Indians Spoil A Tiger Homecoming
Grinnell, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Indians exploded in the first half in the first round of District play on Friday night. The Indians put up 44 points in the first half en route to a 44-7 win.
The Indians had a plan for Friday night, and they came out and executed it. “Our plan every week is to get better. We were happy the way we played against Norwalk, but we also still made quite a few mistakes, so we were trying to fix those big mistakes and move forward and find a way to get better. Really, we weren’t looking at Grinnell, we were looking at ourselves,” said Jenkins.
“We did what we wanted to do, we did our game plan, and I thought we executed very well,” added Jenkins.
For the Indians and Jenkins, the score allowed the team to get some younger players some valuable play time, with the whole junior varsity team playing, which was a first so far this year. “I’m happy to have those guys out there.”
Grinnell kept their starters in against the JV team, “and with their starters in, I thought our sophomores did a good job going against those juniors and seniors.”
“I was really proud at the way everybody battled and the way that we played. It was a fun night for the Indians,” added Jenkins.
The Indians now look forward to Homecoming Week 2018 that will be against Newton on Friday night.
The Indians have spoiled homecoming for both Norwalk and Grinnell now, and Jenkins would like to make it three homecoming wins in a row.
Even beyond the distractions that take place during homecoming week, Jenkins loves catching up with the alumni “and I love seeing the old Indians from the past come back and support us.”
The visiting Cardinals are no stranger to Jenkins, where Jenkins’ father was the head coach. “It’s a pretty special place for me. And now being an Oskaloosa Indian, I’m 100% Oskaloosa Indians. It’s an interesting match-up and they are a good team, I think they probably will be the best program that we’ve played this year so far.”
“It’s going to be a tough, fun match-up for both sides,” added Jenkins.
The Indians struck early in the first quarter, when Casey Hill ran in from 13 yards out with 9:52 on the clock. Aaron Blom with the PAT, and the Indians were on the board 7-0.
Just about 4 minutes later, the Indians found the end zone again, with Casey Hill carrying the ball from 18 yards out. Blom was good on the PAT, and the Indians are up 14-0.
With 3:17 remaining in the first quarter, Cole Henry finds Iszac Schultz for the 21 yard TD reception. The TD kick from Blom was good, and the Indians are up 21-0 in the first quarter.
With 11:59 remaining in the second quarter, Blom boots the 32-yard field goal, and the Indians are leading 24-0.
Off of Blom’s boot, the Indians score another field goal with 9:58 remaining in the second quarter.
Henry finds Tyler Miller for the 72 yard TD with 8:23 on the clock. Blom’s PAT was good, and the Indians are leading 34-0.
Still in the second quarter with 3:38 remaining, Hill runs in from 3 yards out. Blom’s PAT is once again good, and the Indians lead 41-0.
The final Indian score once again came on a field goal by Blom from 30 yards out. It’s Indians 44, while the Tigers have 0.
The Tigers get their lone score with 15 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter when Wyatt Dillon carries the ball in from 2 yards out. The PAT kick by Gavin McFarland is good, and the final score is 44-7 Indians.
Casey Hill lead the Indians with rushing yards, totaling 150 yards on 21 carries. RaShaung Braggs had 21 yards on 3 carries. Leland Evans had 18 yards on 5 carries, while Cooper Spry had 3 yards on a single carry.
For the Tigers, Drew Coffman had a total of 18 yards on 9 carriers. Wyatt Hunter had 6 yards on 4 carries.
Cole Henry completed 14 of 23 passes for a total of 240 yards. Andrew Else attempted 3 and connecting on 1 of them for 14 yards in the air.
Drew Coffman had 28 passing attempts, connecting on 13 for a total of 69 yards for the night.
Tyler Miller had the sticky gloves, pulling in 4 passes for a total of 102 yards, while Schultz also had 4 receptions for a total of 62 yards. Dylan VanLeuven had two receptions for 32 yards, and Blom also had 2 receptions for 29 yards.
Aaron Blom and Cole Kraber each had 7 tackles for the Indians, while Kegan Mitts-Butler had 6 tackles. Nikolas Dykstra added another 5 tackles for the Indians.
Logan Astelle had 11 tackles for the Tigers.
Oskaloosa had 21 first downs, compared to 4 for the Tigers.
The Indians rushed for 156 total yards, while the Tigers had 25 total yards rushing.
In the air, the Indians racked up 254 total yards, while the Tigers had 69.
The Indians had 66 offensive plays, while the Tigers had 47.
The Indians are at home this week, where they will host the Newton Cardinals at the Lacey Stadium. Homecoming kick-off is set for 7:30 pm.
