Location: Grundy Center

Date: November 1, 2024

Time: 7:00pm CDT

Game Notes

GRUNDY CENTER is a team of destiny. The Spartan program is like a machine right now. Outside of an opening week 14 point win over Dike-New Hartford, nobody has come within 28 points of Grundy. They have the second biggest margin of win average in all of Iowa. It all starts with do-it-all player, Judd Jirovsky. The junior quarterback holds an impressive 18 touchdown to just one interception passing ratio. He has completed 74 percent of his passes (99 out of 133) for 1569 yards. That's a 15.8 yard PER COMPLETION average. Not only that, Jirovsky for an additional 259 yards and a team high 10 rushing TD. He also leads the team with six interceptions, and returned two of those for a score. His 30 total touchdowns rank him third in all of Class 1A, and the interception total is tied for second. Tiernan Vokes (44 rec, 773 yards, 12 TD) is the number one target. Vokes' 12 TD rank as the best in 1A, and his yardage total is second. Brody Zinkula is the top ball carrier with 530 yards (9 TD), and Pete Lebo is second with 338 yards. These totals are skewed a bit because the Spartan starters rarely had to be counted on beyond the third quarter. 

WEST BRANCH just pulled off the biggest upset in all of Iowa. The Bears are the only four seed to beat a one seed in Class 1A football history (since the advent of the 32 team playoff system). An aerial attack, and ball hawking style - combined with pretty solid special teams play - led to the 41-33 victory. Junior QB Nolan Staker, getting his first varsity start of 2024, had five total touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing). Junior WR Brandon Pedersen continues to be the Cris Carter of West Branch: all he does is score touchdowns..and that is a great thing! He collected an 11 yard score and a 76 yard bomb through the air. His 92 yard kickoff return score began the points barrage for the Bears. Senior WR Connor Rios eclipsed the 100 yard receiving barrier for WB…to win on Friday, the Bears will need a similar performance. No mistakes. Consistent. Smashmouth Football.

FAMILY AFFAIR Brody Zinkula is the youngest son of Todd, a 1990 West Branch graduate. The elder Zinkula was a guard and linebacker on the first Bear state title squad in 1989. He is a longtime teacher and coach at Grundy Center.

ALL THEY DO IS WIN The Spartans are on a 35 game consecutive game win streak. It dates back to November of 2021 in the Class A Championship game - in which they lost to Britt West Hancock 19-14. Since then, it's been all blue skies and Ws.

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY West Branch has been bitten by the injury bug as much as we've ever seen. No less than five different starting offensive linemen have been on the IR at some point this season. However, the Bears have trudged on and played with a tremendous amount of heart.

GO BEARS!!

Team Records & Rankings

Last Meeting

These two teams have never played each other.

Media & Broadcast Coverage

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