike ability that led them to a win over Sheridan in Week 1. First with 2:52 to play in the half, Brandon Potter found Quinn Westerfeld for a 25-yard touchdown on fourth down. Two plays later, Westerfeld made his presence known again, intercepting a pass and returning it to the 1 yard line, setting up a 1-yard Potter touchdown run. “It’s all about confidence with him,” Pelley said of Westerfeld. “He is a great athlete, and one of the best athletes we have. Hopefully he gets to the point where he is playing fast because he understands what’s going on. The more he plays, the better he is going to get.” After a Western punt, the Stars went to work again, needing just three plays to go 48 yards, scoring on a 26-yard pass from Potter to Marcus Fortner. It was a 2:52 sequence where the Stars where they ran just five plays, but gained 74 yards and scored three times. freestar “In our two-minute drill we are pretty good and are able to open it up a little bit,” Pelley said. “That is two weeks in a row where we scored in a two-minute situation, which is awesome, but at the same time we have to be able to do the rest of the game too – and that’s on us.” Neither team could mount much offensively in the second half. Western Boone added a safety when a bad snap on a punt resulted in the Western punter kicking it out of the back of the end zone. The only question was whether the Stars would pitch the shutout, and they did so in emphatic fashion, never letting the Panthers come close to scoring. The Panthers had just 110 yards of offense and eight first downs gained. The Stars haven’t allowed a point in their last six quarters played. “I like how we are just plugging people in and they are stepping up,” Pelley said. “Maverick Kraus was out for a couple of weeks, and he played some middle linebacker today and did pretty good. Coach Brunes prepares like no other, but guys are doing their jobs and accept their roles.” Potter was 11 of 13 for 137 yards and two scores passing. Mason Amich carried 28 times for 145 yards. Fortner had six catches for 80 yards. The Stars face Crawfordsville next week. Pelley said the Stars want to focus on consistency on the offensive side on the ball. “We had too many empty drives,” Pelley said. “We threw an interception last night before the rain, and that was on me – we were trying to take a shot. But we had a possession inside the 2 yard line, and not being able to score is demoralizing. We’ve got to be able to run the ball when everybody knows we’re going to run it. We aren’t there yet.” Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.