Mistakes Cost Norwalk While Oskaloosa Capitalizes
Oskaloosa Indians
Norwalk, Iowa – The Oskaloosa Indians came into Friday night’s matchup 21 point underdogs but capitalized when the Warriors fumbled twice in the early going.
Oskaloosa Head Coach Jake Jenkins said that he and his team had seen the prediction, but they as a team are just working on being the “best version of ourselves that we can be.”
“We played decent football up to this point, and even last night we made a lot of mistakes, but our whole goal was not to be distracted and just play football for four quarters and just be focused,” added Jenkins. “I think this was the most complete game that we’ve played on offense, defense, and special teams. We were just focused and we were ready to play.”
Jenkins said that there were some changes from last week’s scare against Fairfield to the matchup against Norwalk. “They [players] adjusted the way we wanted them to, and they prepared like we wanted them to.”
Jenkins credits the senior leadership for helping to get the team focused and ready to play.
At the beginning of the season, Jenkins described the seniors as quiet leadership, and he’s seen that evolve as the season progresses. “They’ve been more vocal and were vocal in a positive way… and they’ve also gotten the team going when we’re kind of hanging our heads, feeling sorry for ourselves. Yes, they are more vocal than they were because they care and they know this is their last go-round and I’m really happy with the way they have responded.”
Heading to Grinnell on Friday night, Jenkins says the focus stays the same.
Oskaloosa defeated Norwalk 35-14 on Friday night in Norwalk.
The Indians put 14 quick points on the board in the first quarter, and 7 more points each quarter after that, while Norwalk’s 14 points came in the fourth quarter.
Oskaloosa had 369 total yards on 62 plays, while Norwalk had 375 yards on 64 plays.
The first touchdown for the Indians came off the Cole Henry pass to Iszac Schultz from 35 yards out with 8:58 on the clock in the 1st quarter. The PAT kick by Aaron Blom was good.
Casey Hill dashed in from 2 yards out for the Indians second score with 0:00 on the clock. Blom’s PAT kick was good, and the Indians were up 14-0.
The Indians continued to roll on the Henry pass to Hill from 3 yards out with 8:51 on the clock in the 2nd quarter. Blom’s kick was once again good, and the Indians were up 21-0 heading into the locker room. Indians 21 and the Warriors 0.
Casey Hill once again carried the ball, going 3 yards, scoring the touchdown with 6:48 on the clock in the third quarter. PAT by Blom was good, and the Indians were up 28-0
With 5:19 remaining in the game, Henry connected to Tyler Miller from 4 yards out, and Blom booted the PAT to be perfect on the night. Indians 35-0 over the Warriors.
The Warriors responded with just 3:46 seconds remaining in the game when Max Sutcliffe carried the ball in from 7 yards out. The PAT kick by Kobey Saddoris was good, and it was 35-7.
With just 1 second remaining, Sutcliffe connected to Carter Schmidt on the 26-yard pass for the TD. Saddoris once again good with the PAT, and the final score was the Indians 35, the Warriors 14.
Tyler Miller had 56 yards rushing on 6 carries. His longest being 34 yards. Casey Hill had 40 yards rushing on 19 attempts, with his longest being 16 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Cole Henry had 34 yards of rushing, while also completing 23 of 33 passes for 239 yards. The longest was for 35 yards. The senior had 2 interceptions and 3 touchdowns from the air.
For the Warriors, Christian Nicholson had a total of 32 yards rushing on 12 attempts with a long of 9 yards.
Max Sutcliffe completed 21 or 34 passes for a total of 320 yards, with the long of 39 yards.
Zaiyan Mamun lead the Indians in tackles with 11, while Coy Snakenberg had 8 total tackles. Cade Snakenberg and Kegan Mitts-Butler each had 7 tackles each.
Ethan Vetterink had 10 total tackles for the Warriors, with Ben Clark adding 8 more.
