West Fork wraps up regular season with a win over North Butler

ROCKWELL — The West Fork Warhawk football team wrapped up the regular season in style Friday night with a 35-22 Class A, District 3 win over the North Butler Bearcats.

This was the first varsity football game played at the Rockwell facility since 2009.

West Fork finished in a three-way tie with Lake Mills and Mason City Newman Catholic in the district standings with a 3-2 record and improved its overall mark to 4-2.

The Bearcats went 1-4 in district competition and are 3-4 overall.

Both teams now gear up for the opening round of postseason play this Friday at 7 p.m.

West Fork will host the North Iowa Bison (1-6 for the campaign), while North Butler will make the trip to Mason City Newman (5-2) for its contest.

The Bearcats lost to Newman in the regular season at home, 28-14, right after the Knights made a quarterback move that helped their offense immensely.

The Warhawks rolled up 438 yards of offense in Friday’s victory, with the passing combination of senior quarterback Kayden Ames and senior wide receiver Ren Heimer accounting for most of it.

Ames completed 12-of-21 tries for 323 yards and three TDs. All three of those scoring strikes went to Heimer, who wound up with seven total catches for 240 yards.

Kellen Cameron hauled in four passes for 61 yards.

Ames led the Warhawk ground attack with 68 yards on 16 rushes and had one score.

Heimer added 26 yards on his only carry, while Josiah Chibambo rushed three times for 22 yards and score.

Chibambo had a team-best 10 solo tackles, while Jaxon McLemore, Nate Hubka and Levi Janssen added five each.

The West Fork defense amassed three interceptions — two by Ames and one by Cameron.

Sophomore quarterback Corbin Lewis keyed the Bearcat offense, completing 14-of-31 passes for 202 yards and two scores.

Fletcher Buss was his favorite target, hauling in seven aerials for 114 yards. Dawson Testroet snagged three passes for 28 yards and a score, while Logan Ott garnered two receptions for 33 yards.

North Butler rushed for 157 yards, led by Testroet with 49 yards on nine attempts. Kolben Miller carried nine times for 48 yards, while Lewis ran five times for 43 yards and a TD.

Junior nose tackle Chet Buss spearheaded the Bearcat defense, racking up eight solo tackles and three quarterback sacks.

North Butler scored on the opening possession of the game, with the big play of the drive being a 20-yard run by Lewis.

He then hooked up with Testroet on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 6:53 to go in the quarter. The conversion kick failed.

West Fork got on the board 91 seconds into the second stanza on a seven-yard run by Ames. Heimer drilled the PAT kick through the uprights to put the Warhawks ahead to stay, 7-6.

West Fork extended its lead to 14-6 with 3:26 remaining in the half. The Ames to Heimer passing combination closed out the drive with back-to-back completions of 13 and 17 yards. Heimer’s conversion kick raised the West Fork lead to eight points.

Chet Buss sparked the Bearcat defense on the opening Warhawk possession of the third frame, notching a pair of quarterback sacks.

A personal foul penalty on the visitors turned the momentum back in West Fork’s favor, and Ames capped off the opportunity by drilling a 20-yard scoring strike to Heimer on a slant pass. Heimer’s PAT made it 21-6 with 7:51 on the clock.

West Fork tacked on two more touchdowns later in the stanza — the first on a 12-yard run by Chibambo, and the other on an 89-yard bomb from Ames to Heimer.

The Warhawks took a 35-6 edge into the final stanza.

North Butler didn’t quit, however.

A one-yard quarterback sneak by Lewis with 4:38 remaining, followed by a Testroet conversion run made it 35-14.

After recovering an ensuing onside kick, North Butler marched down for its final TD — an eight-yard pass to Miller with 3:09 on the clock. Testroet made good on the PAT run.

N. Butler    6       0       0     16        -     22

W. Fork      0     14     21       0        -     35

TEAM STATISTICS

                                             NB             WF

First downs                           NA             NA

Rushes-yards                 30-157       26-115

Passing                               202            323

Comp-att-int                  14-31-3      12-22-0

Punts-avg.                       3-29.7             0-0

Fumbles-lost                         0-0             0-0

Penalties-yards                     NA             NA

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – NB, Dawson Testroet 9-49-0, Kolben Miller 9-48-0, Corbin Lewis 5-43-1, Tanner Arjes 2-7-0, Logan Ott 2-7-0, Alex Shultz 3-3-0. WF, Kayden Ames 16-68-1, Ren Heimer 1-26-0, Josiah Chibambo 3-22-1, Kellen Cameron 1-5-0, Jaxon McLemore 2-1-0, Ki Janssen 3-(3)-0. PASSING – NB, Lewis 14-31-202-2-3. WF, Ames 12-21-323-3-0, Cameron 0-1-0-0-0. RECEIVING – NB, Fletcher Buss 7-114-0, Ott 2-33-0, Testroet 3-28-1, Arjes 1-19-0, Miller 1-8-1. TACKLES – NB, Chet Buss 8-9.5-4.5, Testroet 3-4.5-0, Shawn Weitzenkamp 2-4.5-0, Lewis 3-3.5-0, Jase Wiebke 2-3.5-0. WF, Chibambo 10-12.5-1, McLemore 5-9-0, Ames 6-6.5-1, Nate Hubak 5-6-0, Carson Nuehring 4-5.5-1, Levi Janssen 5-5.5-1, Cameron 3-5-0, Nate Akins 2-4-1, K. Janssen 2-3-0, Riley Peterson 2-3-0. SACKS – NB, C. Buss 3. WF, None. FUMBLE RECOVERIES – NB, None. WF, None. INTERCEPTIONS – NB, None. WF, Ames 2, Cameron.