By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians remained winless on the season following a road trip to Marion that yielded a 21-13 defeat at the hands of the Wolves.
The game featured two offenses that had been struggling mightily on the season: Marion and Oskaloosa’s offenses had been shut out 7 combined times and had been averaging under 7 points per game over the previous month of action. Friday night’s contest began with both of those units continuing to search for answers, as no points were scored in the entire first half. The Wolves had been able to move the ball with some success, but their drives stalled in Oskaloosa territory when they entered it. The high point for the Indians defense came late in the 2nd quarter when junior defensive back Courtland Metier picked off Marion QB Lucas Stearns deep in Indians territory to prevent the Wolves from striking first.
When the second half began, the rain got started. After a dry first half, the second half was characterized by the onslaught of rain and slippery footballs. It was also characterized by a sudden explosion of action.
Oskaloosa’s Omar Garcia got the second half underway with a squib kick that the Indians were able to recover at the Marion 32 yard line after a member of the Wolves saw the ball ricochet off his chest plate. Two plays later, Osky QB Tyler Edgar scampered to the end zone from 27 yards out to put the Indians on the board with a 6-0 lead. On the extra point, Edgar served as the holder, and he got hit hard after kicker Ayden Plumb split the uprights. That resulted in a 15 yard personal foul penalty for Marion, which prompted a vocal response from a Marion player who was flagged for an additional 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that got him ejected from the game.
The 30 yards in penalties allowed Omar Garcia to kick the ball off from the Marion 30 yard line, prompting an onside kick attempt that he executed perfectly: Osky recovered the kick and scored 2 plays later, courtesy of a short TD run from senior Brock Beerbower. The PAT was blocked, and Osky’s lead stood at 13-0.
Unfortunately for Oskaloosa, Marion was able to reenter the game in a hurry. On their first offensive play of the 2nd half, they ran a trick play, pitching the ball to slot back Logan Hendricks, who then threw it deep to Matt Danninger, who was all alone past the Indians’ secondary and took it 84 yards to the end zone to cut the lead to 13-7. In the first 90 seconds of the second half, 20 points were scored by the two teams, after 0 points were scored in the first 2 quarters.
Marion maintained their momentum by locking down the Osky offense and striking again with a 24 yard touchdown run late in the 3rd quarter to take a 14-13 lead. The Indians appeared to be on their way to responding with a score when they embarked on a 13-play drive that began at the end of the 3rd quarter and bled into the 4th, but they were turned away on a 4th-and-2 rushing attempt at the Marion 26 yard line. Late in the 4th quarter, Marion put a dagger in Osky’s hopes with a 46-yard TD run to extend their lead to 8 points with under 2 1/2 minutes left. With the rainy conditions, getting the passing game down the field in such little time proved to be too big of a mountain to climb, and the final score was 21-13 in favor of the Wolves.
Oskaloosa (0-8) will travel to Clear Creek Amana on Friday night (10/24) to close out their season. The game will be broadcast on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com starting at 7pm.
