Turnovers costly as Buffalos stampede Iola

LACYGNE — If there was a dictionary dedicated toward the sport of football, the dirtiest word in the book would be “turnover.”
The mere mention of the word makes coaches cringe, athletes angry and spectators sigh.
So after Iola committed eight turnovers — six in the first half — in its 43-14 loss to Prairie View (2-0) on Friday night, it wasn’t too surprising to hear coach Doug Kerr say this on the sideline:
“This is the worst start I’ve seen in 18 years of coaching.”
Unfortunately for Kerr and his Mustangs (0-2), things never really got better as the night progressed.
“It’s like quicksand,” Kerr said following the defeat. “The more you struggle, the faster you sink.”
Iola began digging its own grave early, fumbling the ball on its first drive of the game.
The giveaway gave the Buffalos premier field position — a theme that became familiar as the night continued — and a field goal to take a quick 3-0 lead.
The Mustangs’ stout defensive stand was overshadowed by the time the offense took the field once again.
Iola fumbled for a second time in fewer than 5 minutes, forcing a winded Mustangs’ defense back on the field. And when given a second opportune chance to put the ball in the end zone, Prairie View took advantage with a one-yard touchdown run to go up 10-0.
Amazingly, even when Iola found a way to positively respond to a slow start and put points on the board, it involved the Mustangs fumbling the football.
Senior Brice Aiello returned a kickoff nearly 100 yards for Iola’s first touchdown of the game only after muffling the initial catch.
“Brice spiked us early with that kick return, kind of energized the defense,” Kerr said.
But that energy slowly started to slip away after each subsequent turnover.
At the end of the first quarter, junior Ben Cooper threw an interception that eventually led to Prairie View extending its lead to 16-7.
A Cooper fumble minutes later led to another Buffalos touchdown.
So by the time the first half mercifully came to a close, Iola’s once single-digit deficit ballooned to a 29-7 hole.
“It was a lack of focus,” Kerr said. “Lack of focus and getting to where you don’t want to make a mistake and becoming so timid that, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t want to make another mistake,’ and then you make another mistake.”
In total, the Mustangs lost seven fumbles and threw one interception.
The combination of giving away good field position and expecting too much from the defense left Iola with a tall task in the second half.
But it was one that the Mustangs started to accomplish, or at least tried.
 “You know when the most proud I was?” Kerr said. “It was halftime, we were down three scores and I said, ‘Guys, go out there on defense, get a stop and then we’re going to get a score.”
To his content, Iola did just that to open up the second half.
The Mustangs’ defense held the Buffalos, received the ball and senior Keanen Badders did the rest by scoring on a 30-yard touchdown run with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter.
A missed field goal by Prairie View on its next possession gave Iola even more hope for a comeback.
That is until that dirty word “turnover” lurched its ugly head once again on the Mustangs’ offense.
After the Buffalos returned yet another Cooper fumble for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to go up 36-14, the game was essentially in the books.
Prairie View went on to add an insurance score a couple minutes later, leaving Iola on the losing end of a 43-14 effort.
The Mustangs finished the night with just 74 yards of total offense.
Badders and freshman Tayton Driskel were Iola’s two brightest spots on the offensive side of the ball, gaining 48 and 45 yards on the ground respectively.
Cooper wasn’t ever able to become an effective threat through the air, finishing the night just 3-of-5 for seven yards and one interception.
On defense, Iola relied on Chase Regehr, who led the team with seven unassisted tackles and 11 overall.
The Mustangs were able to create some pressure on the Buffalos quarterback, sacking him three times.
But at the end of the night, the negatives certainly outweighed the positives for Kerr’s squad.
And the Mustangs let that frustration boil over on the field by committing 12 penalties totaling in 120 lost yards. Several of those penalties were unsportsmanlike conduct calls.
“I guess the only thing I’m really disappointed in is that our kids lost their composure out on the field,” Kerr said. “We never had that many kids get in trouble ever … We will get that fixed. We’ve always had a disciplined team and we’re not going to start not having one.”
The Mustangs will come back home in search for their first win of the young season when they face off against Labette County on Friday at 7 p.m. in Riverside Park.
“The hardest win is the first one of the season,” Kerr said. “Once you get one, it seems to get easier.”