The Iola Mustangs third and fourth-graders kept their perfect record intact during their final game inside Mustangs Stadium Saturday.
Timely touchdowns and a stiff defense secured the Mustangs’ fourth victory of the season as they shutout Prairie View 14-0.
“They were undefeated and a very tough team,” Iola offensive coordinator Josh Mueller said. “We were just getting after it. We had to make some adjustments. They had a big kid, 60, that we had to get around. We won the line of scrimmage.”
Iola running back Rhett Ikehorn put the Mustangs ahead early with a touchdown in the first quarter. Thanks to a strong defense, that’s all the scoring Iola needed. In the second half, quarterback Fisher Frazell leaped over a pile of defenders to take the score to 14-0.
“We can improve. We have potential,” Coach Mueller said. “We had some holding calls, some penalties we have to clean up and we need to stay in our blocks longer. That will make a big difference.”
Defensively, the Mustangs were flawless. Despite fielding a team of young athletes, Prairie View was not afraid to go to the air. With Iola dominating on both sides of the line, Iola’s secondary only had to delay Prairie View’s linebackers long enough for the Mustang defensive line to get to Prairie View’s quarterback.
“We made some adjustments on some of the passing downs,” Iola defensive coordinator Austin Sigg said. “We went into a 5-3 cover 2. The boys made some good adjustments to contain. Our guys set the edge and that really helped.”
With a mixture of stunts, blitzes and hard-nosed football, the Mustangs kept the Buffalos off of the scoreboard even as they threatened to bust the shutout late in the fourth quarter.
“Our kids are picking it up quickly. We play a simple gap defense,” Sigg said. “This team we just played only allowed 6 points all season. We moved the ball on them and defense we had them backed up almost the entire time.”
The Mustangs put their 4-0 undefeated record on the line next week, when they head on the road to face the Osage City Indians.
“I’m super proud of the kids,” Sigg said. “Rhett flies around and makes hits. Easton Rutherford plays downhill football and does really well.”
