Cedar Falls shocked by metro rival West

The CFHS football team had beaten the Waterloo West Wahawks 16 consecutive times. That streak came to a shocking halt on Friday night in Waterloo Memorial Stadium, as the No. 6-ranked team in class 4A was upset by Waterloo West 17-16.

The Tigers got on the scoreboard first when a botched punt was kicked out of the endzone for a two-point safety. After a West field goal, Eli Berregaard muscled his way into the endzone from 6 yards out for the game’s first touchdown. Following that, West went 18 yards through the air for a touchdown. Instead of getting down, the CF defense blocked the PAT to keep the score knotted at 9 going into the halftime break.

Neither team could manage much on offense as the third quarter was scoreless. Even with the score tied heading into the final quarter, the feeling amongst the CF student section was confident.

Berregaard got his second score of the day with a 12-yard touchdown run. He led the offense with 98 rushing yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Sophomore Denison Harrington also was  relied on in the backfield with 17 carries for 77 yards.

With the lead 16-9, the Tigers were making plays on both sides of the ball but could not score. ”The defense played well, and Jared Halterman really stepped up in place of [Jared] Farley,” senior defensive lineman Alex Gary said.

With  senior captain  Jared Farley out with injury, the defense was already at a disadvantage. Time was winding down in the fourth quarter, the deprived defense only needed one more stop to seal the game and get its 17th victory in a row against its metro rival.

Waterloo West senior quarterback Alex Young drove the Wahawks down the field on a 10 play, 74-yard touchdown scoring drive. The score was 16-15, and West made the decision to go for two. Young faked the handoff and plunged into the endzone to break the hearts of Cedar Falls.

The Tigers had one more shot with 47 seconds to drive down the field from the 35 yard line. Junior quarterback Trey Hansen took the team to the West 43 with 20 seconds left before a pass intended for Denison Harrington went off his fingertips and into the arms of a diving Wahawk defender.

Cedar Falls was shocked, but the season definitely is not over. “It was a tough loss, but you just have to find a way to move on, keep working on stuff and keep getting better for the next one,” senior defensive back Danny Watters said.

The “next one” is the Tiger’s homecoming game against the 1-3 Linn-Mar Lions at the UNI Dome this Friday, Sept. 27.

“We’re getting angry, and we’re working a lot harder,” Gary said.

The Lions run a no-huddle offense as well as many option plays, which will both test the endurance of the Tiger defense.