Mustangs’ JV football stumbles in 34-8 loss

Iola High’s junior varsity football team struggled against Santa Fe Trail in a 34-8 loss Monday afternoon. However, the Mustangs had a different goal for the first game of the season.
“Really, today was more about a learning experience than what the scoreboard reads,” coach Dana Daugharthy said. “We had a lot of people playing a lot of positions that they haven’t played before. We had a lot of people out there, who have never played football before.”
Daugharthy added the team’s main goal was to get as many reps for as many players as possible. The team wanted to win, but the priority this week was to get experience.
The Mustangs started with the ball in the first quarter, failing to gain any momentum. Ethan Scheibmeir had a 13-yard run for a first down, but the Chargers forced a punt. One of Iola’s best highlights came when punter Mason Key placed a kick to the 1-yard line.
It didn’t matter where the Chargers started, their ground attack took over. Peyton Newton had a 15-yard run to start the drive. Collin Watkins followed with a 30-yard rush. With a ground-and-pound offense, the drive ended with Watkins rushing 16 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. The Chargers led 6-0 after a failed two-point conversion.
The Mustangs’ next drive was highlighted by an 11-yard pass from quarterback Ben Cooper to Joey Zimmerman. With the quarter changing on the drive, Iola failed to get another first down.
On the Charger’s next drive, they scored another touchdown. On 4th and 12, Newton charged into the end zone for a 48-yard score. However, the Chargers were called for an illegal block from behind, negating the score. Now, 4th and 6, since the ball was placed 10 yards from where the foul occurred, Watkins scored his second touchdown on a 42-yard run. With the two-point conversion, Santa Fe Trail led 14-0.
The Mustang offense put pressure on the Charger defense. On perhaps Iola’s best play of the game, Ben Cooper threw the ball deep to Joey Zimmerman for a 67-yard gain. Iola was inside the Chargers’ 10-yard line for the first time in the game. After several running attempts, Iola failed to score.
The Chargers showed their best in the passing game on the next drive. Quarterback Bryce Erickson threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Watkins, who scored his third touchdown of the game. A failed two-point conversion put the score to 20-0 at halftime.
The Chargers started the second half  with the ball and Gage Greenfield scored on a 3-yard run to push the lead to 26-0
In the fourth quarter another Charger touchdown was negated due to a penalty, but again, Santa Fe Trail scored on the next play. Erickson threw a 14-yard pass to Wyatt Pate for the touchdown. The Chargers led 34-0.
For the last drive of the game, Iola put together a strong effort.
Starting on their own 4-yard line, Iola went 96 yards for a touchdown.
Nik Peterson started the drive with a 10-yard run. On 4th and 5, Caleb Alexander had a 6-yard pickup to keep the drive alive. Evan Sigg had a 17-yard pickup on a quarterback keeper. With the ball on the Chargers’ 34 and only 22 seconds on the clock, Sigg threw a pass to Ethan Holloway, who bobbled, but caught the Mustangs’ lone touchdown.
Alexander ran in the two-point conversion for the score.
“That last drive was very encouraging to see,” Daugharthy said. “So hopefully we can carry that to next week.”
Iola’s JV travels to Prairie View next Monday.

THE FRESHMEN followed the JV game with another half of football.
The teams played two, 10-minute quarters. Iola won 16-0.
“I was very pleased, I didn’t really expect it,” Daugharthy said of the following act. “We were subbing in freshmen during the JV game. Then they told us about this freshman half, so I expected some of them to dog it. But, they stepped up, took some pride in it and came to play. I’m really pleased with how they played.”
Nik Peterson, who had key rushes in the final drive of the JV game, started things off with a 1-yard touchdown run. Cale Barnhart ran in the two-point conversion to put the score at 8-0.
On the next play, Barnhart recovered an onside kick. Iola failed to score on that possession. But, Nick Vaughn quickly recovered a fumble to end the Charger possession.
Later in the game, the Chargers had a 60-yard touchdown negated for an illegal block in the back. In the next half, Peterson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 6-yard run. He also ran for the two-point conversion. Iola won, 16-0.