Mustangs hoping for redemption in season opener

Last year, Doug Kerr and the rest of the Iola High football program went into their season opener against Santa Fe Trail blind.
They didn’t know the Chargers had 12 seniors who started since they were freshmen. They didn’t know the Chargers had 300-pound linemen. They didn’t know the Chargers were that good.
Now they know.
Iola will kick off its season against Santa Fe Trail for the second straight year when the two schools meet Friday night at Riverside Park. But Kerr is hoping for a much different result than last season’s matchup, which ended 35-0 in favor of Santa Fe Trail.
The fourth-year head coach said the Mustangs’ improved training habits during the offseason should help them in their attempt to reverse the outcome from the 2014 meeting with the Chargers.
“Last year we had no idea about them,” Kerr said. “I think the difference between last year and this year is we’re a lot more aware of what they do on offense, what they do on defense … So I feel 150 percent more prepared than I did last year.”
However, knowing what to expect and knowing how to stop it are two completely different things. And Santa Fe Trail proved last year that it is hard to stop on either side of the ball.
Chargers’ head coach Jayson Duncan, who was named Coach of the Year after leading his team to the state semifinals last season, said his biggest strength is his squad’s size, especially at the offensive line and tight end positions. That advantage over Iola’s smaller defense should help Santa Fe Trail establish a consistent running attack.
If the Mustangs find a way to slow down the Chargers on the ground, Duncan said his team will be in trouble because of its reliance on running the ball in between the tackles.
“Our front six average 265 (pounds),” Duncan said. “So we’re going to line up and try to run the ball. If we can’t run the ball, we probably better get on the bus and head back to Carbondale. It will be a long night for us if we can’t run the ball.”
Iola, on the other hand, will attempt to spread the field as much as possible and use its speed to get around Santa Fe Trail’s big bodies. With a 5-foot-9 quarterback in Ben Cooper, Kerr said to look for passes outside the pocket and rushing attempts toward the sidelines rather than up the gut.
“From a skill standpoint, I feel like we match up really well,” Kerr said.
“I think that will give us a chance to keep ourselves in the game and not get down early. We’re doing some things to try and maximize our athletes in space and kind of stay away from those big guys.”
And because his squad was pummeled in 2014, Kerr said he has also worked on building more depth at positions across the board.
After a key member of Iola’s offense went down with an injury early in last season’s matchup, the Mustangs stumbled whenever they had the ball and therefore failed to put up a single point.
So now in accordance with his better preparation habits, Kerr has stacked his talent in the depth chart in case the Chargers are just as physical on the field as they were last season.
“Last year we had a couple of kids go down in that game and so we started moving the chess pieces too early just out of necessity,” Kerr said. “So this year we’ve really been working with building a capable backup to a starter so we’re not in panic mode when it all starts going downhill, and hoping that it doesn’t.”
With the season kicking off on Friday, each team possesses a sense of optimism. Santa Fe Trail holds the belief that its matchup with Iola will spark its second straight appearance in the state playoffs after the program went just 10-80 in the previous 10 years.
And Iola believes a strong start against Santa Fe Trail will help boost the Mustangs toward the playoffs for the first time since 2008 or, at the very least, a winning record once again.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.