Benton’s first drive stalled at the Hawk 21 when sophomore defensive lineman Billy Connor sacked the Benton quarterback for a four yard loss. Their field goal attempt was no good giving the Hawks the ball at their own 20.

A pair of incomplete passes and a sack of Hawk quarterback BJ Hermsen forced the Hawks to punt the ball for the second time.

Starting at their own 28 the Bobcats moved to the West Delaware 17 where their drive was stopped when sophomore Devon Alber intercepted a Bobcat pass in the endzone.

After a pair of running plays netted the Hawks six yards to the 26 BJ Hermsen hooked up with Brett Appleton on a screen pass that covered 64 yards to the Bobcat 10 yard line.

Facing third and one from the Benton one, Hermsen used all of his 6’6” frame to leap over the pile and stick the ball into the endzone to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead. Mark Messerly converted the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 7:27 left in the second quarter.

The Hawks forced the Bobcats to punt on their next possession but the Hawks couldn’t capitalize as Benton Community picked off a BJ Hermsen pass intended for Zach McCool at the Benton 37.

The Bobcats moved to the Hawk 17 but had their drive halted when Brett Appleton recovered a Bobcat fumble at the Hawk 18 yard line.

Five straight running plays from Nate Lynch (3 for 39 yards), Brett Appleton (1 for 18 yards), and Zach McCool (1 for 11 yards) gave the Hawks a first and goal at the Bobcat 10.

However, the Hawks were not able to score and the half ended with West Delaware holding a slim 7-0 lead.

The teams traded punts on their first possessions of the second half.

With Benton facing a third and nine from their own 22 Bobcat quarterback, Tony Stenberg threw a pass intended for Matt rammelsberg. Hawk junior corner Destry Sperfslage played the pass perfectly, cut infront of the intended receiver made the interception and raced 32-yards untouched for the Hawks second touchdown of the game.

Meserlys PAT made it 14-0 with 6:58 left in the third quarter.

The Hawk defense again forced Benton Community to punt, giving the Hawks the ball on their own 20 with 4:37 left in the third period.

The Hawks then started an impressive 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from BJ Hermsen to Zach McCool with 43 seconds left in the quarter.

The Hawks converted a crucial fourth and nine from their own 46 to keep the drive alive earlier.

Hermsen hooked up with McCool for 32 yards to keep the drive alive.

The Hawks would add a fourth quarter touchdown on a four yard pass from BJ Hermsen to senior tight end Austin Cole with 7:06 left in the game to give the Hawks a four touchdown lead, 28-0.

That score was set up by a Chris Harbaugh’s interception with 8:24 to going the third.

Benton Community got their only score of the game on a 73-yard touchdown pass with just a little more than six minutes left in the game.

That 73 yard play gave the Bobcats 121 yards of total offense during the second half.

This Friday night the Hawks will travel to Vinton to take on the Vikings. Vinton is 1-2 in district play and 2-3 overall while the Hawks are 3-0 and 5-0 overall.

Game stats
vs. Benton Community
First downs - WD 15, BC 11; rushing - WD 42-242, BC 44-187; passing - WD 7-14-1-139, BC 2-9-3-96; total offense - WD 381, BC 283; punts - WD 4-39.2 yard average, BC 5-39.2 yard average; fumbles - WD 1-0, BC 3-1; penalties - WD 4-20, BC 9-85.

Individual leaders
Passing - BJ Hermsen 7-14-1-139 yards; receiving - Ryan Hauser 2-26, Brett Appleton 2-66, Zach McCool 2-43, Austin Cole 1-4; rushing - Nate Lynch 11-72, Brett Appleton 5-31, Chris Harbaugh 7-37, BJ Hermsen 7-1, Zach McCool 8-92, Jake Nordaas 3-7, Nate Neuhaus 1-2; tackles (total stops) - Zach McCool 1, Lucas Kafer 7, Adam Rave 2, Chris Harbaugh 6, Destry Sperfslage 4, Jake Nordaas 3, Tyler Manternach 1, Nick Ronnebaum 9, Brett Appleton 4, Corey hood 10, Bryce Ogea 1, Ryan Neuhaus 1, Billy Connor 6, Alex Ryan 1, Nathan King 6, Paul Broghammer 9, Austin Cole 8, Devon Alber 2.

