CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The West Branch Bears capitalized on Clayton Ridge miscues -- and one of their own -- to end the Eagles' landmark football season.
West Branch scored touchdowns off an Eagles turnover and a broken field-goal attempt late in the second quarter, leading to a 27-7 victory Friday night in an Iowa Class 1A state quarterfinal at the UNI-Dome.
West Branch upped its record to 12-0 and advanced to face South Winneshiek in next week's semifinals at the Dome. Four nights after capturing the first playoff victory in program history, Clayton Ridge bowed out at 10-2.
"It was nice," Harbaugh said of the year. "But I hope people aren't thinking we came down here and were satisfied and were happy to show up.
"We really felt like we could beat West Branch, and I think we weren't far off. We just needed to play a lot cleaner and cause some turnovers, and we didn't do it."
The game turned West Branch's way in the closing minutes of the first half. With the game deadlocked at 7, the Bears sacked Clayton Ridge quarterback Mitchell Glawe and recovered the resulting fumble at the Eagles' 15-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Travis Kaufman plunged into the end zone to make it 14-7 with 4 minutes to go.
The Eagles were then forced to punt, which meant trouble because their top two long-snappers were out with injury and illness, respectively. The knee of punter Trent Geuder touched the ground as he got a handle on a low snap, giving the Bears possession at the Eagles 39 with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter.
West Branch quickly moved the ball to the 17 and called timeout with 15 seconds left to set up for a field goal try. But the snap was poor and holder Kaufman picked up the ball, scrambled to his right and launched a pass into a crowd in the end zone.
Logan Murry came down with the ball with 6 seconds left, sending the Bears into intermission with a 20-7 lead.
"The broken play "| it was a low snap and I just picked it up and started running," Kaufman said. "This isn't the first time it's happened. We have great receivers who know how to get open, and Logan Murry just made a hell of a catch back there in the end zone.
"It was a huge swing."
Clayton Ridge had some chances in the second half after making a defensive stand in the red zone on the opening possession.
The running of Jordan Davis (22 carries, 106 yards) and Logan Keehner's 55-yard punt return helped get the Eagles inside the West Branch 35 three times after the break.
But they couldn't add to their seven on the scoreboard, achieved on Glawe's connection with Keehner on a 54-yard play-action TD pass down the right sideline on the second play from scrimmage.
"We just came away empty," Harbaugh said. "You can't score seven points and beat a good team in the playoffs."
Clayton Ridge's standout defense held West Branch star running back Cole Kelly to 72 yards on 15 carries.
The Bears added a late touchdown run by Eli Elliott.
"They played us a tough football game," West Branch coach Butch Pedersen said. "Those two big plays gave us momentum going into halftime. The second half, I thought we really controlled the line of scrimmage both ways."
