CARBONDALE — Iola Middle School’s eighth-graders continued their winning ways Thursday.
Sparked by Cole Mathes’s long kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game, the Mustangs blasted host Santa Fe Trail, 48-0.
“It was a good win for us tonight,” head coach Scott Brady said, noting Iola was without the services of starting defensive end and tight end Dreden Ellis with injury. “I thought the boys stepped up and remained aggressive.”
Mathes rushed for 95 yards and four touchdowns on 11 carries as well.
“Our offensive line kept opening up holes for the backfield with good offensive execution by quarterback Kyser Nemecek.”
Nemecek added 25 yards on three carries, while covering 30 yards on three pass attempts with a touchdown. Jordan Kaufman had 25 receiving yards. Cortland Carson rushed for nine yards with a touchdown. Jordan Kaufman had 25 receiving yards; Cortland Carson rushed for nine yards.
Ellis said Iola’s defensive performance was a group effort.
“The boys played with relentless pressure.”
Carson had nine tackles, while Mathes registered eight tackles with an interception. Granere registered a safety on defense to go with four tackles and 35 punt return yards. Lucas Maier added five stops and a fumble recovery. Isaac Hopkins chipped in with two sacks. Kevin Porter had six tackles.
Others contributing on defense were Nemecek and Keith Gomez with three tackles apiece, Grady Dougherty with two tackles and a sack, Kaufman with two tackles, and Ethan Harris, Everett Glaze and Shaun McLaughlin with one tackle each.
SANTA FE Trail prevailed, 38-14, in the seventh-grade contest.
“It was a tough night for us physically,” Ellis said. “We struggled getting off the ball and executing plays. We started off slowly, and hung in there in the second quarter. We started connecting offensively, but fell short on stopping Santa Fe Trail’s running game.”
Tre Wilson had 77 receiving yards and five carries for 36 yards with two touchdowns for Iola. Noah Schowengerdt had 11 carries for 72 yards. Nick Bauer had 77 yards passing.
On defense, Wilson led the way with 15 tackles, Easton Weseloh was next with six, Bauer had four, Jakolby Hill, Baron Folk and Schowengerdt with three apiece, Henry White and Hayden Kelly both with two and Mathew Drago with one.
