When West Branch defeated Beckman in week 7 to win a share of the Class 1A District 5 championship, the Bears knew they'd have a shot at either a home game or a BYE in the first round of the playoffs. The team had to wait a little over 12 hours before the Iowa High School Athletic Association announced the pods of teams for the first and second rounds of the playoffs.

The Bears were placed in Class 1A Pod #10 and received a BYE for the first round, which set them up for a round two game against the winner of the other pod #10 game, Van Buren at Mediapolis. In the first round of the playoffs tonight, Mediapolis defeated Van Buren 54-6.

The Bears will be taking on the Mediapolis Bulldogs at the Little Rose Bowl in West Branch this coming Friday, October 23rd. The Bulldogs finished the regular season at 5-2 overall in Class 1A District 6.

This will be just the second home game of the 2020 campaign for the Bears after losing out on two due to weather and a COVID-19-related rescheduling.

West Branch and Mediapolis will kickoff at 7:00pm this Friday at the Little Rose Bowl in West Branch. The winner will move on to the round of 16. If you cannot make it, listen to the game live on the BearCast, starting at 6:30pm.