Girard High’s Lemont Love scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:44 remaining to spoil Iola High’s Homecoming fun Friday evening as the Trojans rallied from a halftime deficit to win, 28-23.
The Mustangs got the ball to midfield on the ensuing possession, but came up empty on a fourth-down pass at the Trojan 36 with 2 minutes left.
Girard picked up a pair of critical first downs, and was able to run out the clock from there.
Tre Wilson was once again Iola’s early spark. He snuffed Girard’s first possession with an interception deep in Mustang territory. He then capped the ensuing Iola drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
A Girard punt followed and Iola marched 65 yards on four plays, ending with Wilson’s 20-yard scoring run for a 14-0 lead.
The Trojans found their offense on their next possession. Love’s 2-yard plunge cut the gap to 14-6, but Iola shored up 6 minutes of possession with a 15-play drive capped by Kale Pratt’s 28-yard field goal with 2 minutes left in the half.
But things went south in a hurry after the break.
Girard marched 60 yards on nine plays, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ben Cullen to Scott Moore.
Moore then picked up an Iola fumble in stride on the Mustangs’ next possession, and returned it to the IHS 11. Ridden Ashbacher scored two plays later to give Girard its first lead of the night 22-17.
The Mustangs righted their ship, putting together a 78-yard touchdown drive, ending with Wilson’s 15-yard dart to Jordy Kaufman with 1:01 left in the quarter, pushing Iola head 23-22 late in the period.
Things were looking even better when the Mustangs held on downs on Girard’s next possession. But the Trojans returned the favor, stuffing Wilson at the line of scrimmage on fourth and 1 with 9:14 left.
Love’s touchdown 4½ minutes later gave Girard the lead for good.
A personal foul call against the Trojans on the ensuing kickoff put Iola at midfield to start its possession. A third-down pass from Wilson to Konner Larney put Iola at the Trojan 36, but inches short of a first down. The Mustangs tried an out pass, but the ball was incomplete giving the Trojans the ball for good.
Unofficially, Wilson carried 22 times for 101 yards, followed by Easton Weseloh’s 50 yards on nine carries. Wilson completed 6 of 13 passes for 54 yards to five receivers. Kaufman had 26 yards on two catches.
In pregame festivities, senior Grady Dougherty was crowned Homecoming King, while Madeleine Wanker was crowned Homecoming Queen.
