It took a little time to get things going on the field Tuesday. But once Iola High’s junior varsity football team made a few positive plays, the Mustang were rolling.
Iola’s junior varsity opened its season with a 42-22 win over visiting Independence High’s Bulldogs.
Iola was down 14-6 when it scored the next 36 points. The Mustangs trailed 14-12 when John Whitworth intercepted a pass and raced 65 yards to the end zone with three minutes left in the first half.
Mason Coons, who was 10 of 27 for 127 yards and one interception, found Zeph Larney in the end zone for the two-point conversion.
The Mustangs’ first touchdown came after Jacob Rhoads blocked a Bulldog punt. Coons fell on the football at the Independence 13-yard line.
Corey Taylor gathered in a pass from Coons and scored on a 13-yard play. The two-point conversion pass was complete but short of the goal line.
On the ensuing kickoff, Independence’s Courtlan Hayes went 85 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed.
The Mustangs answered on a scoring strike from Coons to Larney which covered 49 yards. Again the two-point conversion pass came up short.
Whitworth’s score gave Iola a 20-14 halftime lead.
“We started out slow but as the new guys on the defensive and offense lines got more comfortable, we did alright,” said Ron Schomaker, Iola assistant coach.
“In the second half, we stopped blitzing as much and worked on containing the edge.”
With 6:29 left in the third quarter, Coons scampered seven yards for a touchdown and threw a two-point conversion pass to Tyler Clubine.
Tyler McIntosh came in as quarterback late in the third quarter. He found Rhoads, who turned the pass into a touchdown as the play covered 48 yards. Jesse Zimmerman caught the two-point conversion.
Rhoads added a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Derrick Weir caught the two-point conversion pass from McIntosh.
Independence scored on a 10-yard pass play with 4:22 left in the game for the final margin.
McIntosh was 5 of 6 for 74 yards. Larney caught three passes for 63 yards and Rhoads had four catches for 70 yards. Zimmerman had three catches for 30 yards and Taylor made two reception for 29 yards.
Iola had 91 yards rushing on 25 carries, led by Whitworth with 40 yards on seven carries. Coons had 30 yards on seven carries. Rhodes had 12 yards on three carries.
“It was a good team effort by our kids. A good start to the season,” Schomaker said.
Stephen McDonald, who was moved from linebacker to noseguard, led the Mustang defense with three solo tackles and eight assisted tackles. Taylor, a linebacker, had two solo stops and six assisted plus a fumble recovery.
Linebacker Braden Larson had seven assisted tackles and a quarterback sack. Clubine had four assisted tackles and a solo while Zach Crawford had two unasssisted tackles, three assisted tackles and a fumble recovery. Larney logged two solo stops and two assisted tackles.
Coons and McIntosh each had a fumble recovery. Whitworth had an interception.
The IHS junior varsity goes to Parsons Monday.
Mustang JV rolls over Bulldogs
