Indians Come Up Short Against Warriors
Oskaloosa’s Nate Van Veldhuizen pushes forward while a group of Norwalk Warriors hang on during football action Friday night at Norwalk.
Norwalk, Iowa – Coming off a win the week before, the Indians hit the field confident but also aware they had their work cut out for them.
Norwalk came out quickly on a Chase Onken pass to Neil Hanson for the 89 yard TD. The PAT kick by Shane Newton was good, putting Norwalk up 7-0 with 10:20 remaining on the clock in the first quarter.
Norwalk marched down the field on six plays covering 32 yards to set up a field goal attempt. Newton nails the 35 yard kick, giving Norwalk the lead 10-0 with 6:44 left on the clock in the first quarter.
Norwalk’s Kenny Floyd carried in the third Norwalk score with a 1 yard TD carry. Newton once again nails the PAT and Norwalk leads 17-0 with 2:32 remaining in the first.
The Warriors from Norwalk once again found the end zone on a 5 yard TD carry from Floyd. Newton kicks the PAT after Norwalk had driven the ball 74 yards in 5 plays. Norwalk leads 24-0 with 9:04 still to go in the second quarter.
The Indians finally found the end zone with 32 seconds remaining in the half. Andrew Landgrebe carried the ball in from 1 yard out. The PAT kick by Jonah Renter was no good after a penalty had moved the ball additional yardage from the goal. The Indians had driven the ball 60 yards in 8 plays. The score was then 24-6 in favor of the Warriors.
Norwalk answered the Oskaloosa score with a two play drive that culminated in the Chase Onken pass to Bailey Scott that covered 42 yards with just 9 seconds remaining in the half. The PAT attempt by Newton bounces off the goal post and is no good. Norwalk leads 30-6 over the Indians.
The final score of the game came on a Norwalk TD when Samuel George carried the ball in from 15 yards out with 3:37 remaining in the game. This time, Newton hits the PAT and Norwalk gives the final score of 37-6 with the Indians coming up short.
Afterwards, Coach Schilb said that Norwalk was a good team that was “clicking on all cylinders”. “They’re a pretty balanced team who’s got a lot of talent.”
Schilb said to his team after the game that he believed they were giving it everything they had, “there was a lot of sophomores out there at the end.” Schilb did say that some players were out of position, “but they are learning on the fly.”
Schilb says that the running game remains inconsistent where he says that one good play can then be followed up by a bad play. “We have to be good on first down if we’re going to have a solid running game. We’ve got to do a better job of being consistent.”