The West Delaware girls volleyball team had a pair of impressive outings last week as they defeated WaMaC Conference foes Dyersville Beckman (3-0) and Benton Community (3-0).

At Beckman on Tuesday night the Hawks defeated the Blazers 3-0 with game scores of 25-10, 2-22 and 25-8.

Katie Wessels and Emily Heffernen led the Hawks in kills with 10 and 9 respectively.

Nicole Neverman was the leading blocker with three and Katie Murphy led in assists with 24.

Katlyn Heiserman and Wessels led the Hawks in the dig department with 14 digs each.

Game one with the Blazers was close early on with the Hawks holding an 8-6 lead. At that point the Hawks went on a 17-4 run to close out game one, 25-10.

Game two was tight throughout with Beckman rallying from a 21-14 deficit to close to within two points at 24-22 before the Hawks prevailed 25-22.

Game three was total domination by the Hawks as they raced out to an early 10-3 lead before winning by a final score of 25-8.

Match stats
vs. Dyersville Beckman
Kills - Katie Wessels 10, Katie Murphy 3, Lindsey McDowell 5, Nicole Neverman 2, Emily Heffernen 9, Emily Havertape 3; blocks - Katie Wessels 2, Nicole Neverman 3, Emily Heffernen 2, Emily Havertape 1, Tess Reinig 1; assists - Katie Murphy 24, Katie Wessels 1, Katlyn Heiserman 1, Kaylin Kelchen 2; service aces - Katie Murphy 2, Lindsey McDowell 1, Kaylin Kelchen 1, Tess Wegner 1; digs - Katie Wessels 14, Katie Murphy 6, Katlyn Heiserman 14, Lindsey McDowell 2, Kaylin Kelchen 3, Emily Heffernen 3, Tess Wegner 3, Kayla Bries 2, Tess Reinig 2.

On Thursday night the Hawks entertained the Bobcats of Benton Community.

The Hawks came to play as they totally dominated the Bobcats three games to none by scores of 25-9, 25-7 and 25-13.

Again Katie Wessels and Emily Heffernen led the Hawks in kills with 14 each.

Katie Murphy handed out 36 assists in the three game sweep.

The Hawks were never threatened in any of the three games as they were able to jump out to large leads and put the games away early.

The Hawks had a good serving night as they were successful on 73 of 83 serve attempts, they recorded 11 aces led by Katie Murphy with five.

Match stats
vs. Benton Community
Kills - Katie Wessels 14, Katie Murphy 5, Lindsey McDowell 3, Kaylin Kelchen 1, Nicole Neverman 1, Emily Heffernen 14, Emily Havertape 1, Tess Reinig 4; blocks - Katie Wessels 1, Nicole Neverman 1, Emily Heffernen 2, Tess Reinig 1; assists - Katie Murphy 36, Lindsey McDowell 1, Nicole Neverman 1, Emily Heffernen 1, Tess Wegner 1; service aces - Katie Murphy 5, Katlyn Heiserman 1, Lindsey McDowell 3, Kaylin Kelchen 2, Tess Reinig 1; digs - Katie Wessels 2, Katie Murphy 3, Katlyn Heiserman 8, Lindsey McDowell 2, Kaylin Kelchen 4, Tess Wegner 5, Kayla Bries 3, Emily Havertape 1, Tess Reinig 1.

This week the Hawks will travel to DeWitt to take on the Sabers on Tuesday night before playing in the very tough Cedar Rapids Jefferson Westside Volleyball Tournament on Saturday in Cedar Rapids.

There will be some very good competition at the tournament in Cedar Rapids with Linn-Mar, Dubuque Wahlert, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Marion, Waterloo Columbus, Indianola, North Butler and Iowa City just to name a few of the participants.