The Iola Mustangs picked up their second win of the season while demolishing Pioneer League foe Osawatomie 47-20 Friday at home in Mustang Stadium.
Although the Mustangs had plenty of statistical standouts, no single player nor play ultimately made the difference; instead, the game was a myriad of individual efforts combining into a positive outcome.
“It was stuff we’ve been working on the last couple of weeks,” Iola coach David Daugharthy said. “It worked out. Kale’s shoulder had been bothering him and we had some backups ready. They played well.
With starting junior quarterback Kale Pratt suffering a sore throwing shoulder, sophomore running back Reed Clift and junior receiver Austin Crooks, who made a few starts at QB last season, stepped behind center. Clift put Iola on the scoreboard early with a 10-yard touchdown run less than 3 minutes into the first quarter.
Crooks then found junior receiver James Hunt from 45 yards out for a touchdown giving Iola a 13-0 lead after a blocked extra point attempt.
“We were working on it in practice all week, so I was kind of used to it,” said Crooks, who also had more than 70 yards receiving, two touchdowns and an interception. “We mainly ran the ball, so I was a little nervous throwing. I just threw the ball up there and James went and got it.”
Crooks was far from Iola’s only Swiss Army knife. Pratt rushed for more than 50 yards and gave Iola a 19-0 lead on a 10-yard TD run. After Clift posted the first of his two touchdown throws, he found Crooks on a 43-yard bomb.
Pratt kept the crowd roaring moments later with a 55-yard pick-6 to give Iola a 34-0 lead by halftime.
“Our energy was good out of the gate,” Clift said. “We had a good warm-up. It was a big factor. We just came out and played ball. We had some gaps opened up by our linemen and played to our skills.”
Iola ended the evening with a total of four interceptions, with junior defensive back Jase Herrmann and sophomore defensive back Colton Thomas securing picks. Many of those turnovers came as Osawatomie’s quarterback stared down a quickly approaching Iola rusher.
“The D-line did a really good job of staying in their gaps and shooting out to the quarterback,” junior defensive end Alston Nelson said. “We just do a really good job in practice of taking our reps seriously. A big goal of ours is to carry this momentum into next week.”
Osawatomie broke Iola’s goose egg with a 63-yard touchdown run by sophomore backup quarterback Rogan Lewis. The Mustangs responded with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Clift to senior receiver Brody Thompson and a 55-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Kevon Loving.
The Trojans scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter but by then Coach Daugharthy had pulled his starters.
“We improved a lot on defense tonight,” Daugharthy said. “The kids played fast. It was just a couple of assignment busts with a lot of kids who haven’t seen a lot of the field. We were just trying to get them ready because their time on varsity is coming.”
With the win, the Mustangs improved to 2-4 overall. In Pioneer League they are 2-2 and their district record is 1-1. They will stay in the Pioneer League, and their district, when they head on the road to face the Burlington Wildcats (1-5, 1-3). The Wildcats come into the contest on a four-game losing streak after falling to district foe Girard last Friday, 45-13. Their only win of 2025 came in week two after giving Osawatomie a 45-7 drubbing.
“We’ve been trying to bounce back since Girard,” said Daugharthy. “This week I feel like we took a couple of steps forward. We must continue that path of growth. Burlington is a good team and it’s super close every year. We’re excited and ready to go for it.”
