By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians football team entered the 2023 season with a new sense of purpose after enduring a difficult season in 2022, and the immediate returns were evident on Friday night.
The Indians began their season against the Washington Demons on a steamy night and things started slowly for both teams. Washington’s first drive sputtered and resulted in a punt, only for the Indians to turn the ball back over on an interception courtesy of Mason Morgan of the Demons; Morgan returned the pick to Oskaloosa’s 25 yard line, and the Demons would soon take advantage of the good field position with a 21 yard touchdown hookup between Logan McDole and Morgan to make it 6-0 Demons after a failed extra point.
The Indians would respond in earnest in the 2nd quarter as the offense came alive. Sophomore QB Kayne Boender led Osky down the field and capped off the next drive with a 13 yard touchdown pass to senior Wyatt Grubb to tie the game at 6-6. Osky’s defense went on to hold the Demons off the scoreboard for the next two quarters while the offense kept humming, as Boender’s hot stretch of play resulted in a second touchdown drive and another TD pass to Grubb, who finished the night with 7 receptions for 116 yards and the two scores. At halftime, it was 12-6 Indians, and a key defensive stop at the end of the half, combined with the Indians receiving the 2nd half kickoff, had Osky in business.
In the 3rd quarter, Osky again was able to move the ball consistently with two more scoring drives. Sophomore running back AJ Walker notched his first TD of the night with a 12 yard scamper to make it 19-6, and later sophomore placekicker Linus Morrison nailed a 38 yard field goal to extend the lead to 16. By this point, the Indians’ defense had established its dominance over Washington’s running game, and the Demon passing attack wasn’t able to hold up in a potential shootout with Oskaloosa. The Demons weren’t able to generate much movement until late in the 4th quarter when they scored their final touchdown courtesy of a 12 yard score from Kael Williams, but AJ Walker matched the effort with another score of his own to ice the game for the Indians in a 28-14 final.
Oskaloosa (1-0) travels to Des Moines Hoover on Thursday.
