Indians Continue Quest For Outright District Title
Oskaloosa’s Cole Henry takes off down field against the Knoxville Panthers en route to a 42-6 victory Friday night.
Knoxville, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Indians were off to a slow start on Friday night against the Knoxville Panthers.
The Indians were 30 point favorites but only scored 7 points in the first quarter of play, due in part to the Panthers grit, and some costly penalties.
“I thought they controlled the clock well in the first half,” said Oskaloosa Head Football Coach Jake Jenkins. “I’m glad that we came out and we stayed focused, and we just kept grinding. They are big boys up front. Their offensive line is big.”
“We executed, and we took them seriously,” added Jenkins.
When it comes to claiming the District Title, Jenkins said they are not getting ahead of themselves. The Indians will be on the road to South Tama who sits 0-8 overall. “One game at a time.”
Oskaloosa defeated Pella last week to put themselves in the driver’s seat. The Dutch and the Indians are both 7-1 overall, but the Indians are on top of their district at 4-0, with the Dutch being 3-1 in district play.
The win on Friday night would make the Indians the outright champions for District 7 in Class 3A.
“We’re one step closer guys. One more and we’ll have it outright for the first time in over a decade. We’ll be very happy,” added Jenkins of the potential district title.
The Indians biggest opponent was the penalty flag, with several returns called back for holding. “We’re physical,” said Jenkins. “A lot of those calls, they could go either way. I’m not saying the refs did a bad job at all. Some of it is, we’re playing very, very physical, and I think they get a little trigger happy sometimes. I’m happy with them overall, and I’m happy with our guy’s offense, defense, and special teams.”
“We didn’t get down over calls, we just kept playing. That’s what you have got to do,” added Jenkins. “We’re always happy with a win, and I thought we executed fairly well tonight.”
After defeating their longtime nemesis Pella last week, Jenkins said that keeping his team focused for this week was the same as every other week, and focusing on one game at a time. “They knew, any team can beat you on any given night. We know that. We don’t want to let this slip through our fingers. It’s too big of a deal.”
The Indians have remained mostly injury free at this point, except for Hunter Else who is the starting center for the team. “It’s a grind,” added Jenkins. “We’re going to be in week 9. So there’s guys with bumps and bruises, but I think we’re about as good as we’ve been, so I’m excited for that.”
“I just want to go and win this district championship outright, and then we’ll see what happens from there,” said Jenkins in closing.
The Indians score in the first quarter came on the bomb from Cole Henry to Iszac Schultz for 40 yards with just 1:35 remaining in the first quarter. The PAT kick from Aaron Blom was good. Indians up 7-0.
The Indians cranked up the offense in the second quarter when with 8:29 seconds remaining, Casey Hill pushes into the end zone from 2 yards out. The PAT by Blom is good, and the Indians are up 14-0.
Tyler Miller was the next Indian to find the end zone when he carried the ball in from 6 yards out with 4:56 remaining in the half. The PAT by Blom is good. Indians are up 21-0 over the Panthers.
The final score of the half came on a one-yard rush from Casey Hill with just 13 seconds remaining. The PAT from Blom was good. Indians up 28-0.
The third quarter has Cole Henry dashing to the end zone from 24 yards out with 10:57 remaining in the third quarter. Blom remained perfect with the PAT, and the Indians now had the continuous clock with the score being 35-0.
The Indians scoring machine ended with a 3-yard pass from Henry to Miller with 5:49 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter. Blom was perfect on the night, and with the PAT, the Indians were up 42-0 over the Panthers.
The Panthers found the end zone with 56 seconds remaining when Kieren Nichols ran it in from 35 yards out. The PAT pass from Cristian Magana to Mike Hudson was no good. Indians win 42-6.
The Indians and Panthers had a similar time of possession. Knoxville had 24 minutes and 31 seconds, while the Indians had 23 minutes and 29 seconds.
Oskaloosa had 20 first downs compared to 7 for Knoxville.
The Indians and Panthers were similar in rushing yards, Knoxville had 119 yards rushing, while Oskaloosa had 111 yards.
It was in the air that Oskaloosa was nearly unstoppable. The Indians had 346 yards of passing, compared to just 58 yards for Knoxville.
Casey Hill had 45 yards of rushing on 11 attempts with 2 touchdowns. Cole Henry had 30 yards on 2 attempts and a touchdown. Tyler Miller had 10 yards on 3 carries and a touchdown.
Knoxville’s Kieren Nichols had 50 yards on 10 attempts with a touchdown. Tyler Wells had 41 yards on 6 attempts.
Cole Henry had 338 total yards of passing. He completed 19 of 24, with a longest being a 40-yard completion, and hitting on two touchdowns.
Cristian Magana had 49 yards completing 5 of 7 passing attempts.
Casey Hill had the sticky gloves of the night, receiving 6 passes for a total of 89 yards. Tyler Miller was there as well, catching 5 for a total of 80 yards and a touchdown. Iszac Schultz had 72 yards on 3 receptions and a touchdown.
The Indians will travel to South Tama on Friday night to finish out the regular season. Kickoff time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
