Indians Claim Home Opening Win Over Demons
Tyler Miller celebrates his 2nd of 3 touchdowns against Washington on Friday night.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Mother Nature was threating a washout but held off with the bad weather until after the Indians claimed their first victory of the season over the Washington Demons 30-20.
Oskaloosa head coach Jake Jenkins spoke about the factor the wind played on Friday night.
Jenkins said the Demons came out hungry and took responsibility for the blown coverage that lead to the first 7 points for the Demons.
Jenkins had hoped that the team would have put the Demons away sooner, “but they [Washington] are a quality team, so you have to give it to them for fighting all the way through.”
When it comes to aggression, Jenkins said he’s worked with his team to keep them aggressive within the rules of the game. “I thought we did a really good job with that, but they are a very physical team. That’s why we want to play them, because they’re physical.”
“Our guys were hungry for a victory. Very hungry. So I’m proud of the way we played,” added Jenkins. “Obviously there’s a lot of things that we need to fix.”
“A lot better from week one to week two,” added Jenkins. ‘I think there’s a lot more we need to make between two and three.”
Last week the Indians struggled with containment on the edge but improved significantly against Washington. “We lost containment a couple of times. We’ve been focusing on that as well. Offensively, we’re just trying to pick them apart,” said Jenkins.
“It was a team victory. We needed everybody, the offense, defense, and special teams. I’d say we won those three battles,” Jenkins added.
The Indians are now 1 and 1 on the season, and the win helped to give the team some momentum heading into Friday night’s matchup against Fairfield. “With the schedule, we made it tough. We did it on purpose. You have to. The first-week loss, that’s to a team that’s going to win a lot of games, and potentially make a run for the state title. Washington is a quality program year in and year out. They are going to win games, and that will help us as well.”
The Indians were first to strike with a 20 yard Tyler Miller rush into the end zone with 7:26 remaining in the first quarter. PAT kick by Aaron Blom was good.
The Demons responded with a 21 yard Luke Turner pass to Brady Knutson for the touchdown with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter. Indians and Demons are tied at 7 each.
The Indians got to within field goal range for Aaron Blom, and with 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Blom boots it through the uprights to put the Indians up 10-7.
With 4:01 remaining in the 2nd quarter, Cole Henry finds Tyler Miller for the 22 yards touchdown. PAT kick by Blom was good, and the Indians are up 17-7.
The Indians had 14 unanswered points in the second quarter, and those final 7 came once again from the arm of Cole Henry to Tyler Miller for a 24 yard TD reception with just 28 seconds remaining. Blom was good on the PAT, and the Indians were up 24-7 heading into the locker room.
The Indians took the third quarter off from scoring, while the Demons added a Luke Turner rush from 36 yards out for the touchdown. The PAT from Logan Escher was good, and the Demons were down by 10, 14-24.
The fourth quarter had the Indians and Demons trading touchdowns. The Indians had their final score of the night at the hands of Cole Henry and Tyler Miller once again. The duo teamed up for a 66 yard TD reception with 11:21 remaining in the contest. The PAT kick from Blom was no good, and the Indians were up 30-14.
Washington found the end zone with just 24 seconds remaining when Luke Turner passed to Cade Hennigan for a 25 yard TD reception. The PAT by Turner was no good, and the final score was Oskaloosa 30, and the Washington Demons 20.
Oskaloosa had 17 first downs, compared to 15 for Washington. 65 offensive plays for the Demons, while the Indians had 56.
Washington had 156 yards rushing, and 183 in the air. The Indians had 130 yards rushing, with 196 in the air. Total net yards had the Demons with 339, while the Indians had 326.
Oskaloosa’s Casey Hill had 19 rushes for a total of 103 net yards. Cole Henry had 11 rushes for a net of 11 yards.
Washington’s Luke Turner had 23 carries for 123 net yards. Garrett Ikerd had 13 carries for 28 yards.
In the air, Washington’s Luke Turner attempted 23 passes, with 10 of those completed for a total of 183 yards, including 2 touchdowns.
Cole Henry attempted 19 passes for Oskaloosa, completing 12 of those for a total of 196 yards. Henry had 2 interceptions, and 3 touchdown passes, with a long of 66 yards.
Tyler Miller racked up 7 receptions for a total of 130 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Aaron Blom was the Indians leading tackler with a total of 13, which included 4 solo tackles. Tommy Coon also had 4 solo tackles and 3 tackle assists for 7. Zaiyan Mamun had 3 solo tackles with 4 assist tackles, as did Walker Newman.
Tristian Edwards-Westphal lead the Demons with 11 total tackles, which included 8 solo tackles.
The Indians will face the Fairfield Trojans at home Friday night, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 pm.
