Oskaloosa Football Builds Confidence with Route of Fort Madison

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Rick Watts

Just two short weeks ago, the Oskaloosa football team stumbled in a highly anticipated season opener against the three-time defending state champion Pella Little Dutch. But on the first week of district play, Osky seems to be finding their groove.

The 58-14 drubbing of Fort Madison is a similar score to the 49-0 win the Indians picked up on the Bloodhounds’ home field last year. That’s a great sign for Osky supporters as their team looks to get back to the playoffs.

Quarterback Seth Howard looked in the zone against Fort Madison, going 15 for 24 for 257 yards and 3 TDs. He also ran ten times for 110 yards and 3 TDs. This kind of performance is sure to excite fans of the Indians as an athletic quarterback who can find his targets downfield will make Osky tough to beat.

Howard will be the first to say he couldn’t do it without his targets, as several players got into the act offensively. None more so than Cole Henry, who caught four passes for 38 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot-7-inch junior will be a threat in short yardage, especially in the redzone, all season long. Alex Chapman led Osky with 127 receiving yards on four receptions. Tanner DeKock had three catches and a TD on the day as well.

Complementing the improved passing game was a rush attack that got going behind the Blake VanVeldhuizen-led offensive line. Casey Hill was the main beneficiary, rushing 13 times for 60 yards and a TD. Tyler Miller also had his best day in the backfield so far this season, gaining 47 yards on 6 carries with a rushing TD as well.

Defensively, Osky starting a little slowly, but eventually were able to surround the Hounds and not allow any big plays. Keaton DeKock and Cole Kraber had seven tackles each. Turnovers also played a factor as Alex DeJong picked off two more passes to increase his season total to four and Calvin Silvers had a fumble recovery.

All in all, there didn’t seem to be a lot of holes for Coach Jake Jenkins and the Indians last Friday, but there will be stiffer tests in Class 3A District 5. Mount Pleasant will host Osky this Friday and they are no pushover, as they nearly upset Washington, falling 16-14 on the road.

You can hear that game live on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, radiokmzn.com, and the KMZN mobile app starting with the pregame at 7 PM on Friday as Mount Pleasant and Oskaloosa battle to stay in the mix at the top of District 5.

Story By Emery Songer

Oskaloosa Volleyball Falls on the Road To Grinnell

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Rick Watts

The Oskaloosa volleyball team was back in conference action on Tuesday night, but it didn’t end the way the Indians were hoping as they fell in straight sets on the road to Grinnell, 25-14, 25-23, 25-19.

Oskaloosa was behind the 8-ball early in all three sets, but battled back in the second and third sets to hang around until late. Several attack errors and an outstanding team defensive effort from the Tigers combined to frustrate several of the Indian attackers.

Josie Bunnell would get going late to log a game-high ten kills. Emily Richmond and Baylee Crawford both would have four kills in the match with Emma Kelderman adding three kills. Jolie Yang would serve up three aces for the Indians.

Grinnell had a very balanced offensive strategy. Junior Macy Harris led the way with nine kills in the game. Kiana Kies was a great option down the stretch for the Tigers, logging seven kills and two aces. Hope Nelson had six kills and Nicole Popp had five for the victors.

The win moves Grinnell to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. They will next be in action next Tuesday, September 12^th, on the road against Newton.

Oskaloosa falls to 3-7 overall on the season and 0-2 in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Indians are back in action this Saturday against several teams at the Southeast Polk Tournament. Their next conference game will be next Tuesday, September 12^th, at home against Dallas Center-Grimes. You can hear that game starting around 7 PM on 99.5 FM and 740 AM KMZN with a live video stream with the help of the Oskaloosa Video Production program on radiokmzn.com and MCG Channel 7 in Oskaloosa.

