Every member of a team, players and staff included, has a goal when a season starts. To think we are over halfway through the regular season of the 2012 football schedule in Iowa is a bit depressing. It seems just yesterday, John Campbell of KCRG-TV9 was interviewing Coach Pedersen and filming the team at the first padded day of practice. So many highs and lows have already happened. Let us get the lower points out of the way first. a) Injuries have not been a major point of concern in recent history. In 2012, they have creeped into the equation more than most. Concussions. Broken bones. sickness. At the larger schools, these factors are much easier to overcome. Not at West Branch, or other Class 1A schools, though. b) A heartbreaking loss to Regina at the Little Rose Bowl on September 7. Not because it is Regina, perhaps the most 'flavored' rival of West Branch. Rather, because of a few plays here and there make the outcome what it is (15-13 final score). The Regals are the top ranked team in the state and two-time defending champion. c) Losing to Wilton a week after losing to Regina - 42 to 35 the final - seemed a bitter pill to swallow. Questions began to creep into the mind of many a person in the community (yes, I heard the whispering and the discussing). For many teams, the above factors are an annual membership plan. In West Branch, however, that is rarely the case. The positives always outweigh the negatives. a) Defeating Class A defending champ Lisbon the first week of the season (28-7). Avenging what was one of the more, dare I say, embarrassing losses in recent history. The players had that game circled on the calendar. b) Playing the Regals to a 15-13 game. Since the beginning of the 2010 season, there has only been one team who kept their margin of defeat to Regina in the single digits (Spirit Lake lost 24-20 to ICR in the 2011 championship game). c) Being down 15-7 against Regina, and driving 59 yards in :59 and scoring a touchdown with 6.2 seconds remaining in the game. Only a failed two point conversion attempt kept the Bears from having a chance at overtime and possible victory. d) While I did mention some of the support in the community has not been positive (hey, as a writer. I am not always going to sugarcoat things). I will also mention the crowds for the Bears have been second to none. WB has and always will travel, per capita, at the top of the IAHSAA list (in all sports). e) Cade Jones' 22 rush, 321 yard performance against Wapello is a school record (Kevin Braddock: 311 yards in the 1991 Class 1A State championship game). Braddock's performance will remain the championship game barometer, for all classes. Bo Bower added 151 yards rushing. Talk about a great 1-2 punch. (Cole Kelly gained 303 yards in a 2009 playoff game, to be the only other member of the 300 yard club - on record)...and, after the game, what was Jones' and Bower's reaction? "Thank you to my teammates". THAT is the Bear way. (side note: Mathis Kane is averaging 9 yards per carry in his varsity career. Atta boy, Yao!) f) Behind the offensive line of Dalton Grell, Colton Carter, co-captain Michael Madsen, Josh St John, Jon St John, and co-captain Garett Lynch, the Bears rushed for 501 yards in the victory against Wapello. That is a new school record, eclipsing the mark set by the 1989 state championship team at Regina (465 yards). OK, we sit at 3 wins and 2 losses. Both losses are district losses, which puts the Bears at, more than likely, no better than a three seed - something the Bears have never been before. As history will show, there is precedent for playoff success at Class 1A as a number three seed. West Branch fans will remember a 21-14 loss to Dike-New Hartford in the 2010 semifinals. D-NH was a 3 seed. Last year's state champion, Saint Ansgar, was a number two seed. Also, WB made the semis in 2011 as a number two. The point? Well, I am attempting to show you that not all number one seeds are guaranteed a spot in the Dome. As former Iowa coach Hayden Fry would say, "there is a lot of hay left in the barn to work through before we are done." Here is the remaining schedule: Week 6 - at Sigourney-Keota: Fans, you will be confused more than once on who has the ball for the Savage Cobras. They used a single wing, ''spin back", system that has more going on than Barnum and Bailey. (similar opponent: Wapello. S-K defeated the Indians 50-44 in week 4) Week 7 - homecoming with North Cedar: the Knights have really fallen off from the 2010 successes. They are yet to win a game in 2012. However, Coach Harrold will have the kids keyed up like a car hood in a junkyard. Wait, too soon? Also, this is a non-district game...in week 7...a wonderful decision from the powers that be. Week 8 - Eddyville-Blakesburg in WB: The Rockets gave Wilton everything it wanted in week 5, losing 26-14. The two games they have before playing the Bears will go a long way in deciding the three and four seeds in the district. This will be the final home game for the 2012 season unless something crazy happens and Wilton or Regina lose a couple more district games down the stretch. Week 9 - at Cardinal (Eldon): and for the second consecutive season, the good people at the IAHSAA feel it necessary for West Branch to travel to the Missouri border. That is not a complaint, just a simple fact. This may be the easiest game of the remaining four, but it will not be an easy game. How do I see it all playing out? Victory, of course. IF the Bears finish 7-2 (4-2 district), they will more than likely be the three seed. Which means the Bears would face the number two seed from District 5. As of right now, D5 is an absolute quagmire. IF the Bears defeat the 2 seed from D5, they would more than likely play either Regina or Wilton (whoever wins there regular season game will be the one seed from D6). Avenging a loss is something you always hope to do. And, history shows it is tough to beat the same team twice in one year. (ask Alburnett in 2011) IF the Bears defeat the 1 seed (provided they do not lose to the 4 seed from D5 in the first round), they will play.... OK, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. But, like everyone else, I had a goal at the beginning of the season. I am just hoping the Bears accomplish it each week.