By Sam Parsons
Oskaloosa’s football team was in action for their 3rd non-district matchup of the 2025 season on Friday night against the 2-0 Mount Pleasant Panthers, and the Panthers solidified their program’s upward trajectory with a commanding 34-20 victory.
Early in the game, the Panthers were able to take advantage of strong offensive starting field position on multiple occasions. Their first scoring drive began at the Oskaloosa 44 yard line, which was followed by another TD drive that started at the Osky 42 yard line; both of those were thanks in large part to Osky’s offense quickly stalling and proceeding to punt the ball into a strong wind. Then, an interception by Mount Pleasant’s Jack Newman set the Panthers up at the Osky 6 yard line, setting up another quick score. Before the Indians knew it, they were down 20-0 in the 2nd quarter.
The Indians were able to get on the board midway through quarter #2 with the help of a couple of big penalties on the Panther defense. Junior QB Tyler Edgar was able to hook up with senior wideout Heavon Knox for a 39 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 20-6.
The Panthers, however, would prove that their offensive success was more than a product of fortunate field position, as they embarked on a 75-yard touchdown drive late in the first half to go up 27-6 at halftime. The Panthers’ power-based running game was able to have quite a bit of success, and sophomore tight end Isaiah Lange hauled in 4 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in just the first half of play. On the other end, an aggressive, blitz-happy Panthers defense was keeping the Indian offense quiet.
The 3-score for Mount Pleasant lead grew larger in the 3rd quarter when the Panthers again got the ball with pristine field position at the Indians’ 47 yard line and scored in 4 plays. Running back Ramzy Davis tallied his 3rd rushing touchdown of the night to cap off the drive, extending the lead to 34-6.
By then, the lead had become practically insurmountable for the Indians, whose offense began to rally in the 4th quarter with a pair of touchdowns: Edgar scored on a QB keeper midway through the 4th, and then he found Knox from 19 yards out for their second TD connection of the night with 2:53 left to make it 34-20.
The improbable Indians’ comeback appeared to be on the brink of reality when Omar Garcia delivered a successful onside kick that was recovered by Cael Ashman at the Panthers’ 34 yard line. The Panthers continued to apply heavy pressure with constant 6- and 7-man blitz packages, but Edgar was able to hit Kayne Boender for what appeared to be an 11-yard touchdown with roughly 1 minute left in the game; unfortunately, the score was called back due to an Oskaloosa holding penalty, and the Indians weren’t able to get back in the end zone after that. The Panthers were able to stave off the comeback effort and finish with a 34-20 victory to improve to 3-0, setting Oskaloosa back to 0-3 in the process.
The Indians will look to bounce back on Friday night in their final non-district game of the season at Washington. Coverage will begin at 7pm on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com.
