LA CYGNE — A few costly mistakes by its opponent kept Iola High on top at the end of the first half Friday evening.
Host Prairie View High lost a touchdown late in the second quarter that would have given the Buffalos a lead. Instead, Iola took a 19-14 lead into halftime.
The Mustang defense took it from there, seizing full control after halftime in a 33-14 win.
The victory lifts Iola to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in Pioneer League play.
After allowing 132 yards passing in the first half to Prairie View quarterback Shaun Ackerson on 7 of 8 passing, the Mustangs limited the Buffalo junior to 5 of 10 passing for 18 yards in the third and fourth quarters.
“I don’t know why we came out so flat in the first half,” Mustang head coach Doug Kerr said. “I didn’t do a good job of getting them excited about the game.”
His tack was a bit different for the second half.
“Let’s just say we had a well-orchestrated enhanced conversation about what they should be doing,” Kerr said.
Message received.
The Mustangs allowed only three first downs in the second half — two coming on Prairie View’s first drive of the third quarter — and nothing after that.
Prairie View did just fine shooting itself in the foot without Iola’s help. The Buffalos were whistled for a whopping 16 penalties for 130 yards for the game.
The most costly only went for five yards, but it was a doozy.
The Buffalos thought they had taken a lead when quarterback Shaun Ackerson tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Trent Phelps with 19 seconds left in the first half, but Prairie View was whistled for a penalty because Phelps was an ineligible receiver.
“We were going crazy on the sidelines,” Kerr said. “We coaches were wondering how he got so open. That’s when the players told us he was ineligible.”
Adding to the confusion, the drive was aided by an apparent clock malfunction. The Buffalos ran off three plays with the clock stuck at 55 seconds. Officials finally reset the clock at 19 seconds after the penalty.
THE MUSTANGS did most of their offensive damage on the ground.
In his first game back from injury, senior John Whitworth scored on runs of 80 and 44 yards, part of the Mustangs’ 365-yard ground effort.
“I’m proud of how the guys responded,” Kerr said. “That may have been our best half of football all season. Our defense hammered ’em, and John just started running over people.”
Tyler McIntosh gave Iola a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard keeper early in the second quarter. Prairie View responded on its next drive — set up at the Iola 33 after the Mustangs were whistled for a penalty on the ensuing kickoff.
Austin Gulotta’s 13-yard run tied the score at 7-7.
McIntosh found Jesse Zimmerman in the end zone on a 1-yard pass to push Iola back on top, 13-7. The extra-point kick bounced off the upright.
Whitworth did his magic on Iola’s next possession, racing 80 yards for a score to put Iola up 19-7.
The Buffalos bounced back. Phelps took an Ackerson pass 46 yards to paydirt to cut the gap to 19-14.
Shane Walden pushed Iola on top 26-14 with his 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Whitworth’s 44-yard jaunt to paydirt in the fourth quarter sealed the win.
Unofficially, he racked up 188 yards rushing, while McIntosh rushed for 54 yards and threw for 63 more with an interception.
Jacob Rhoads rushed for 54 yards, followed by Macha with 27.
Cody Conner had a 20-yard reception, while Kauth had 17 yards on one catch. Rhoads caught a pair of passes for 11 yards.
Iola returns home Friday to host Central Heights for homecoming.
