Indian Freshman Defeat Cardinals
The Oskaloosa Freshman team had one of the most exciting games ever on Friday night as they defeated the Newton Cardinals 54-49 and moved their record to a perfect 5-0. Newton controlled the first half, but the young Indians were able to take hold of the second half, and the offense was able to score on the last drive to take the lead and secure the victory.
The game started great for Osky as David Nelson was able to take the opening kickoff back 91 yards for a quick touchdown to make the score 7-0 within seconds. However, the rest of the first quarter was all Newton as they scored on 3 TD’s in a row on 10-yard, 28-yard, and a 72-yard run to make the score 24-7 at the end of the first quarter as the defense could not stop them and the offense was struggling to move the ball.
During the second quarter, the Freshman offense started to get their momentum back as they scored on a 29-yard pass to David Nelson from Will Schultz to make the score 24-13. Newton answered right back on the next possession to make the score 30-13 on a 1-yard run. Oskaloosa came back with another score on the next possession on a 25-yard run by Will Schultz to make the score 30-20. On the downside, the Indians were not able to hold the Cardinals out once again as they scored on a 62-yard run to make the halftime score 37-20.
The second half was a different story as the Indians made some adjustments at halftime and the players came out fired up and ready to play ball as the Indians scored on every offensive possession and the defense was able to hold Newton to only 2 touchdowns the second half.
Oskaloosa Indians
by Coach Todd Miller
The third quarter was all Indians as the defense was able to hold Newton out of the end zone during this quarter and the Indians scored 3 straight touchdowns to take the lead with a score of 41-37. The first touchdown came on a 25-yard pass to David Nelson. After a quick 3 and out by the defense, the Indians were able to score on a 62-yard pass to Darryl Fane as he was flying down the field. After a Newton strip and fumble recovery by Landon Hunolt, the Indians were able to score the last touch down of the third quarter on a nice 31-yard run by Colin Snitker.
The 4th quarter started with Newton scored on a 1-yard run to make the lead by a score 43-41. On the next possession, the Indians were able to score on a 10-yard pass to Landon Hunolt to make the score 48-43 Osky. Then it was Newton’s turn as they scored on a 13-yard run to take the lead back with a score of 49-48. The next kick off for the Cardinals to some bad bounces as it eluded the returners and rolled down to the 1-yard line for the Indians to start their last possession. The freshman team was able to get a first down and start the drive going down the field as they scored on a 1 yard run by Daryl Fane to make the final score 54-49.
One of the keys for the Indians win was the special teams play as they scored on a kick-off return and Newton would not kick deep to them anymore and gave the Indians great field position as they normally started around the 40-yard line. The second huge special team advantage for the Indians was Carson Genskow kicking the extra points as he was able to put 6 out of the 7 extra points through the goal posts. The third was the Carson Genskow and the kickoff team as they were able to hold Newton to just 46 return yards on returns on 8 kick-offs while the Indians had over 150 yards on returns.
On the night the defense was able to hold Newton to just 38 yards passing but struggled on the stop their strong rushing attack. The Indians were able to create 3 turnovers as Tristen Deney, Landon Hunolt and Warren Feudner were all able to come up with huge fumble recoveries. Leading the Indians in tackles was Colin Snitker 14, Darryl Fane 9, Ryan Hafner 7, Landon Hunolt 5, Dalton Plate 5, Bobby Opheim 4, Andres Chavez 4, David Nelson 4, Christian Cavan 4, Carson Genskow 3, Will Schultz 3, Warren Feudner 3, Kyhadin Yang 2, Dawson Braden 2, Blake Westercamp 2, and then Donovan Tighe 1, Will Campbell 1, Tristen Deney 1.
On offense, the Indians were able to put in another 500-yard performance as they were able to pick up over 300 yards on the ground and over 200 yards in the air and had 5 different players score during the game.
