GARNETT — Nothing was working for the Iola High early on.
Senior quarterback Ben Cooper, whose arm had led the team a victory a week ago, was not sharp. The defense was giving up big chucks of yardage to Anderson County star running back Kyle Lamb and each time the Bulldogs put the ball into the air, it seemed like a flag was there, too, for pass interference.
“We knew we could’ve been better the entire game,” junior running back Cale Barnhardt said. “We just weren’t doing our jobs.”
Despite all the mistakes and misfortune, Iola took a two-point lead into the halftime locker room and in the second half, it was all Mustangs as they out-scored the Bulldogs 28-0 after intermission and cruised to a 42-12 win.
“I’m so excited,” senior linebacker Chase Regehr said. “I gave it my all. I am exhausted and just so glad we are walking out of here with a ‘W.’”
The win guarantees Iola its first playoff appearance since 2008.
With a 14-12 lead, Iola played it simple to begin the second half and it worked to perfection.
“We just out-executed them in the second half,” Iola coach Doug Kerr said.
Iola sophomore Tayton Driskel ran for 22 yards on the first play of the half and was hit out of bounds to get an additional 15 yards tacked onto the play.
Then the march down the field truly began.
Driskel broke off a 6-yard run. Cooper ran for 8. Regehr went for six yards. Driskel got 5 up the middle. Barnhart went for 10 and Driskel punched it into the end zone from a yard out.
“It is a chess game,” Iola coach Doug Kerr said. “Once we had Tayton and Cale going, they didn’t adjust and we didn’t even have to throw the ball.”
A bad snap made Cooper improvise on the extra point and he threw it to junior Evan Sigg for a two-point conversion and the Mustangs had a 22-12 lead.
On a fourth-and-13 on Anderson County’s next drive, Lamb fumbled on a jet sweep and Barnhart recovered the ball to set the Mustangs up in scoring position.
Driskel got 5 yards on the first play of the drive, then Barnhart busted off runs of 10 and 15 yards with a 5-yard Cooper scamper sandwiched in between.
Barnhart finished the game with 89 yards on 10 carries.
