Iola Middle School’s eighth-grade Ponies did not score in the second half of Thursday’s home game. They still led Parsons Middle School’s Vikings 14-12 with just over seven minutes to go.
The Ponies had a 52-yard touchdown run by Jake Gumfory and a five-yard run to the end zone by Brice Aiello in the first half. Brett Taylor tossed a two-point conversion pass to Gus Hopkins.
Iola’s defense was holding the Vikings at bay. Unfortunately, the Vikings broke lose in the second half, scoring 20 unanswered points to win 20-14.
“These kids played their hearts out all night. The final score doesn’t take away from the effort,” said Marty Taylor, IMS head football coach.
In the seventh-grade game, Parsons led 8-0 after one quarter, then scored 32 points in the second to put the game out of reach. Iola trailed 46-0 in the third quarter.
The Ponies had a touchdown drive capped by a five-yard Chase Regehr reception from Ben Cooper. Ethan Scheibmeier had a two-point conversion run. Parsons won the game 46-8.
“A couple of long interception returns let the score get out of hand in the second quarter, but the kids came out and played a good second half,” said Taylor of the seventh-grade contest.
The IMS eighth-grade team finished 3-4 on the season with Thursday’s loss.
Aiello ran for 92 yards on 23 carries. He ended the season with 902 yards of rushing for the Ponies.
Jake Gumfory, who stepped in as fullback when Keanan Badders broke his ankle, had 79 yards on five carries.
“The backs ran hard all year and tonight was no different. Jake only had a couple of weeks at fullback and did a fantastic job,” Taylor said.
Brett Taylor completed two of four passes for 23 yards. Hopkins had one catch for three and Aiello caught one for 20 yards.
Ethan Sigg paced the Pony defense with 10 tackles and Aiello had eight tackles. Taylor made six tackles, Gumfory had four stops and Jake Kress had two tackles.
Kress and Taylor each caused a fumble and Kress recovered two fumbles.
“Ethan Sigg had a great night on defense. This group had a lot of hurdles put in front of them this year and I’m very proud of the way they gave it everything they had,” Taylor said of the eighth-grade players.
Iola’s seventh grade end-ed 4-3 on the season. Seth Sanford rushed for 52 yards on 12 carries and Scheibmeir had 34 yards on nine carries.
Ben Cooper went eight of 25 passing for 91 yards. He also had four carries for 10 yards. Gage Cleaver rushed for 28 yards on seven carries.
Regehr made four receptions for 53 yards. Coleson Wiggin had two catches for 33 yards and Cleaver had five yards on two catches.
Joey Zimmerman led the defense with five tackles. Sanford made four tackles.
“Joey had a great game at cornerback. Ben did such a good job leading this team,” Taylor said. “He along with Gage made up for their lack of size with their heart and played hard every game.
Pony squads lose finales
