FORT SCOTT -— The Iola Middle School Mustangs football teams got rolled over by Fort Scott on Thursday night, dropping their first road games of the season.
Seventh Grade
Some costly turnovers and penalties doomed the Iola seventh-graders’ chances of overcoming Fort Scott in the 12-6 defeat.
After no scoring in the first half, Fort Scott got on the board in the third quarter for a 7-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Iola and Fort Scott scored touchdowns to make it a 12-6 ballgame.
“We were definitely playing with the bigger team,” said Iola head coach Scott Ellis. “The score could have gone the other way easily but mistakes got the best of us tonight. We will continue to work on fundamentals and get better.”
Some of the positives of the matchup came on a Reed Clift one-yard touchdown run which marked the only score of the game for Iola. Clift finished with 37 yards on the ground behind Kevon Loving’s 77 rushing yards and Reginald Davis III’s 45 yards carrying the football.
Iola completed only one pass when Clift found Davis III open for a four-yard gain. Clift also threw three interceptions in the setback.
Defensively, Clift led in the tackling department, collecting 10. Rohan Springer had seven seven tackles and Davis III had six. Ivan Lacrone had three tackles on Fort Scott ball carriers.
Eighth grade
The eighth grade Mustangs came out a bit sluggish and got crushed by the Tigers, 30-6.
Iola got on the board early on a Kale Pratt four-yard touchdown rush. The scoring run was part of a 72-yard day for Pratt, including a long run of 21 yards later in the game. Jase Hermann rushed for 15 yards while Austin Crooks and Broderick Peters managed eight yards apiece.
“Fort Scott played more physical then us tonight. They were tough, but we could have played better. We had trouble executing our offense and making tackles on defense.
We’re going to learn from it and try again next week,” said Ellis.
Crooks began under center and threw for six yards of total offense with the bigger play coming on a five-yard pass to Hunt. The other pass came on a one-yard gain to Hermann.
The Mustangs were led on the defensive side of the ball by Pratt’s seven tackles, followed by Gabriel Robertson and Ean DeLaTorre’s four tackles apiece. Mustang Franklin Kerr also recovered a fumble for his visiting team.
Iola will be back in action Thursday at home against Anderson County.
