Craig Sesker - The Hawk Eye / Dan Hockett - Photo Credit
The West Burlington-Notre Dame Falcons have won their share of football games over the years.
But they have never celebrated a postseason victory.
The Falcons are looking to reverse their fortunes when they host Centerville in a Class 2A first-round playoff game at 7 p.m. Friday at Bill Nelson Field in West Burlington.
WB-ND is 7-1 overall and the Big Reds are 4-4.
This will be the first home playoff game for the Falcons since 2008. West Burlington-Notre Dame is 0-12 all-time in playoff games, including 0-4 in games at Bill Nelson Field.
“It would obviously be very important, for a lot of reasons, to win this game,” WB-ND coach Joe Bowman said. “Our goal isn’t just to win Friday, but it would do a lot for our program to win a playoff game. This is a big game for this community and all of the people who support us.”
The Falcons, ranked 10th in the state in Class 2A, won their last four games of the regular season.
WB-ND will face a physical Centerville team that lost its last two games by a combined 101-15 margin.
The Big Reds are led by freshman quarterback Mack Murdock, who has passed for 830 yards and six touchdowns. Murdock has also rushed for 104 yards and three scores.
Murdock passed for 248 yards and two scores in Centerville’s 47-15 loss to Clarinda last Friday.
Freshman Abram Decena has 509 receiving yards and three touchdowns for the Big Reds.
Decena had eight catches for 93 yards last week.
“Centerville has two really good freshmen at quarterback and receiver,” Bowman said. “They are good young athletes that we have to account for.”
Sophomore Makoa Kaleponi has rushed for 390 yards and seven TDs for the Big Reds.
Falcon senior Quincy Collins will look to continue his remarkable run of success. He leads the state with 1,960 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns.
He has rushed for 986 yards and 17 touchdowns in the last three games.
WB-ND junior quarterback Landry Haberichter has rushed for 441 yards and four scores.
He has also thrown for 319 yards and three touchdowns.
“I am assuming Centerville will load the box and bring pressure like other teams have against us,” Bowman said. “Our philosophy doesn’t change on offense. We will continue to play the same way. We feel like we have answers to what a defense throws at us with our run game and our pass game.”
Senior Emry Watson leads the Falcon defense with 50.5 tackles, including 10 for loss.
Junior teammates Kael Cook and Joseph Glendening have 11.5 tackles for loss apiece.
Collins and senior Blake Wilson each have 10.5 tackles for loss.
“I think the atmosphere Friday is going to be electric — maybe even better than homecoming,” Cook said.
“This is a pretty big deal for our community and I hope we have another great crowd out here to support us.”
The Falcons are looking to “Fill the Bill” with fans for what they hope is a historic night on the West Burlington High School campus.
“It is very exciting to be hosting a playoff game,” Bowman said. “You can feel the energy in our school. Everyone on our team is looking forward to playing in front of our home crowd. It’s setting up to be a very special night.”
The Falcons are in a new role Friday as the favorites for a playoff game.
“The game isn’t played on paper — it doesn’t really matter who people are picking to win,” Bowman said.
“We have to stay focused on executing our game plan to the best of our abilities. We need to make sure we are ready to go.”