Going into the season, Iola football coach Doug Kerr knew which two-week stretch was going to be the toughest test for his Mustangs. They are currently in the midst of it.
The reason why Wellsville and Santa Fe Trail pose such difficult challenges in back-to-back weeks isn’t just because they are two of the best teams on Iola’s schedule, it is because they are the two most physical ball clubs that the Mustangs will see this season.
“The last two years these have been the best two teams in our league,” Kerr said. “Not to take away for the other teams in the league, but these are the premier teams in the Pioneer League. Those kids know how to win.”
After falling flat in a 29-0 loss in Wellsville, Iola (1-2) is out to prove that they are willing to be just as physical and hit just as hard as any opponent they face.
Friday is another chance to prove that. Santa Fe Trail (3-0) boasts one of the best running backs in the state of Kansas with Peyton Newton.
“He has had a great year,” Santa Fe Trail coach Jayson Duncan said. “He is leading 4A in rushing and has had two 200-yard games.”
The senior — jersey No. 29 — has already ran for 574 yards this season and is averaging 191 yards-per-game and 8.8 yards-per-carry.
Newton isn’t the only weapon the Chargers possess on the ground. In three games, senior Gage Greenfield — No. 22 — has 313 yards rushing and sophomore Carter Greenfield — No. 1 — has 200.
“We’ve got a good group of backs,” Duncan said. “We’ve been able to move it pretty well on the ground and we don’t make it a secret that that is what we like to do.”
The Chargers have lighter running backs than the big 220-pound backs that Wellsville featured last week with Newton being 180 pounds, Gage Greenfield being 170 and Carter Greenfield checking in at 137 pounds.
Where the Chargers certainly won’t be out-bulked is the offensive and defensive lines where they featured two players over 300 pounds with seniors Josh Elley — No. 60 — and Jake Hastings — No. 79.
“We’ve got a good offensive line,” Duncan said. “We are big up front, we average about 6-2, 265 (pounds) across the front five, so we get a good push up there.”
Being able to compete with the steer size of the Charger front line is one of the leading concerns for the Mustangs.
“This is pretty much run, run, run, run, try to throw for a touchdown. That throw didn’t work? OK, run the ball seven more times,” Kerr said. “We have preached all week that we have to attack and be excited about getting there, because the game we saw against Anderson County, the Anderson County kids just stood there and tried to find ball and (Santa Fe Trail) just ate them up… Big No. 79 just mashes people up front.
“So we have to attack. We can’t just wait for our punishment. We have to attack and take it to them.”
So far this season, senior quarterback Bryce Erickson — No. 15 — hasn’t been asked to do much for the Chargers. He has just 29 yards passing this season and has completed just 5-of-14 passes with two interceptions.
“We were able to throw a little bit last year when we needed to. This year, we haven’t needed to because we are averaging nine yards-per-carry,” Duncan said. “We haven’t needed him yet, but if we need to, he proved last year that he can throw the ball down-field.”
Duncan says that Friday’s match-up poses an interesting test, because both teams know each other so well.
“We pretty familiar with what (Kerr) does,” Duncan said. “They are really aggressive on defense. They blitz quite a bit so they are going to make some plays that stifle us a little bit. We are going to try to hit them with some big-gainer runs because of the blitz.”
Another key area to watch will be Iola’s kickoff coverage unit. Santa Fe Trail sophomore John Long — No. 24 — has just two kickoff returns this season, but he was able to bring one of those back for a touchdown.
On the offensive side of the ball, Kerr expects the passing game to be more potent than it was a week ago.
“They run basically the same defense that we run, so that should loosen things up,” Kerr said. “I think we can throw on them. Offensively we should be better this week. Last week, it was like we were in quicksand — the more you move, the faster you sink. We couldn’t ever get solid feet on the ground to establish something and when we did get it established, we’d fall down or slip in the mud. We never got on track.
“This Friday, we are going to throw some wrinkles in.”
Those Wrinkle will be put to the test when the ball is kicked off on Friday night at Riverside Park.
THE GAUNTLET: Mustangs face Pioneer League power Santa Fe Trail
