Iowa West quarterback Charles Rogers (11) runs away from Dubuque Wahlert's Aaron Branson (57) and Nate Reimer (54) during the second half of their playoff matchup Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 at West High School in Iowa CIty. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

By Jason Brummond, correspondent

IOWA CITY – Those defensive problems seem a lot smaller when Iowa City West scores like this.

Quarterback Charles Rogers accumulated 488 total yards and five touchdowns as the high-powered Trojans offense reached a season-high in points in a wild 66-32 win over Dubuque Wahlert Wednesday night in a first round Class 4A playoff game at Trojan Field.

Iowa West's Jeremy Morgan (19) pulls down a reception over Dubuque Wahlert's Greg Vance (10) during the second half of their playoff matchup Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 at West High School in Iowa CIty. Morgan took the ball for a touchdown on the play. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

West High, which plays North Scott next Monday in the second round, won a playoff game for the first time since 2003.

“We really never got stopped on offense all night,” West High Coach Brian Sauser said. “Offensively we ran the ball like crazy.”

It was a wild game between to MVC teams meeting for the first time this season.

The Trojans totaled 732 yards of offense and 29 first downs, but didn’t really pull away into the fourth quarter. The teams combined for a 33-point third quarter and it looked like a single turnover or stop could swing the game.

But Wahlert’s chances fell apart when quarterback Riley McCarron went down with an injury with a couple minutes left in the third.

Rogers rushed 22 times for 279 yards, including touchdown runs of 44, 11 and 37. The senior completed 10 of 17 passes for 209 yards and two more TDs.

The Trojans scored on the last play of the first half after a bizarre final few seconds.

West High called its final timeout with 17 seconds left on the 2-yard line. Brown was stopped short of the goal line on the next play and the Trojans hustled to the line to stop the clock. Rogers spiked the ball, but West High was flagged for a penalty as time expired.

The referee put one second back on the clock and awarded the Trojans one more play. West High left the field goal unit on the sideline – even after another penalty – but Rogers rolled out and cut back to the middle of the field for an 11-yard touchdown run.

“We didn’t know what was happening,” said Rogers, who though the quarter expired when turned around after the spike and saw zeros on the scoreboard. “I just tucked and made something happen with my feet. You have to take every chance you get in this game.”

Sauser, in his fourth year at the school, led the Trojans to postseason berths the last two seasons. He’ll always remember this win.

“We’re proud of our kids,” Sauser said. “We played well.”