Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

SHERIDAN - It wasn’t a opening few plays for the Western Boone on Friday night at Sheridan. But once they got going, there was little the Blackhawks could do to stop them. Western Boone jumped out to a 35-0 lead early in the second half and cruised to a 35-12 win in the season opener. “There were definitely some first game jitters,” Western Boone head coach Justin Pelley said. “We have a lot of new guys out there in some key spots. But once we calmed down and started the move the ball, we did a pretty good job.” The Stars took the opening kick-off and had a solid return to their own 37, but a bad snap on the opening play put them in second-and-27 and they couldn’t get a first down. Sheridan drove into WeBo territory before the Stars forced a punt, but Sheridan was able to pin the Stars at their own 1 yard line. Their backs against their goalline, the Stars got a little breathing room to punt, but Sheridan took over inside the Western Boone 40 for their second drive. Then the Stars started to get going. Ethan Bayles recovered a fumble on Sheridan’s first play of the ensuing drive, and Western Boone needed just five plays to go 57 yards (helped by two Sheridan penalties) and took a 7-0 lead on an 11-yard run by Trevor Weakley. “That was a big turnover to get,” Pelley said. “There is a lot of uncertainty to start a season. I felt coming in like we would get it going, but our defense definitely gave us a spark there and then we were able to march the ball down the field. It gave us a chance to reset after kind of weathering that storm.” From there, Western Boone couldn’t really be stopped. The defense forced another 3-and-out to get the offense back on the field. Weakley busted a 54-yard run to get the Stars into Sheridan territory, and Bayles followed with runs of 12 and 17 to put the Stars inside the Sheridan 5. Three plays later, Ryan Taylor rushed it in from 3 yards out to make it 14-0. Weakley had 111 yards in the game, and Western Boone rushed for more than 160 yards in the first half. “We know playing Sheridan it’s going to be 11 guys in the box a lot and you have to get a hat on a hat,” Pelley said. “Our line did a pretty good job of holding up, and Trevor is just a workhorse back there. He was able to get loose for some big runs.” Once they got the lead, the Stars started turning up the pressure. Sheridan didn’t get another first down in the half, and Western Boone capitalized with a couple more scores. First, Rowen Durbin found Bayles for a 35-yard score to make it 21-0. On the Stars next possession, they hit another long pass on a trick play, with Durbin finding Taylor for a 52-yard score. That duo connected again for a 55-yard touchdown early in the third quarter to put the Stars up 35-0 and getting the running clock started. Durbin was 7-of-13 for 171 yards and three scores for the Stars. Taylor had 116 of those yards. “Ryan and Bayles are our two wing guys and really the only two going both ways right now,” Pelley said. “Ryan can make some explosive plays and that is something he has grown into the last few years. We capitalized on a couple of chances for big plays today. Moving forward, we have to be a little more consistent in the passing game, though.” Next up for the Stars is the home opener and a match-up with Western. The fourth year of the series, Western Boone has lost every match-up, but they have all been close and come down to the final possessions. “They are unlike any offense we see and they are really smash-mouth football,” Pelley said. “It’s a different style and they make you want to try different things than you are used to. We know we have to be really solid and it will be a tough test.” Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.