In a complete 180 of their contest against Waterloo East, the West side of the same city spoiled the Bobcats’ Homecoming fun, delivering a 41-7 loss Friday night.

Waterloo West (4-0) quarterback Devon Moore was 12-for-19 with 184 yards passing and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in the rout of the Bobcats (1-3). Sam Irwin was 14-for-29 with 126 passing yards and a touchdown to Reid Nennig late in the fourth quarter to deny the shutout.

Head coach Don Knock said the loss was more disappointing than anything because of the way his team practiced heading in to the festive weekend.

“It’s disappointing because we had a really good week of practice,” Knock said. “I’m disappointed we didn’t play better, I thought we’d play better. I thought the kids prepared better. But, we as coaches, probably tried to do too much again. They’re a good football team, they’re bigger than we are. We’re not to that level yet, [but] we’ve got to get to that level.”

The lone score came on a 31-yard strike from Irwin to Nennig – who finished with three catches for 46 yards – and it looked as if it was a play straight out of last week’s play book.

Nennig was left wide open and Irwin stuck the ball about 10 yards from the end zone, letting Nennig walk right in.

The drive was set up by three bursts by Marquis Haynes, who carried the ball 21 times for 72 yards. But on the third carry of the final drive, Haynes went down and would not return.

Knock said Haynes was fine and will likely return next week.

Before the final Bobcat drive, receiver TJ Snyder had just three receptions for five yards. He finished the night with six catches and 53 yards – three for 47 yards on the final drive.

It was the lone seven minutes of the night that seemed fluid and concrete for the Bobcat offense. Otherwise, stalled drives and a stout Wahawk defense provided to be as challenging as the Bobcats imagined.

“It just started steamrolling and we couldn’t stop the leaks. We couldn’t plug it,” Knock said. “We didn’t make any breaks, didn’t get any breaks. The kids were almost intimidated at times, I felt. There’s a lot of things we didn’t do correctly that we practiced.”

While the Haynes injury Friday night seems to pan positive for the Bobcats, – Haynes leads Marshalltown in rushing this season with 56 carries for 258 yards – Knock said defensive end Dru Dobbins will be out for the remainder of the season.

Dobbins’ pairing defensive end Chayton French will be back next week following his one-game suspension after his ejection in the Waterloo East contest on Sept. 9.

Six Wahawk wide outs amassed 184 yards from Moore, including leading receiver Tayshaun Cooper’s 81 yards and three catches, including a touchdown. Carlton Todd had four catches – two for touchdowns – and 54 yards receiving.

“They have a lot of weapons,” Knock said. “Their spacing is good, they know what they’re doing in the passing game and they have a guy who can put it on the money. That’s hard to defend.”

The Marshalltown defense hadn’t allowed a score in six quarters before the 28-spot the Wahawks put up in the first quarter. The Bobcats didn’t allow any points in the second quarter and picked off the opposing quarterback for the fourth consecutive game.

Noah DeVenney was the defensive hero who snagged Moore’s underthrown pass at about the midfield mark in the second quarter.

From there, the Wahawks only went on to put up two more touchdowns on the late-summer night Homecoming game.

Avery Brooks was a bright spot out of the backfield, who carried the ball once for six yards and caught two passes for 27 yards, including two crucial first downs.

Harrison Eighmey ran the ball eight times for 100 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter for the Wahawks, and Levi Lenius had four catches for 36 yards. Tyler Banker caught the other receiving touchdown from 13 yards out.

Marshalltown starts its five-game district play next Friday with a trip to Newton. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.