LOUD & PROUD: Statement opportunity for Mustangs in Wellsville

The Mustangs responded to a Week-One loss in Chanute with a convincing 25-7 victory over Prairie View last week.
This week, the Mustangs have an even bigger opportunity to open the eyes of the Pioneer League when they face Wellsville on the road on Friday night.
“I feel like this is a giant opportunity for us to continue our growth and really give us a glimpse of what the high school playoffs are going to be like, because we are a playoff-caliber team,” Iola coach Doug Kerr said. “We can’t make a mistake where we both go in the same gap, because they are good enough to make us pay.”
The Eagles are coming off a state semi-final appearance last season and are off to a 2-0 start this season with a 35-7 win over Burlington and a 41-12 win over Osawatomie.
“Our kids are resilient and they expect to win,” Wellsville coach Brad Burkdoll said. “A lot of it is having our seniors. They have won a lot of games and they are confident.”
Both games have been close one-score games at halftime with Burlington trailing 6-0 and Osawatomie down 14-6, before Wellsville put together big third quarters to blow the games open.
“In the second half, their character and strength took over, so we need to eliminate that,” Kerr said. “I think we have a better defense than the two teams we’ve seen them play.”
The Eagles were forced to replace a lot from their team a year ago after losing seniors Tony Dougan, their leading passer; Zach Strawn, their top rusher; and Seth Breithaupt, their leading receiver.
They replace those players with a new group of seniors and an increased emphasis on the passing game.
“A lot of our guys were huge parts of our playoff run last year and they are very experienced,” Burkdoll said. “They have had great starts to their seasons.”
Senior quarterback Trajen Smith — jersey No. 12 — has already thrown for 328 yards in two games this season after Dougan barely broke 1,000 yards the entire season last year. The Eagles rely on their passing game to supply the explosive plays for their offense.
“Tragen is a first-year starter, but he played quarterback some during his sophomore and junior years,” Burkdoll said. “He knows my offense as well as I do and can get us in and out of plays with audibles. He is throwing the ball excellently this year.”
Fellow-senior Alex Hosford — No. 11— has been Smith’s favorite target so far this season. He only has four receptions but has turned those into 104 yards. Senior running back Reece Williams — No. 22 — is also a dynamic option in the passing game with four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.
“Unlike Prairie View, they can go four- and five-wide and (Smith) can throw,” Kerr said. “We kind of felt last week that their quarterback wasn’t strong armed and we could load up against the run, but this week that doesn’t happen.”
While Williams is also an option as a runner with 117 yards this season, the primary back that the Mustangs will be gearing up to stop is senior fullback Daryon Winton — No. 44. Winton has run for 153 yards this season on 20 attempts for a 7.7 average and four touchdowns.
“They just come down hill and ground and pound,” Kerr said.
A matchup to watch will be the 210-pound runner against Iola linebacker Chase Regehr. Regehr is the leader of the Mustang defense and the senior had 13 tackles in last week’s win over Prairie View. Regehr and Winton are sure to have plenty of meetings on Friday night.
For the Mustang offense, the game plan should be the same as it is for any game: Establish sophomore tailback Tayton Driskel early.
“We have to tackle, we know that,” Burkdoll said. “We have to read our keys and tackle, because Coach Kerr does a good job of getting his kids in space and he makes it hard for the opposing defense for sure.”
Wellsville allowed 4.8 yards-per-carry to Burlington, even though the Wildcats failed to complete a pass against the Eagles and allowed Wellsville to sell out against the run. Burlington’s Connor Jeffers ran for 143 yards on 20 carries.
Against Osawatomie, they allowed four yards-per-carry again. The Trojans’ quarterback Chaseton Wylie ran for 109 yards on just nine carries with two touchdowns.
Wellsville’s pass defense is a strength through two games as they have only allowed seven completions in 26 attempts.
“We have three seniors starting in our secondary,” Burkdoll said. “So we like to mix up coverages.”
Iola quarterback Ben Cooper — coming of a two touchdown game — will put those coverages to the test when the teams kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday in Wellsville.