GIRARD — Iola High School came into Friday night’s game at Girard a week removed from almost upsetting Prairie View.
This game, however, did not go the same way as Iola saw itself in a 12-point hole early in a 42-6 defeat.
Girard scored twice in the first seven minutes Friday, once on the ground, and once through the air.
Girard carried a 33-0 lead into the half.
Iola turned to TJ Taylor and its “wild horse” formation, putting the talented senior wide receiver at the quarterback spot in place of Landon Weide for a series of plays.
“We knew it was a good short-yardage package,” said head coach David Daugharty “Honestly, we didn’t get to go into our short-yardage package in the first half. When we used it we kind of just rolled with it and we were picking up three to four yards per play. Anytime you can keep getting three or four yards per play with the amount of dropped passes we had, you will take it.”
Taylor led the Mustangs to a few first downs, as Iola began to move the ball better than it had been. Still, Iola was no match for an undefeated Girard team that had two touchdowns of 40 yards or more, plus a safety to gain a 42-0 lead before Iola quarterback Landon Weide found senior wide receiver Brett Willis for a 61-yard touchdown as the game ended.
“There was a lack of execution,” Daugharty said. “We made a lot of errors. We had false starts, offsides penalties, and dropped passes. We didn’t execute and Girard is a good football team. If you don’t execute against a good football team the score will end up 42-6.”
Weide had 126 yards passing with one touchdown and an interception. Taylor finished the game with two catches for 11 yards and 21 yards rushing. Willis caught two passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.
Iola’s is 2-5, with it’s final regular-season game next Friday at Burlington.
