Cardinals Fall To Indian Momentum

It was a sweet homecoming victory for the Indians, as the defeated the Newton Cardinals 56-20. The Indians are now 5-1 on the season and will be hosting Pella on Friday night at the Lacey Stadium. Seen here is Iszac Schultz pulling down the catch against Newton's Camden Winther.

It was a sweet homecoming victory for the Indians, as they defeated the Newton Cardinals 56-20.
The Indians are now 5-1 on the season and will be hosting Pella on Friday night at the Lacey Stadium.
Seen here is Iszac Schultz pulling down the catch against Newton’s Camden Winther.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Indians football team hosted the Newton Cardinals on Friday night for homecoming.

Newton arrived in Oskaloosa with a 3-2 record, beating teams from Ottumwa, Waterloo East, and South Tama.

Oskaloosa entered the contest 4-1 on the year, and seemingly full of momentum after recent wins over Norwalk and Grinnell.

Oskaloosa Head Coach Jake Jenkins said his team played hard and took care of business. “Our offense played really well tonight. Our defense did as well.”

“Excited to come away with a homecoming victory,” said Jenkins. “Especially against a good team like Newton.

The softspot for the Indians seemed to be stopping the run game, and Jenkins said that the power run game is something Newton is known for. “They got the edge on us. They had some really good plays against us. The quick pitch to the edge was tough. The double dive at times was really tough to stop.”

Jenkins said his team had some keys stops early, “and our offense was really operating and throwing the ball well. That’s what got us the edge.”

Oskaloosa has been successful at establishing the passing game in recent weeks, and Jenkins says the team will utilize whatever their opponent will give them. “Cole Henry playing quarterback, he’s got a great arm, he’s smart, and he reads well. And then Casey [Hill] running the ball. Tyler [Miller] on the edge. [Dylan] VanLeuven on the edge. All those weapons that you have. [Nikolas] Dykstra standing up there too. There’s weapons all over the place.”

“Coach Doud and the offense staff do a really good job of just seeing where the soft spots are, and then just attacking,” Jenkins said of his coaching staff. “That’s what they’ve been doing week in and week out, and we’ve got a good thing going right now.”

In regards to having two large wins before hosting Pella, Jenkins isn’t as worried about the mental game as much as earlier in the year. “You can learn a lot from a tough loss or from an ugly win, and we really had both,” referencing the season opening loss to Pella Christian and the scare Fairfield gave the Indians. “That’s what really got us focused. There’s no gimmies. You’ve got to show up every Friday and you’ve got to play your tails off. I think that’s what we’re doing right now, and we’ve got to keep it going.”

Pella comes to Oskaloosa on Friday night, and it will be the final home game for the Indians. “We’re worried about us. We’re worried about being the best team we can be. We have a lot of things we need to fix and it just happens to be our neighbors from Pella.”

“They’re a good team, good staff. I’m sure it’ll be a dogfight, so we’re looking forward to it,” added Jenkins.

The Indians found the endzone early in the 1st quarter when Casey Hill rushed in from 2 yards out with 10:12 remaining on the clock. The PAT kick from Aaron Blom was good, and the Indians were up 7-0.

Hill again found the endzone with just 3:40 remaining from 6 yards out. The PAT by Blom was good, and the Indians were up 14-0 as the quarter came to an end.

Tyler Miller found the open ground, running 59 yards for an Indian touchdown. The PAT by Blom was good, and the Indians were up 21-0 with 8:14 remaining in the first half.

Newton’s Dylan Farver carried the ball in from 2 yards out with 4:31 remaining in the first half to give the Cardinals their first score. The PAT kick by Josh Meyer was good, and it was 21-7 in favor of the Indians.

The Indians had two more scores in them for the half, the first coming on the arm of Cole Henry to Miller for 64 yards with 4:10 remaining in the half. The PAT kick by Blom was good, and Oskaloosa was up 28-7.

It was once again Henry passing, this time to Dykstra for the 4 yards into the endzone, with just 54 seconds remaining in the half. Blom boots the PAT through the uprights, and Oskaloosa was rolling 35-7.

The Indians didn’t allow the halftime pep talk the Cardinals may have gotten to have any impact on the game. With 9:06 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Henry finds Hill on a 41 pass reception. Blom continued to be perfect with the extra point, and the Indians now had the continues clock, up 42-7.

Henry continued to find open men down field as he found Iszac Schultz, completing a 31 yard pass play for the touchdown, with just 1:37 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Blom was good with his PAT, and the Indians were up 49-7.

Newton was driving against the Indians, but coughed up the football. Coy Snakenburg grabbed it, running 46 yards for the defensive touchdown with no time remaining in the 3rd quarter. Blom finished the night perfect with the PAT’s and the Indians lead -56-7.

The final quarter brought some valueable experience for the JV team, as the Cardinals Julian Hotchkin caught the pass from Kyle Long from 22 yards out with 5:45 remaining in the contest. The PAT kick by Meyer was good, and it was 56-14 in favor of the Indians.

A quick touchdown after the kickoff by Josh Miller from 15 yards out with 5:03 remaining was the final trip any team would make to the endzone. The PAT kick by Meyer was blocked, and the Indians won over the Newton Cardinals 56-20.

Newton had a total of 18 first downs, compared to Oskaloosa with 17.

Newton’s power running game gained them 227 yards on the ground, while Oskaloosa gained 190.

From the air, Oskaloosa was nearly unstoppable on Friday night. The Indians had 290 yards in the air, while Newton had 96.

Oskaloosa had 480 yards of total offense, while Newton had 323.

The Oskaloosa Defense was getting their share of reps, as the Cardinals ran 58 total plays, to Oskaloosa’s 38.

Tyler Miller lead the Indians with 88 total yards of rushing, while Casey Hill added 74 yards. Andrew Else had 11 yards rushing, while Cole Henry also had 11.

For Newton, Logan Cummins had 64 yards, and Josh Miller had 62. William Cheng added 53 yards to the Cardinal rushing effort.

Cole Henry with the big night, 290 yards of passing, with 15 completions out of 19 attempts. Henry’s arm lead to 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Tyler Miller had 74 receiving yards, and Casey Hill had 57 yards, each with 4 receptions. Dylan VanLeuven had 86 yards on 3 receptions. Iszac Schultz had 58 yards receiving on 2 receptions.

For Newton, Hotchkin had 89 yards receiving on 4 receptions.

Besides being perfect with the PAT’s Aaron Blom was his own wall, racking up 13 tackles on the night. Zaiyan Mamun had a great night with 11 total tackles.

Destin Schroder lead the Cardinals defensively with 5 total tackles.

Oskaloosa will host the Pella Little Dutch on Friday night at the Lacey Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

Posted by on Sep 29 2018. Filed under Local News, School Activities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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