Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

The Western Boone football team kept their momentum going on Friday night, cruising past North Montgomery 42-14. The win improved the Stars to 3-2 on the year and 3-0 in the Monon Athletic Conference. "We had some guys out this week and we had some guys really stepped up," Western Boone head coach Justin Pelley said. "Evan Kiplinger and Wyatt Smith stepped in and played center and guard for us this week, and Isaac Threlkeld kicked for us. It wasn't a perfect game, we were a little sloppy at times, but overall I am happy with what our guys did." For the second-straight week, the Western Boone rushing attack took center stage. Jake Smith rushed for 238 yards and 23 carries, scoring two touchdowns. Western Boone rushed for 343 yards on 37 carries (9.2 yards a carry). "Jake Smith was Jake Smith, and you have to give him a lot of credit," Pelley said. "But I am proud of our guys up front too. It was plug-and-play,and they did a really good job of stepping into situations they weren't used to. That was the first start for a couple of those guys, and they did some really good things." The Stars went up 7-0 on a 29-yard touchdown run by Smith, then made it 14-0 on a 64-yard pass from Brennan Kopriva to Beau Sawyer. Smith added a 7-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter, giving Western Boone a 21-0 lead and they led 21-6 at the half. Dylan Sheets had a 32-yard rushing TD in the third quarter, and Zander Venis and Jack Mallory added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter and got the running clock going for the second-straight week. Pelley said that it was a great opportunity to get some of the younger and less experienced players in the game. "That's important," Pelley said. "Even before the running clock, we were rotating guys and trying to get some of those guys meaningful snaps. Even if it's some of our JV guys against their varsity, that's OK, because we are getting those guys some real Friday night experience." Kopriva had 92 yards passing and a touchdown. He added 25 on the ground. Western Boone hosts Frankfort next week for Homecoming. "We are going to keep doing what we are doing and improving," Pelley said. "We've gotten better every week. We got our guys in the right spots, and have more guys only going one way, which helps. We are just focused on what we do, running the ball and playing good defense. If we do that, we are going to be in all the games." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.