The Mustangs avoid letdown late in the second half to secure a district victory

BURLINGTON — Up 21-16 over Burlington, coach Doug Kerr took his team into the locker room and laid out the game plan for the second half.
It went something like this: Endure a light malfunction that caused nearly an hour delay in the game, pad the lead with the help of a turnover in the red zone, fail an onside kick, surrender a touchdown, record another interception in an attempt to seal the win, have a punt blocked with nine seconds left in the game to give the Wildcats a chance and then finally end the contest with a sack to go home happy with a 28-23 victory.
It was all that and more as the Mustangs somehow pulled off one of the wackiest, most unpredictable wins in recent memory.
 In any case, Kerr will gladly accept a 28-23 victory and a 1-0 start to district play.
“I felt there were chances to put the game away and we didn’t,” Kerr said. “And we had some bad breaks. But we lived through the bad breaks for the first time all season … Tonight we just kept fighting back.”
Iola (3-4, 1-0) began the night on a high note, scoring the game’s first two touchdowns to go up 14-0.
But after Ben Cooper’s rushing score and Isaac Vink’s pick-six, the Mustangs gave up 13 straight points to the Wildcats.
A Burlington missed extra point was all that kept Iola ahead until Ethan Sigg helped give his squad some insurance with a bobbling 23-yard touchdown catch.
The Wildcats added a field goal as time expired in the first half to cut their deficit down to five.
And then things got weird — to say the least.
The lights went off for Burlington’s “Glow Party” halftime show, but after a blown fuse, they didn’t come back on for about an hour.
Although one light fixture never did regain power, the rest of the stadium’s lights returned and play eventually resumed.
When it did, it looked positive for Iola. The Mustangs’ Brett Taylor pulled in an interception after the Wildcats threatened to score in the second half’s opening drive.
“Huge play,” Kerr said.
Off the turnover, Iola marched down the field and Brice Aiello punched the ball in for a 5-yard touchdown run.
Up 28-16 with 6:08 in the third quarter, the Mustangs were cruising.
But then things got weirder — yes, even weirder.
Despite a double-digit advantage on the road, Kerr decided to call an onside kick, which backfired.
Burlington had no problem working its way down the shortened field and scoring off a 2-yard touchdown run.
Still, the Mustangs were up 28-23. And when the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs with 3:31 remaining in the game, Iola simply had to run out the clock.
But with 1:43 left, the Mustangs were forced to punt.
One play later, Iola had the ball again thanks to a clutch interception by Joey Zimmerman.
The pick, which occurred with 1:35 left, should have sealed the win. That is until Iola’s offense once again failed to convert a first down and faced a punting situation on their own 17 with 15 seconds remaining.
“I was going to call safety, but we were just too far away for (punter Mason Key) to run all the way back there,” Kerr said. “So we just decided to punt.”
And the Wildcats blocked it.
“God forbid they blocked it,” added Kerr.
With nine seconds and no timeouts, Burlington still had a chance to steal the contest despite trailing from the get-go.
After an incomplete pass, four seconds remained. And on the final play of the game, Sigg returned to the spotlight by sacking Burlington’s Connor Jeffers to finally bring Kerr some peace on the sideline.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” Kerr said. “That was unbelievable. Just the highs and lows where we think we have control, then we give it back to them, then we take control again and give it back.”
The incessant back-and-forth contests have usually gone in favor of whoever Iola is playing.
It’s been that kind of season for Kerr and company. But the Mustangs reversed their fortunes by not only eking one out but also eking one out against a district foe.
“I’m just so glad that a timeout, non-safety blocked punt didn’t cost us that game because we had played so well,” Kerr said. “If it had ended like that, it would have been horrible for us.”
Instead, Iola is now 1-0 in district play, which ultimately decides the eventual playoff contenders, for the first time in Kerr’s four-year tenure as head coach.
Now, the Mustangs must win one of their next two games in order to qualify for the playoffs, which they haven’t participated in since 2008.
“It’s a good feeling,” Kerr said. “But we still got to get one more.”
Iola will face off next against Anderson County for its final home game of the year before hitting the road to face Girard in the season finale.
In 2014, the Mustangs came away with a 42-13 victory over the Bulldogs but then lost to the Trojans by 15.
Those results would be good enough for Iola to advance, but Kerr knows not to count his chickens before they hatch.
This season has already demonstrated football’s unpredictable and cruel.
So for now, Iola simply celebrates a much-needed win that came because of a young team’s resilience that has finally broken through.
“I’m so proud of the kids’ fight right there,” Kerr said. “It shows the resolve of these kids.”