The Friday night lights shined bright for Iolas homecoming, and the Mustangs delivered with their best performance of the season.
After trailing early on, the Mustangs muscled back to score 26 unanswered points en route to a 32-15 win over Osawatomie.
We buckled down, and showed some grit, head coach David Daugharthy said. I hope this is a forecast of what the rest of the season will be.
The Trojans started with an 80-yard touchdown drive that put Iola in an early hole. On the Mustangs first possession, they were gifted 30 yards worth of penalties, but fumbled inside the red zone to hand the ball back to Osawatomie.
After an Osawatomie punt, Daugharthy reached into his bag of tricks, and the Mustang offense executed the hook and ladder to perfection. Quarterback Landon Carson hooked up with Drake Sellman, who then pitched to Isaac Badders who ran 37 yards for the Mustang touchdown.
On the Trojans next possession, quarterback Boyd Cole was intercepted by Kole Rogers to give the Mustangs great field possession. Iola was unable to move the ball down the field, but they did pin the Trojans deep in their own territory. The Mustang defense forced a fumble that rolled into the end zone, and was recovered by Karson McGraw to give Iola the 14-7 lead.
The Mustangs added to their lead before the end of the first half. Carson hooked up with Zane Whitney for a 10 yard touchdown pass as the Mustangs went into the break leading 20-7.
Both teams started the third quarter slow. Carson was intercepted for his only error on the Mustangs first drive, and Osawatomie was held inside the red zone to turn the ball over on downs. Iola responded with an 11 play 86-yard drive that was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Badders.
I thought our offense really stepped up, and we started to see some gaps along with some good blocks. The backs were running the ball hard, and our offense line was getting the job done, Daugharthy said.
The Trojans added a touchdown in the fourth when Boyd connected with Beau Beer for a 37 yard touchdown. Despite leading 26-15, the Mustangs decided to add to their tally in order to ensure owning a points differential tiebreaker when playoff time arrives. Once again, Daugharthy pulled out the tricks, and Badders connected with Whitney on the half-back pass for 35 yards to enter the Osawatomie red zone. Carson connected with Drake Sellman for the 1-yard touchdown pass, and the Mustangs sealed out the Trojans in fashion, winning 32-15.
The guys played really hard, and fed off of each other, Daugharthy said. Hopefully we get that same energy next week.
Carson was the headliner for the Mustang offense, completing 6-of-10 passes for 98 yards and 3 touchdowns passing in his first start under center. Casen Barker led the Iola ground attack with 16 carries for 97 yards, and his brother Holden, rushed for 59 yards on 7 carries. Sellman recorded 3 receptions for 34 yards.
I was nervous and that I had a short amount of time to get ready, but I feel that I did pretty good, quarterback Landon Carson said. We need to keep working, get back to practice and go hard.
Downtown Logan Brown provided the Mustang defense with energy all night long, and he was the Mustangs leading tackler with 9. Whitney and Adam Atwell tied for second on the team in tackles with 7.
With the win, Iola moves to 1-4 on the season, but perhaps this could be the turning point. Only time will tell, as Iola gears up to face Burlington away next Friday.
