The game itself was well within grasp until late in the third quarter.
Iola, down two touchdowns and hoping to see some more sparks of life after an 18-yard touchdown run from sophomore Isaac Badders and a two-point conversion by junior quarterback Casen Barker gave the Mustangs the first thing that they could really get excited about since midway through the first quarter of Fridays 49-14 home loss to Chanute.
However, Chanute took that two-touchdown lead and made it three on its next drive. An interception from Barker was returned for a touchdown to make it four just minutes later and an interception from sophomore Brayden Cole that was returned for a touchdown 4 real-time minutes later made it five.
At 8:40 p.m. the game was in reach and 12 minutes later, it was a blowout. Five second-half turnovers and more than a handful of penalties crippled an Iola team that showed some real promise throughout the first part of the game.
From a coachs perspective there were a lot of mental mistakes, head coach David Daugharthy said. We were terrible at tackling tonight but outside of that, we killed ourselves. We were going the wrong way on plays, wed false start, wed get holding calls and each one of those dug us further and further into a hole we couldnt get out of. Its frustrating.
We got pinned into throwing some deep balls late in the second half. We were trying to make a comeback and that made it pretty obvious what we were going to do. But the penalties hurt more than the interceptions and fumbles are inexcusable. Weve got to get better at that.
With the loss, Iolas (0-3) streak of losing to Chanute (2-1) moves to 30 years. A generation of games just like this one where no matter the quality of the Blue Comets, they would always find a way to continue the Mustangs misery.
But what makes this one even more depressing than your average Chanute loss was how good the Mustangs looked for a quarter and a half.
To start the game, Chanute won the coin toss and chose to receive. Iola then proceeded to kick and recover an onside kick and systematically bully their way down the field, converting on two fourth downs, until Barker snuck it in for a touchdown.
The Blue Comets marched their way into Iolas red zone on their next drive thanks in part to quarterback Ty Bowmans solid play but a tipped ball was grabbed by junior Devon Reiter who returned it 30 yards and kept the Mustangs momentum strong.
But that drive stalled and signaled the frustration that was to come throughout the game.
Chanute would take the lead on their next drive and would hold it until the end.
Fridays loss was the final non-district game as the Mustangs travel to fellow winless team Anderson County.
Weve got to take this as an opportunity to learn from, Daugharthy said. And I think we have. Each game weve gone through weve learned a little bit, and a little bit and a little bit but of course I think it should all happen at once because its all so easy in my head. Hopefully next week we can put it all together because I think once we do that, well be a really solid football team. I really believe that.
