7th Grade Indians Win Defensive Battle Over Grinnell
The Oskaloosa Indians 7th Grade football team defeated the Grinnell Tigers 8-7 in a tough defensive battle.
The 7th Grade Fighting Indians were in action last night against the Tigers of Grinnell. The Indians were coming off of a tough 8-6 loss last week against the Sigourney Cobras. The game started out pretty dismal for the Indians as the Tigers dismantled the defense on a series of long runs and passes. The Tigers finally capitalized on the drive with a run of 20 yards to score the go ahead touchdown. An extra point made the opening score 7-0 in favor of the Tigers.
After the first score, most of the first half went back and forth as both defenses managed to halt the offenses with little effort. That is until the end of the first half when the Indian offensive line got a huge push and running back Andrew Els broke a few tackles on his way to a 45 yard touchdown. This was the first play that went for more than ten yards for the Indians, and the offensive line kept it going as they created a nice seam for Els on the two point conversion to give the Indians an 8 – 7 lead going into the half.
The second half of the game was a defensive slugfest as both defenses bent at times but never broke. The Indians managed to get in the red zone a few different times, but they couldn’t score. The Tigers marched their way down the field a couple of times, but they couldn’t score either. The Indians made a late defensive stand on their own side of the field which gave them the close victory of 8 – 7.
The B game was an exciting one as lots of players were used throughout the game. The Indians played very well in the game, and both the offense and defense gave great effort. The Indians managed to punch in three touchdowns while only giving up one long touchdown run to the Tigers, and the Indians came away with a 22 – 7 victory. Some notable contributions came from Zach Beebe as he scored two touchdowns, Joe Glasgow as he scored a 35 yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak, and Kaylee James led the Oskaloosa defense with 5 or more tackles. The 7th grade Fighting Indians will be in action next Tuesday in Oskaloosa against the Pella Dutch.
