Indians Right The Ship For Week Three Win
by Jamie Brockman
After a rough week two loss, Oskaloosa bounced back strong with a 44 -20 win at Fairfield Friday night.
Senior, Tyler Miller scored four touchdowns, Reed Brown had two interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown, and senior Aaron Blom kicked three field goals as Oskaloosa was clicking on all cylinders.
Brown got Osky off to a quick start with an interception he returned 38 yards, giving Osky a 7-0 lead just: 55 seconds into the game.
Later in the first quarter, Blom extended the lead to 10-0 with a 34-yard field goal. The Indians added another score near the end of the first quarter, completing a nine-play, 61-yard drive, on an eight-yard touchdown run by Miller.
Miller struck again midway through the second quarter scoring on a 46-yard run and Blom connected on a 37 yard field goal with no time left on the clock giving Oskaloosa a 27-0 halftime lead.
Quarterback Will Schultz connected on 11-16 passes in the first half as the Indians racked up 222 total first-half yards. After a dismal performance a week ago, the Oskaloosa defense limited the Trojans to just 32 total first-half yards.
Fairfield moved the ball better out of the locker room and got on the board in the third quarter with a 76-yard drive.
A few minutes later, it was Miller again, with an impressive 58-yard punt return putting Oskaloosa ahead 34-7. Miller scored his fourth touchdown with under a minute left in the third quarter on a one-yard run, and Oskaloosa took a 41-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Fairfield scored twice in the fourth quarter on 83 and 31-yard drives to get within 41-20 with 5:21 remaining in the game, but that’s all the closer they would get.
Blom put the finishing touches on splitting the uprights from 46 yards out for the 44-20 win.
Miller rushed for 144 yards on 22 attempts and scored three rushing touchdowns. Will Schultz carried five times for 25 yards. Schultz connected on 15-24 passes, using four different receivers, for 121 yards with one interception. Blom and Miller each caught four passes, Blom for 55 yards and Miller for 13, while Iszac Schultz had three receptions, and Noah Van Veldhuizen caught two.
Cody Gunn and Kenny Settimi led the defense with nine tackles each, Leland Evans had six, and Walker Newman had five tackles.
Oskaloosa improved to 2-1 on the season and will host Norwalk in their final non-district game Friday night. Norwalk just beat Pella in Pella Friday, handing the Little Dutch their first home loss since 2008.
You can watch Friday’s game live at www.indiansnetwork.tv or on MCG channel 7.
