Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

It was no secret what Western Boone wanted to do on Friday night when they traveled to North Putnam for a Monon Athletic Conference match-up. The Stars wanted to stick to their bread-and-butter and run the football effectively, controlling the game at the line of scrimmage and dictating their will on the host Cougars. And while it took a little while to grab control, the Stars were able to do just that, out-scoring the Cougars 21-6 in the fourth quarter in route to a 41-26 victory. "We were able to wear them down a little bit," Western Boone head coach Justin Pelley said. "Our defense did a great job and made some adjustments throughout the game. They hit a couple of long fourth downs in the first half, but we cleaned that up in the second half. But offensively, you saw some of our 2-3 yard runs get a little longer in the second half. And Jake Smith did what he does." The game was tied at 20 heading to the fourth quarter, when the Stars started to pull away. Quinn Westerfeld was able to score from five yards out to give the Stars a 27-20 lead with 7:43 to go. The WeBo defense forced a three-and-out, and on the very next play Smith ran for a 69-yard touchdown to make it a two-score game. North Putnam scored with 2:58 to go to make it 34-26, but Smith scored from 36 yards out with 1:23 to go to seal the win. He rushed for 245 yards (180 after halftime) and five touchdowns in the game. "It's all about trusting the process," Pelley said. "Last week against Southmont, you have to give them credit, but we shot ourselves in the foot and didn't help ourselves. We refocused this week, had a great week of practice and really dug deep today. It was a fun game to be a part of, it really could have done either way." Pelley gave credit to the Stars offensive line, saying guys like Jackson Jones, Gabe Conyer and Luke Cummins did a good job all game of controlling the line of scrimmage and giving Smith holes to run through. Jones and Sam Rausch also played a big part in helping on the defensive line, which is what had to happen to stay in the game. Western Boone didn't punt in the game, or turn it over. The Stars led 7-0 after a Smith touchdown run on the opening drive of the game. But the Stars next couple of drives stalled and they turned it over on downs, allowing the Cougars to take a 13-7 lead. It looked like it would be that deficit or more at the half, with North Putnam driving late in the second quarter, but Jack Mallory intercepted a pass and returned it to the Cougar 22, setting up a Smith touchdown run right before the half. "That was a big interception," Pelley said. "Jack made a good read on the play and returned it deep into their territory. They got the ball to start the second half too, so that was a big swing for us." Kopriva was 8 of 14 for 88 yards in the game, 67 of them to Dylan Sheets. The Stars will host Cascade next week, where a win will earn them a share of the first-ever Monon Athletic Conference title. The Cadets, ranked third in Class 3A, are unbeaten this year and are second in the state in scoring with a 58.8 average. "We are looking forward to it and it is going to be a great challenge," Pelley said. "They are rolling right now and do a lot of good things. We just have to focus on what we do, and try to execute that next Friday." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.