Wellsville wasn’t going to fool Iola.
For all intents and purposes, the Mustangs knew what was coming. They even knew when it was coming.
But near the end of their 26-6 home loss to the Eagles on Friday night, the Mustangs knew it didn’t matter.
“They lined up exactly how we practiced all week,” coach Doug Kerr said. “The difference is those guys played to the whistle.”
For much of the game, Iola’s coaching staff yelled out exactly what Wellsville was going to do on either offense or defense. But Kerr’s players couldn’t translate that knowledge into success on the field, allowing missed tackles and poorly executed plays to eventually doom them.
“It’s extremely frustrating when we knew X’s and O’s-wise, we had everything we wanted and just could not capitalize,” Kerr said.
The Mustangs (2-4, 1-4 Pioneer League) held the Eagles (4-2, 4-1 Pioneer League) in check for much of the first half. Iola’s defense forced two turnovers — an interception by Isaac Vink and a fumble recovery by Ethan Scheibmeir — and remained a constant physical presence despite Wellsville’s slight size advantage in the trenches.
By the end of the first half, the Eagles had 14 points on the board when they probably should have had 28.
But the problem was on the Mustangs offense. Iola was shut out in the first two quarters despite multiple scoring opportunities.
The Mustangs were forced to punt after each of the Eagles’ giveaways. And when Iola was finally able to put together a drive that led it inside Wellsville’s 20-yard line with less than a minute remaining in the first half, the offense stumbled down the stretch.
Brice Aiello and Keanen Badders, the Mustangs’ two most effective weapons on offense on Friday, were both shut down in the red zone, forcing Iola to attempt a field goal from the 14-yard line. But Mason Key missed his only attempt of the game and Kerr’s squad went into the locker room with nothing to show from its latest drive.
“We just didn’t finish plays,” Kerr said. “To be honest, we won a lot of first-step battles on offense. Second and third step? We got whipped.”
By that, Kerr said he meant his offensive players knew their assignments and got to the right places on the field. But when push came to shove as each play progressed, Kerr added that the Mustangs didn’t bring that intensity to finish the play to the whistle.
To make matters worse in the second half, Iola’s comeback attempt was hindered by two fumbles that occurred on two straight kickoff returns.
Because Wellsville was able to use the clock to its advantage following the turnovers, Iola was only able to maintain possession three times in the entire second half.
The Eagles scored twice more to make the comeback that much harder.
Aiello was the Mustangs lone scorer on the night, recording a 3-yard touchdown run with 9:23 left in the contest.
Mustangs’ momentum from last week stuffed by visiting Eagles
