7th Grade Football vs Grinnell

Oskaloosa Indians

The Oskaloosa 7th grade football team won both of their games last night. The “A” team won their game 22-0. The game started out with the defense flying around and making some great tackles to hold Grinnell to a three and out. Oskaloosa got the ball and made the most of their opportunity by driving down the field and scoring on an eight-yard touchdown run by Casey Hill, the two-point conversion was no good. Grinnell got the ball back and again were shut down by the intense Oskaloosa defense. Payton Strovers made a perfect play on the ball and intercepted the Grinnell quarterback, to help get the offense back on the field. The offense was able to sustain some nice drives the whole first half but were unable to get into the end zone after their first score.

After halftime the Oskaloosa offensive line picked up their play and started manhandling the Tigers up front. After some great blocking the offense got inside the ten yard line and Riley Miller was able to score on a four-yard touchdown run, and also scored on the two-point conversion to put the Indians up 14-0. Once again the defense did its job and helped Oskaloosa get the ball back after Grinnell was able to get their only first down of the game. The offense struggled to get a first down and after a penalty they were forced to punt. Nik Dykstra sent a booming 62-yard punt over the head of the Grinnell returner to pin the Tigers inside their own twenty. The story of the night continued once Grinnell got the football back as they were unable to get a first down and had to give the ball back to the Indians. Oskaloosa continued to run the ball right at Grinnell defense, who were unable to stop the Indians as the offensive line continued to dominate up front. Riley Miller scored another touchdown this time from two yards out and again Miller converted the two-point conversion to put the Indians up 22-0 with only 6:02 left in the game. Grinnell could not get past the Oskaloosa defense that held Grinnell to a stunning and unheard of negative total yards for the entire game. Oskaloosa finished the game with a couple of kneel downs from Kraber as time ran out to give the Indians their second victory of the year 22-0.

The “B” game provided more excitement, as they were able to win 22-14. The game started out as a defensive battle as both teams were unable to get much going on offense. Shortly into the second quarter Drew Marolf hit Hogan Rockhold for a touchdown pass to put the Indians up 6-0. The defense provided a huge play with Ziayan Mamun jumping the pass route and getting the interception to set up the Oskaloosa offense inside the Grinnell twenty-yard line. With some great blocking from the line and a ten-yard run by Kaia Graham, RaShaun Braggs was able to punch the ball in from six inches out for the touchdown, followed by Graham converting the two-point conversion to put the Indians up 14-0. Right before halftime Ziayan Mamun intercepted another pass and took this one to the house for a defensive touchdown, but the play was called back because of a penalty on the Indians.

In the second half Grinnell battled back with a couple of good drives from their offense and scored a touchdown to make the game 14-6. Oskaloosa once again had a great drive set up by an outstanding catch from Tommy Coon for eighteen yards to put the Indians past mid-field. After a couple of first downs Marolf hit Rockhold for a twenty-six yard touchdown pass and the Indians converted the two-point conversion to go up 22-6 on the Tigers. Grinnell was able to score one more time late in the second half, but it was not enough as the Indians were able to pull together on defense and the offense ran out the clock on the Tigers, to finish with a 22-14 victory. After both teams shook hands and met with the coaches for some final thoughts from the game, the boys from Oskaloosa ran all the way back to the Middle School while singing the fight song after a couple of great victories. “It was great to see the players so excited after the game, and it really shows how much they are coming together as a team” Says Coach Sheeley “These kids showed a lot of effort and heart tonight, and I know they will be ready for Pella next week”