By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians hosted the Des Moines Hoover Huskies on Friday night for their home opener. After a tough loss at Washington the previous week to begin the season, the Indians were in search of a bounce-back effort to secure their first win, and that’s precisely what they got.
The game began with Oskaloosa’s offense marching down the field on the opening drive with ease. A 9-play, 63-yard drive was highlighted by a 45-yard completion from junior quarterback Kayne Boender to senior wideout Maddux Ashman, and ultimately punctuated by a 5-yard touchdown run from junior running back AJ Walker. After sophomore Ayden Plumb tacked on the extra point, it was 7-0 Indians.
The lead would prove to be short-lived. The Huskies were able to pounce on an area of weakness from the previous week for Osky: kickoffs. After the Indians surrendered a touchdown on their opening kickoff at Washington, the story repeated itself against the Huskies, as Gabe Polich took the Indians’ first kickoff of the night all the way to the end zone from 87 yards out to tie the game at 7-7.
For the rest of the first quarter, things calmed down to a standstill. The Indians and Huskies traded punts in the next two possessions, and then traded fumbles in the following two possessions, so the quarter ended with the same 7-7 score. It was early in the 2nd quarter that the Indians got back on the board: after a short punt set them up with prime field position with 8:26 to go in the first half, the Indians only needed 3 plays to go 38 yards into the end zone, this time courtesy of a 23-yard touchdown connection from Boender to Ashman. After Plumb added the PAT, it was 14-7. Osky’s defense would hold up for the remainder of the first half, even giving the offense a shot at adding to the lead before the break; unfortunately, things came up short for the Indians in a literal way: Osky spent the final 1:56 of the first half trying to get from the Hoover 31 yard line into the end zone, only for the drive to stall at the 7 yard line, and for an attempted 24 yard field goal to wind up missing short. The Indians led 14-7 at halftime, but there was some meat left on the bone.
And the Huskies made the Indians regret coming up empty before halftime in short order: on their first offensive play of the second half, wing back Diyon Berry took an end-around out of the backfield and scampered 70 yards out of reach of the Indians’ defense for a Hoover touchdown to tie the game right away.
Things cooled down for both teams once again for a few minutes, but opportunity came knocking for the Indians, oddly enough, after they settled for a punt in enemy territory. Sophomore Tyler Edgar, filling in at punter, put one in the coffin corner to pin the Huskies deep in their own territory, and two plays later, the Indians would come up with a score courtesy of their defense: junior defensive lineman Parker Jordan recovered a fumbled handoff in the Huskies’ end zone, and Osky was back on the board, now leading 21-14.
One three-and-out forced by the Osky defense later, and the Indians were in business. The offense went straight to work, featuring senior Merek Padgett at quarterback this time, and Padgett guided the Indians down the field for 57 yards in 6 plays, capping off the drive by launching a 24-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Edgar in stride. Plumb would miss the ensuing PAT, but the Indians were now up 27-14, and it would stay that way through the end of the 3rd quarter.
Early in the fourth, Oskaloosa would add one more insurance touchdown after their defense rewarded them with multiple stops. AJ Walker was featured heavily on a 10 play, 67 yard drive, which he finished with a 14 yard touchdown run with 5:30 left in the game. Osky would miss the PAT again, but with a 33-14 lead, the Indians only needed to avoid disaster to secure their first win of the season. And avoid disaster they did: though they surrendered a 65-yard touchdown to Diyon Berry, his second long score of the night, the squad otherwise held up, and the Indians finished the night with a 33-20 win.
Oskaloosa (1-1) will travel to Grinnell on Friday night for their third out-of-district game of the season.
