WEST BRANCH — Third-ranked West Branch trailed at halftime, but didn’t panic.

The Bears just kept feeding top running back Cole Kelly and their defense took care of the rest.

Kelly ran for 301 yards and four touchdowns and West Branch picked off Eddyville-Blakesburg fives times — once for a score — in a 33-13 win last night in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs at the Little Rose Bowl.

West Branch (11-0) will face Clayton Ridge on Friday in the quarterfinals. Clayton Ridge (10-1) beat Starmont, 13-9, Monday night.

Kelly, a senior, was just 10 yards short of the school’s single-game rushing record. He showed excellent speed, busting off 12 carries for double-digit yardage.

“I never really think about that during the game,” said Kelly, who was even been battling a cold. “We’ve been working on going to the outside all week.”

Kelly carried 18 times for 195 yards in the first half. He finished with 33 carries and two touchdowns in each half.

“Everyone in park knew he was going to run the ball,” said West Branch Coach Butch Pedersen, who thinks Kelly is the best running back in 1A.

West Branch’s first lead came late in the first half on a 17-yard touchdown run by Kelly with 1:18 remaining in the second quarter. It didn’t last long.

Eddyville-Blakesburg (7-4) quarterback Logan Alexander threw a long 69-yard touchdown pass on third down just 26 seconds later as the Rockets took a 13-12 halftime lead.

But the Bears shut down the Eddyville-Blakesburg in the second half, causing four interceptions and a fumble loss.

Senior Jayson Madsen’s 52-yard interception return for a touchdown four plays into the fourth quarter secured the win for West Branch.

“I thought the second half we shut them down,” Pedersen said. “We wore them out in the second half.”