Iola Middle School’s seventh and eighth grade football teams each beat Labette County Junior High teams Thursday. THE EIGHTH GRADE Ponies followed the seventh graders with their own 34-12 win.
In the seventh grade game, Labette scored in the first quarter off of a pick-six, where the defender returns an interception for a touchdown. The Grizzlies failed the two point conversion. Iola got the ball back, driving down the field using a running attack.
With the game moving into the second quarter, Cason Barker scored on a 9-yard run with 5 minutes and 28 seconds left in the first half. He then scored on the two-point conversion.
Those were the last points scored in the game. The seventh graders claimed an 8-6 victory.
“A big improvement from week one,” coach Marty Taylor said. “We were a lot more physical tonight.”
Barker ran for 64 yards on 13 attempts. Devin Reiter had 51 yards on 10 carries. Cal Leonard gained 12 yards rushing on five attempts. Karson McGraw had an 11-yard rush.
“Cason and Devin were running into a giant defense,” Taylor said. “But, they ran hard and picked up some big yards for us.”
Leonard threw for 48 yards on 4-for-7 pass attempts, including the interception. Barker had two catches for 29 yards and Ethan Hamm had two catches for 19 yards.
“Zane Whitney did a nice job on the offensive line and Dan Foust did a great job from his defensive end spot,” Taylor said.
“Coach Ellis, Coach Percy and Coach Weide did a great job this week getting these kids ready to play,” Taylor said. “The improvement over last week was huge.”
Iola jumped out to an early lead on a 9-yard rushing touchdown from Matt Karr. Tayton Driskel scored the two-point conversion on a run.
Labette County answered back in the beginning of the second quarter with a 53-yard touchdown pass, but failed on the two-point conversion. The Ponies led 8-6.
Driskel scored two touchdowns later in the second quarter on a 30-yard run and 55-yard run. Each two-point conversion failed, but the Ponies extended the lead to 20-6.
The Grizzlies were right back in the game after a 48-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. The Grizzlies now trailed 20-12.
Driskel had another pair of long runs — 44 yards and 30 yards — into the end zone. With the addition of one two-point conversion, the Ponies were winning 34-12, which would be the final score.
“Tayton saw the field tonight,” Taylor said. “He made some great cutbacks that turned into long touchdown runs.”
Driskel led the offense with 238 rushing yards on only 18 carries, including four touchdowns. Karr had 96 yards on 14 attempts. Ian Maynard put up 40 rushing yards on his six carries, while Kane Rogers had one carry for six yards.
“Maynard did a nice job at linebacker,” Taylor said. “Our defensive ends, Tim Komma and Matt Karr really played well.”
The Ponies face Pittsburg at home next Thursday at 5 p.m.
IMS football teams beat Grizzlies
