The fall middle school sports season is in the closing stages. Thursday was the second-to-last opportunity for young gridiron stars to close out the 2019 season on a high note. Here is how each Allen County middle school fared:
Iola Football
The seventh-grade Ponies cliched the league championship with a 22-6 win over Wellsville. Cole Mathes paced the Ponies on the ground, earning 171 yards rushing to go along with 3 touchdowns. Head coach Scott Ellis praised his offensive line for proving large holes for Mathes to find open field.
Complimenting Math-es on the offensive end were quarterback Kyser Nemecek, who threw for 33 yards passing, and Corland Carson added 27 yards on the ground. Defensively for the Ponies, Mathes carries the load with 9 tackles, and Dreden Ellis along with Demarco Ross chipped in 4 tackles apiece.
Not often do middle school football teams execute the two-minute drill to perfection, but the Wellsville Eagles did just that to the eighth-grade Ponies. Iola earned a late lead after Gage Skahan plunged in the endzone to hand Iola the lead. Unfortunately for the Ponies, Wellsville was left with too much time on the clock. The Eagles drove down the field and scored to take a 34-28 lead. Iola did make the most of their possession with the football, driving deep into Wellsville territory, but simply ran out of time.
Skahan finished as Iolas number-one rusher with 182 yards and 3 touchdowns rushing. Complimenting Skahan in the backfield was Drayden Reiter, who added 45 yards rushing. Quarterback Landon Weide impressed under center, throwing for 141 yards passing along with a touchdown on the ground. Iola will close out their season at Burlington on Monday.
Humboldt Football
The Cubs advanced to 4-2 on the season with a close victory over Cherryvale, 28-26. Humboldt started off hot after Blake Ellis intercepted a pass that he returned 25 yards to the Cherryvale 6-yard line. On the next play, quarterback Sam Hull handed off to Ellis for the 6-yard touchdown to give Humboldt an early lead. Humboldt struck on the scoreboard once more when Hull found the endzone on a 4-yard touchdown scamper. After a failed two-point conversion, the Cubs lead rested at 14-0.
Cherryvale fought back to tie the score 14-14 but Humboldt regained the lead before the first-half horn. Skyler Harris powered past the goal line for a 7-yard touchdown, handing Humboldt the lead 20-14. With limited time left in the first half, Cherryvale made the most of their opportunity, and returned the kickoff for a touchdown to tie the game at 20-20.
The Chargers earned their first lead of the game in the third quarter, but failed on the 2-point conversion to lead 26-20. Humboldt didnt respond until five minutes remaining in the third quarter. Hull broke away for a 35-yard rush to give the Cubs a new set of downs. On the ensuing play, it was Hull breaking free once again, this time all the way to the endzone. For the 2-point conversion attempt, Hull would call his own number to give Humboldt the late 28-26 lead. Cherryvale responded by reaching the Humboldt 25-yard line, but any hopes of late heroics were put to bed after Byron Westbrook recovered a fumble to clinch the win. Hull rushed for a team high 120 yards on 10 carries along with 2 touchdowns rushing. Ellis and Harris combined for 69 yards rushing to relieve some of the load from Hulls spectacular performance. Humboldt will travel to Neodesha on Monday.
Marmaton Valley
Volleyball
