Hungry for the taste of victory are Parsons High’s Vikings. That makes Iola High Mustangs’ Friday night opponents dangerous.
“We’re telling our kids, and it’s the truth, that Parsons is fast and they have plenty of athletic talent,” said Rick Horton, Mustang head coach.
“We can’t take them lightly. They played a pretty good game last week against Columbus.”
The Vikings come to Iola for the Mustangs’ home opener Friday. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Riverside Park stadium.
Both teams are looking for win No. 1 in 2010. Iola dropped a 61-51 decision at Independence last Friday while Parsons lost 47-36 at Columbus.
“We had a tough game against Columbus. We had three fumbles and a punt returned for a touchdown. We eliminate the mistakes and it would have been a different contest,” said Dustin Perkins, Viking head coach.
“Our kids played hard and we have a lot of experienced players but we’re still young.”
The Vikings are mired in a 21-game losing streak, fifth longest in Southeast Kansas League history.
Parsons’ last win was 14-7 at Coffeyville on Oct. 12, 2007.
Iola and Parsons have not played the past two years despite being in the SEK. The last time the two teams met, the Mustangs pulled out a 16-12 win in 2007.
That came in Horton’s first season as head coach for Iola. Perkins became the Viking head coach the next year.
“Coach Perkins has the Parsons’ program going in the right way. They run a triple option offense and that means our kids have to be assignment sound defensively,” Horton said.
“In a triple option, a defense tackles everybody. We have stressed this week we want 11 guys flying to the football on defense. We did not do a good job of tackling and pursuing the ball last week.”
Perkins said the Viking starting quarterback Wes Krull “tweaked” his knee during last week’s game but is ready for Friday’s contest at Iola. Also the Vikings have starting tailback Tre Nash ready to play this week.
“We have a balance on offense with several different weapons. Wes does a very good job directing the offense. We really like our receivers — Tevin Johnson, Steve Jones and Ivory Kelly — and James C. Jackson runs the ball well along with Tre,” Perkins said.
The Vikings rushed for 132 yards and passed for 196 yards in their season opener. They lost three of five fumbles, one was by the quarterback going into the Columbus end zone.
Iola had trouble running the ball effectively a week ago, 80 yards on 36 carries. The Mustangs aired out the football as Charles Apt threw for 316 yards, 22 of 42 with four touchdown passes and two interceptions.
“We’ve made a change in the offensive line. We were not happy with the way our lineman blocked and we’ve stressed this week on staying on their blocks. We’ve worked on foot work and balance,” Horton said.
Sophomore Eli Grover steps in as starting right guard. Blake Appling and Zach Crawford are backup offensive linemen.
The other change is that Horton said they have gone to a “true spread offense this week with three wide receivers and no fullback.” Jacob Rhoads, a freshman, won the third wide receiver position.
There were shifts defensively also. Sophomore Stephen McDonald moved from a middle linebacker spot to noseguard.
Senior Kyle Heffern was shifted over one slot as linebacker and junior Braden Larson is starting in the middle as linebacker. Rhoads has been inserted as an outside linebacker.
“We had one guy who was consistently flying to the football — Devon Burton — last week. He was a mad- man. We need more guys playing with that intensity,” Horton said.
“The key for us defensively against Iola is to know where (Jerrik) Sigg is because he was their go-to-guy. (Marcus) Sullivan is a good running back but I was impressed with how well their quarterback ran the ball,” Perkins said.
“Offensively, we stopped ourselves last week. We need to take care of the football and sustain drives. We need to keep Iola’s offense off the field.”
For Iola, Horton said he hasn’t been discussing Parsons’ win-loss situation with his team.
“We just tell them Parsons is dangerous. We have to take care of what we do. If we block better, run the ball better, win the line of scrimmage, tackle better, we’re going to succeed,” Horton said.
Pregame Outlook — Mustangs, Vikings to battle for SEK win