In other volleyball scores in the area Tuesday night:

Albia 25-25-25, Centerville 20-20-14
Central Lee, Donnellson 25-25-25, Cardinal, Eldon 17-11-13
HLV, Victor 22-26-25-25, Lynnville-Sully 25-24-19-19
Pekin 25-25-25, Louisa-Muscatine 16-12-11
Pella 25-15-25-23-15, Pella Christian 20-25-18-25-9
Southeast Polk 25-25-16-23-15, Ottumwa 14-21-25-25-6
EBF 22-25-25-25, Clarke 25-22-18-10

Oskaloosa, PCM Have Strong Nights in Volleyball

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Rick Watts

It was a busy night in high school volleyball Tuesday night.

The Oskaloosa Indians had a good night with wins over Carlisle and Colfax-Mingo at home. The Indians beat Carlisle in three sets and swept Colfax-Mingo in two straight sets.

Another team who had a great night was PCM. The Mustangs cruised through the Newton Invitational, winning all three of their matches. They swept Des Moines Hoover in two straight sets and beat Saydel and the hosts from Newton in three sets.

It was a rough night for BGM, as they were swept in all four of their matches in Lisbon. They fell to East Buchanan, Alburnett, Tipton, and the hosts from Lisbon on the night.

Finally, Pella got their season off to a strong start, beating Ballard on the road in four sets.

Our first volleyball game on our airwaves will be next Tuesday, August 29^th, as Oskaloosa travels to face Pella Christian to open up Little Hawkeye Conference play. The first serve of that game will be around 7 PM with the pregame at 6:45. You can hear all the action live on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, radiokmzn.com, and the KMZN mobile app.

Five Schools Start the Year In Radio Iowa Football Rankings

Posted on August 22, 2017 by Rick Watts

The Radio Iowa High School Football Poll has been released for Week 1 and it favors the reigning state champions at the top of the list.

In Class 3A, Pella starts the year ranked #1. The Dutch have won 41 straight games and are 51-1 in the last four seasons. They have won the last three Class 3A state titles. They will open their season up on Friday night against Oskaloosa at the Lacey Recreation Complex. You can hear that game live on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, and watch a live video stream on radiokmzn.com and the KMZN mobile app. The pregame show starts at 7 PM for the 7:30 PM kickoff.

West Delaware, Sioux City Heelan, Norwalk, and Cedar Rapids Xavier round out the Class 3A top 5. Solon is ranked #9 and should be the preseason favorites in Oskaloosa’s district.

In Class 2A, PCM is looking to build off a great season and they start the year ranked #5. Williamsburg is #1, followed by Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley, Carroll Kuemper, and Union ahead of the Mustangs.

Sigourney/Keota has been a very successful team under Jared Jensen the last few years and they start the year ranked #8 in the Class 1A poll. Pleasantville will start their second season in Class 1A and they are ranked tenth the start the season. Perennial powerhouse Iowa City Regina is ranked #1, followed by West Lyon, Western Christian, Denver, and Van Meter to round out the top five.

Class A football has been very exciting in our listening area recently, and Lynnville-Sully has been near the top of the state in the playoff hunt the last couple of seasons. The Hawks will start as the #3 team in the state. Defending champs Gladbrook-Reinbeck, who eliminated both Lynnville-Sully and Montezuma on their way through the playoffs, start the year ranked #1. Council Bluffs St. Albert is ranked second, followed by Lynnville-Sully, West Sioux, and Lisbon in the top five.

There are no area teams ranked in the top ten in either Class 4A or 8-Player football.

In Class 4A, Dowling Catholic is #1, followed by Ankeny Centennial, Iowa City West, West Des Moines Valley, and Cedar Rapids Washington. In 8-Player football, the top five features #1 Harris-Lake Park, #2 Don Bosco, #3 Audubon, #4 Fremont-Mills, and #5 Newell-Fonda.

Oskaloosa Football Prepares for New Format to Old Shoe Game

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Rick Watts

The Oskaloosa football season is getting closer by the day and next Friday night is the Old Shoe Game.

Traditionally, the Old Shoe Game has been a scrimmage between Osky’s first, second, and third teams. But this year, to help with early season improvement and get better action on the field against true varsity starters, the format has changed.

