ALTAMONT — Iola High’s Mustangs put themselves in opportunities to win on Friday night.
They came up short on the road in Southeast Kansas League play. Labette County High’s Grizzlies made two defensive stands in their territory in the final 10 minutes of play to claim a 27-21 win.
“We were right there. We were inches away from getting a win,” said Rick Horton, Mustang head coach, as his team fell to 0-6.
“We take a lot of positives from this game. We walk off this field and we’re like every other Class 4A team. We’re 0-0.”
Horton says that because the final three games of the season for the Mustangs and others in Class 4A determine playoff spots. District play opens at home next Friday for Iola with Fort Scott High’s Tigers.
The Mustangs did not turn the ball over for the first time this season. They used two Grizzly miscues to set up touchdowns.
After a scoreless first quarter, Labette County finished a 10-play, 55-yard drive on a nine-yard touchdown run by Darryl Winter.
Iola pushed down to Labette County’s 25-yard line but came up empty with 1:23 left in the first half. A fourth-down pass went incomplete.
The Grizzlies elected to put the ball in the air. Marcus Sullivan was there to snare the interception. Sullivan returned the football to Labette County’s 14 with 1:04 on the clock.
Charles Apt connected for a five-yard pass play with Jerrik Sigg. Then the football was handed off to Sullivan, who busted through to the end zone from nine yards out.
Dylan Allen kicked the extra point to tie the game.
The Grizzlies moved the ball down the field but the clock ran out. The teams were locked in a 7-7 tie at halftime.
Labette County came out and establish control of the line of scrimmage for most of the third quarter. Keaton Turner, the Grizzlies’ quarterback, had touchdown runs of 23 and 14 yards.
Iola was on the verge of being blown out again.
But not so fast.
Apt ran for 20 yards for a first down. On a third-down play, the Mustangs went to a screen pass from Apt to Sullivan. He went 47 yards for the touchdown. Allen’s kick was blocked so Iola trailed 20-13 with 2:03 left in the third quarter.
“We’re in this game. Then we had a breakdown on special teams. Overall, that’s really the only thing I’m unhappy about tonight — we made some silly mistakes and several of them came on special teams,” Horton said.
The ensuing kickoff was taken all the way for a touchdown, 84 yards, by Hunter Siebert. Trevor Nash kicked his third extra point of the night to make it 27-13 with 1:34 left in the third period.
Three plays and punt for Iola. Labette County appeared to be rolling as the fourth quarter began.
After Turner passed the ball to Christian Hosey, Labette County’s tight end, a funny thing happened. Apt and Stephen McDonald hit Hosey, who stayed up.
Apt went to the ground but held onto Hosey’s jersey. While that was happening, McDonald ripped the football out for a fumble recovery at Labette County’s 47-yard line with 10:17 left in the game.
The play set up Sullivan’s third touchdown of the night. Apt completed a 35-yard pass to Sigg. Sullivan found a gapping hole on the next play and went to the end zone.
Sullivan tacked on the two-point conversion. Iola trailed 27-21 at the 9:58 mark.
Iola had to burn a timeout before the kickoff because not enough players were on the field. When Allen kicked off, the Mustangs executed a perfect onside kick.
Allen’s kick went high in the air and travel far enough. John Whitworth ran under it and caught it before the Grizzlies could get to it.
Down by six points, Iola had the football back at the Labette County 38. Apt and Sigg hooked up for nine-plus yards on first down.
The Mustangs came up short on three running plays to pick up the inches they needed for a first down.
“That was tough. We need a couple of inches and didn’t get them. Our offensive line had played well all night,” Horton said.
“We had opportunities and didn’t capitalize on them at the end.”
Iola’s defense held Labette County 12 yards on its next seven plays. The Mustangs forced the Grizzlies to punt for the first time in the game with five minutes left.
The Mustangs had to take another timeout because not enough players on the field. Good things happened after that.
Jacob Rhoads got his second punt block of the season. Iola recovered the football at the Labette County 37-yard line.
Apt threw a seven-yard pass to Clint Heffern. Then a high snap sailed over Apt’s head but Sigg was there to handle the ball. Sigg lost three yards on the play.
Two incomplete passes stymied the Mustang drive and gave the ball back to the Grizzlies. The Mustangs had just one timeout left with 3:54 left on the clock.
Turner ran the ball seven times as he guided his team to two first downs. That was enough to wrap up the victory as the Grizzlies went to 2-4 on the season.
“We played four quarters with intensity and effort. It’s the first time this season we’ve done that,” Horton said. “We took steps forward tonight.
“This week is about correcting those little things and getting ready for district play. This loss stinks and it hurts but big steps tonight.”
Sullivan had 60 yards on 10 carries plus caught two passes for 53 yards. Sigg made four catches for 58 yards.
Apt finished at 9 of 23 passing for 137 yards. C. Heffern had two catches for 20 yards and Allen had a reception for seven yards.
Apt led the defensive charge with nine unassisted tackles and nine assisted tackles. Kyle Heffern had five solo stops and five assisted tackles.
McDonald was credited with three solo stops and six assisted tackles. He also had two forced fumbles and one recovery. Sullivan had five solo tackles, one assist and an interception.
Sigg made three solo tackles and five assisted tackles. Blake Appling had five assisted tackles and one solo stop.
Iola 0-7-6-8—21
Labette County 0-7-20-0—27
LC — Winter 9 yd run (Nash kick)
Iola — Sullivan 9 yd run (Allen kick)
LC — Turner 23 yd run (Nash kick)
LC — Turner 14 yd run (kick failed)
Iola — Sullivan 47 yd pass from Apt (kick failed)
LC — Seibert 84 yd kickoff return (Nash kick)
Iola — Sullivan 10 yd run (Sullivan run)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Iola -Sullivan 10-60, Apt 12-26, Sigg 5-4, Whitworth 3-3. Labette County-Seibert 22-110, Turner 19-63, Winter 2-10, Traxton 2-16.
Passing: Iola-Apt 9-23-137-0, Sigg 0-3-0-0. Labette County-Turner 11-16-107-1.
Receiving: Iola-Sigg 4-58, Sullivan 2-53, C. Heffern 2-20, Allen 1-7. Labette County-Hosey 4-45, Smith 4-29, Kelly 1-11, Traxton 1-12, Sale 1-9.
Punting: Iola-K. Heffern 5-114 yds (22.8 yd avg.). Labette County-Seibert 1-0 (blocked).
