Warriors return to gridiron vs. West Branch

A rested Van Buren squad will hope to bury the past when they face perennial powerhouse West Branch Friday.

In each of the last two lopsided meetings between the teams, the Bears have scored more than 60 points. Once again, the deck figures to be stacked against the one-win Warriors.

While West Branch has suffered through a few rare early season losses, the bad news for Van Buren is the Bears look to be back on track with routs of Highland and Wapello in the last two weeks.

West Branch has a solid quarterback in Brandon Young, but the Bears? offense lives and dies with its ground game, which has already racked up 24 touchdowns in 2011. Van Buren?s defense has allowed 54 points in four district contests this season, so the Warriors will need a little luck and a defense at its best to contend.

The matchup is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday in West Branch.