CHANUTE — All the scoring was done in the first half. Iola Middle School’s eighth-grade Ponies were leading Royster Middle School’s Rockets 18-0 at halftime.
The Ponies posted an 18-0 win over their hosts at Chanute Thursday.
Quarterback Ben Cooper rushed for one touchdown and passed for another in the first quarter. Cooper put Iola up 6-0 on a one-yard run with 3:30 left in the period.
The lone pass completion by Cooper for the game came with 20 seconds left in the first quarter. Cooper connected with Nate Evans for a 46-yard touchdown pass.
Iola rolled up 200 yards rushing in the game. Evans had 116 on 16 carries. Behind a block by Seth Sanford, Evans scored from one-yard out at the 1:30 mark of the second quarter.
“We didn’t play great but we played hard and that was the difference tonight,” said Marty Taylor, IMS head football coach.
Garrett Wade had one carry for 42 yards. Ethan Scheibmeir rushed for 18 yards on six carries and Mason Snavely had 12 yards on five carries.
Sanford had nine yards on three carries and Cooper made three yards on three carries.
Defensively, Chase Regehr racked up 13 tackles for the Ponies. Sanford had six tackles and a quarterback sack. Trea Mitchell made six tackles.
Gage Cleaver and Scheibmeir each had four tackles. Hunter Boren had three tackles. Cleaver made an interception. Boren had a quarterback sack and Evans had two quarterback sacks.
“Chase made a couple of mistakes early on defense but really stepped it up and had a great night,” Taylor said. “Garrett had another nice game for us.”
CALE BARNHART paced the IMS seventh-grade to a 30-12 victory over the Rockets.
Barnhart didn’t score a touchdown but rushed for 161 yards on 27 carries. The Ponies amassed 262 yards on the ground against the Rockets.
Evan Sigg, IMS quarterback, put the Ponies on the scoreboard first with a one-yard touchdown run. Barnhart tacked on the two-point conversion.
