Osky vs Grinnell 7th Grade FB
The Oskaloosa 7th grade football team had a good week of practice in preparation for Grinnell coming to town Tuesday night. That practice carried over to the field as the Indians dominated the Tigers winning 36-20 in the A game. In the B game the Indians came up just short, losing 24-14 with Grinnell getting a late score to preserve the win.
In the A game Oskaloosa won the toss and deferred putting the defense on the field first. Grinnell had a couple nice runs and a pass play over the Indian defender that brought them all the way down to the Indian 15 yard line. The defense toughened up at that point and held Grinnell out of the end zone. The offense would move the ball down the field at will all half behind strong line play and solid running from the backs. The first two Oskaloosa scores were on nifty runs around the outside by quarterback Tucker Nunnikhoven. Oskaloosa’s final score of the first half was a 3 yard plunge up the middle by fullback Blake Van Veldhuizen as time expired. Van Veldhuizen scored on the 2 point conversion runs following all three scores making it 24-0 at half. Oskaloosa came out strong again in the third quarter with Nunnikhoven scoring on a boot play. Oskaloosa added to its final score when Jacob Kime blocked a Grinnell punt and Keaton DeKock recovered the ball in the end zone. The offense was led by strong line play from Spencer Little, Geoff Fogle, Nick Reiter, Nick Kutz, Cole Jansen, and Tanner DeKock. Tanner DeKock also led the team in receiving along with Jaden Van Roekel. Vincent Ramirez and Alex Chapman rushed for several yards from the tailback spot. The defense played very strong for three quarters holding Grinnell to minimal yardage. In the fourth quarter Grinnell was able to run a kickoff back and had two long pass plays for their three scores against the defense as the Indians got some new players into the game to get some experience. Oskaloosa tackle leaders were Vincent Ramirez, Blake Van Veldhuizen, Tanner DeKock, Jaden Van Roekel, Alex DeJong, and Jacob Kime.
In the B game Oskaloosa showed much improvement from last week. The defense gave up a long run on the Grinnell’s first possesion but Oskaloosa came back with a long run of their own when Zuhayer Mamun scored from 60 yards out. Oskaloosa would score again on another long run by Mamun followed by his 2 point conversion run. Oskaloosa trailed 16-14 late in the game but Grinnell scored with one minute remaining to put the game out of reach. Oskaloosa was led defensively by Brendan Baxter, Lucas Johannes, and Cooper James. Oskaloosa will spend the next week of practice preparing for the Pella Dutch who will bring a strong team to town on Tuesday the 25th for a 4:30 start. Come on out and cheer on the Indian 7th graders next week at Community Stadium.
