Indians Claim Homecoming Win
Oskaloosa’s Tyler Miller once again scored four touchdowns to help Oskaloosa claim a 35-16 win over Grinnell for Homecoming 2019.
by Jamie Brockman
Oskaloosa used big second and fourth quarter bursts to open Class 3A District 7 play with a 35-16 Homecoming win over Grinnell.
Grinnell capitalized on early Oskaloosa mistakes to jump out to a 9-0 lead. The Tigers Kyle Dillon recovered an Osky fumble and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 6:29 remaining in the opening quarter. Three minutes later, a Tigers punt pinned the Indians deep at their own five-yard line. A holding penalty backed Osky up to the two-yard line. Osky moved the ball out to the 11-yard line, but a penalty and a couple plays for negative yardage again moved Osky back to their own one-yard line. On the next play Tyler Miller was tackled in the end zone following a bad snap. This gave the Tigers two points on the safety for a 9-0 lead which they held into the second quarter.
Oskaloosa dominated the second quarter scoring 21 unanswered points. Reed Brown intercepted his third pass of the season deep in Grinnell territory with 9:52 remaining setting the offense up with first and goal from Grinnell’s eight yard line. Four plays later on fourth down and two, Tyler Miller, scored his first of four touchdowns on a two-yard run pulling the Indians within 9-7. After the defense forced the Tigers to punt on the ensuing possession, the Indians scored again on a 19 yard run by Miller finishing a seven-play 46-yard drive to put Osky in front 14-9.
Again the defense forced the Tigers to punt on three and out, but an Oskaloosa fumbled which was recovered by Grinnell on the very next play. The Tigers offense, however, went backward with back to back penalties and Grinnell faced a third down and 30 situation. After a pass completion, the Indians defense shined again as Iszac Schultz forced a fumble recovered by Leland Evans at Grinnell’s 25-yard line with just over a minute left in the half. Five plays later the Indians added to their lead scoring on a three-yard run by Miller and took a 21-9 lead into the halftime break. The Indians defense held the top passing team in the District to 16 total first-half yards, including negative five yards rushing.
Neither team did much in the third quarter trading punts, although Leland Evans made his presence known again forcing and recovering a fumble. Injuries forced Oskaloosa to adjust once again. Wyatt Krier started the game at running back due to Tyler Miller starting in the quarterback position. Krier was forced to leave the game in the third quarter with a possible concussion and did not return. That moved Tyler Miller back to running back and brought Reed Brown in at quarterback.
The fourth quarter was a bit of a shootout. Grinnell scored with 4:59 remaining in the game to pull within 21-16, but from there it was all Indians. The ensuing possession, less than a minute later, saw Reed Brown break free and score on a 74-yard touchdown run putting Osky ahead 28-16. The Indians defense wasn’t done, as again they forced a Tiger fumble recovered by Kenny Settimi. On the next play, Aaron Blom broke free for an 83 yard run to Grinnell’s four-yard line giving Osky first and goal. Following a couple negative yardage plays, Tyler Miller scored n a 13 yard run putting the finishing touches on a 35-16 Oskaloosa win.
For the game, Oskaloosa racked up 369 yards offense, which included an impressive 310 rushing and 59 yards passing. Grinnell was held to just 159 total yards, including just 52 rushing yards. Osky’s defense forced five Tigers turnovers including four fumbles and an interception.
Miller led the ground attack with 29 carries for 119 yards and four touchdowns, marking the second time this season Miller’s scored four touchdowns in a game. Brown carried nine times for 97 yards, Krier had 14 rushes for 69 yards and Blom 1 for 83 yards.
Grinnell’s Wyatt Hunter entered the game as the top statistical running back in Class 3A, but Osky’s defense had his number all night, limiting him to 18 yards on 19 carries.
Miller completed five of nine passes for 35 yards with one interception, while the Tigers Freshman quarterback Dallas Sauser was 14-30 for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Krier led Oskaloosa’s receivers with two catches for 33 yards, while Kyle Dillon was the Tigers top receiver with six catches for 82 yards.
Aaron Blom led the defense with 13 tackles, and Cody Gunn had nine. Leland Evans recovered three fumbles and Kenny Settimi recovered one.
Oskaloosa improved to 3-2 on the season and starts off 1-0 in District play.
Oskaloosa is on the road the next two weeks heading to Newton next Friday then Pella before two home games to finish the regular season.
