Perhaps it was the nearly full moon, or the fact that Halloween is almost upon us that meant Friday’s showdown for Iola High would have a number of jaw-dropping sequences and wild changes of momentum.
It’s more likely the fact that it was Burlington in town for a key district matchup, Mustang head coach David Daugharthy said.
“That’s just the way it is,” he said, “and they always seem to have our number.”
Friday’s contest wasn’t decided until Burlington’s Emmett Hazen drilled a 29-yard field goal with 1 second left to sink Iola’s Senior Night hopes, 38-35.
“This was a tough one,” Daugharthy said.
The loss drops Iola to 3-3 on the season and locks Iola into the fourth and final playoff slot in the Class 3A, District 2 standings. That, in turn, means a playoff game the weekend of Nov. 1 at Frontenac. But first, the Mustangs will travel this week to district champion Prairie View (5-2 overall; 3-0 in district play) to wrap up the regular season.
IT WILL be incumbent upon the Mustangs to bounce back from Friday’s heartbreaker that saw Iola start out like gangbusters before Burlington was able to repeatedly convert on key third- and fourth-down plays to take control.
Iola’s Tre Wilson broke loose for a 27-yard touchdown 2½ minutes into the contest.
Things looked even brighter when Iola freshman Reed Clift forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, but Iola would not convert on a fourth-down attempt.
That didn’t slow down the Mustang defense, which recovered a fumble two plays into Burlington’s next possession.
But Iola’s offense stalled for the balance of the half. Iola lost a fumble, punted and turned the ball over on downs before the Wildcats knotted the score at 7-7 with Hunter Cole’s 8-yard touchdown run.
Another Mustang punt preceded a 13-play, 77-yard Burlington drive, capped by Chance Hegg’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Eli Ervin late in the half to put the Wildcats on t0p, 14-7.
Iola went three-and-out to start the third quarter, while Burlington kept on cooking. Hegg found Brody Anderson for a 42-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 20-7.
ENTER IOLA senior Cortland Carson, who packed a season’s worth of highlights into a dizzying 1½ quarters.
The Wildcats were threatening to score once again when Carson swooped in front of a Hegg pass for the interception.
