Emmett Hazen’s 29-yard field goal with 1.1 seconds left was the final gut-punching salvo in a wild senior night affair as Iola High fell, 38-35, to visiting Burlington.
A pass interference call from the Mustang 27 gave Burlington possession at the 11, with 5 seconds showing, giving the Wildcat coaches enough time to send the field goal unit onto the field.
After an Iola timeout, Hazen’s line drive was comfortably inside the right goal post, sending the visiting Wildcat fans into a frenzy.
The Mustangs tried a frantic series of laterals on the ensuing kickoff, but Kale Pratt was tackled at midfield to end the contest.
The loss spoiled what had been an epic comeback for Iola, which twice scored touchdowns and converted two-point conversions in the fourth quarter to keep the game tied.
Iola trailed 20-7 in the early portions of the second half before the Mustangs’ Tre Wilson found Cortland Carson for a 66-yard touchdown to close the gap to 20-13.
A Wildcat fumble inside the Burlington 10 late in the period changed the momentum even further.
Iola’s Easton Weseloh scored four plays later on a 6-yard touchdown run to close the gap to 20-19.
Burlington responded with a 12-play, 67-yard touchdown drive, capped by Chance Hegg’s 5-yard run to extend the lead to 27-19.
But Iola’s Carson had the answer. After a near muff on the subsequent kickoff, Carson retrieved the ball at the Iola goal line, and then proceeded to find a crease down the right side of the field.
His 100-yard kickoff return ignited the crowd, and then caught the ensuing two-point conversion to knot the score at 27-27.
But the fun was just getting cranked up.
Burlington promptly marched back into scoring position, and converted a crucial fourth down before Hegg scored again on a 2-yard keeper. The two-point conversion put Iola in another eight-point hole, 35-27.
But Carson, one of nine seniors honored prior to the game, turned the Mustangs’ ensuing drive into a showcase for the ages.
He tossed a 20-yard completion to Jordy Kaufman to midfield on a halfback pass, and then completed a 19-yard strike to Kale Pratt on third-and-12, to put Iola at the Wildcat 35. A Holding penalty bumped Iola back 10 yards, but this time Pratt — pressed into the quarterback duties after Wilson was ejected in the third quarter — floated a perfect spiral to Carson down the sideline for 41 yards.