Centerville will be bringing their varsity team to the Lacey Recreation Complex on Friday, August 18^th. There will be four segments to the Osky vs. Centerville scrimmage.

The first segment will be each team getting at least two 15 play series alternating at their own 30 yard line. Following that, each team will get at least two 15 play series alternating in the red zone. The third segment will feature special teams for both sides, and the night will wrap up with kicking competitions. There will be a slight break in between each segment.

The Oskaloosa freshman team will scrimmage the junior varsity in a traditional intrasquad scrimmage prior to the varsity teams taking the field.

The gates to the Lacey Recreation Complex Stadium open up at 4:30 next Friday night and the admission is just one sports drink per person. The action on the field begins at 5:30 PM. The Activities Department will be at the stadium selling Activity Passes and Reserved Football seats.

Oskaloosa Football Looking to Make It Back to the Playoffs in 2017

Posted on August 10, 2017August 10, 2017 by Rick Watts

Yesterday, we took a look at the Game of the Week schedule for the football season, which will be heard on 104.9 FM KBOE, kboeradio.com, and the KBOE mobile app.

Today, we’ll take a peek at the Oskaloosa Indians football schedule, which as always, can be heard on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, with live video on radiokmzn.com, and the KMZN mobile app.

Osky gets to open their season against their archrival Pella at home on August 25^th. In case you’ve been under a rock the last few years, Pella has won the last three Class 3A state championships in football while going 41-0. If you go back to the start of the 2013 season, Pella is 52-1 on the gridiron.

While this seems daunting, Oskaloosa has improved in several aspects over the last few seasons and a great 7-3 year in 2016 under first year Head Coach Jake Jenkins gives the Indians a reason to hope for similar success in 2017. That all starts against a new cast of characters for the Little Dutch, who beat Osky Week 1 of the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs last year.

That Week 1 matchup will be a huge contest, but it is a non-district game, so it will have limited implications for the playoffs. Osky will follow that with a road game against Grinnell in Week 2, which the Indians should be favored.

The Indians start Class 3A District 5 play with a Week 3 matchup against Fort Madison at home, another game that Osky will be expected to win.

Week 4 will be a date with Mount Pleasant on the road, and while the Indians handled the Panthers last year, this game could get tricky. Same will be said for the Week 5 home matchup against Solon, who won the district last year.

Week 6 is another tricky road game against Fairfield followed by a Week 7 home game against Keokuk.

Washington gets to host Osky this year in Week 8 and they will be looking for revenge for their one point loss in Oskaloosa last year which kept them out of the playoffs.

The Oskaloosa regular season will wrap up on the road against West Burlington/Notre Dame.

Oskaloosa will likely need to win 6 of the final 7 games to comfortably secure a playoff berth for the second straight year, but that will be no easy feat. Several interesting road games mixed with a tough matchup against Solon at home will test the Indians.

If Osky does fall twice during district play and finds themselves on the outside looking in, that Pella game could loom large. A win in that game to snap the 41-game winning streak of the Dutch could go a long ways to helping Osky grab one of the two wild card playoff spots in Class 3A.

As mentioned, all of the action this season can be heard on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN with a live video stream on radiokmzn.com and the KMZN mobile app every Friday night with help from the Oskaloosa Video Production program at OHS and MCG. Pregame will start at 7 PM with kickoff every week at 7:30.

Oskaloosa Football Season Tickets Available

Posted on August 7, 2017August 7, 2017 by Rick Watts

Football season is right around the corner and season tickets are now available at the Oskaloosa High School Activities Office.

You can pick up your season tickets for Indian home games Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to noon or from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM. You can also swing by Friday morning from 8:30 to 11:30 AM.

The Oskaloosa High School Activities Office is located on the north side of the school on the right side of the entrance to the gymnasium from the activity parking lot.

Oskaloosa opens the 2017 football season at home on August 25^th against Pella. Other home games on the schedule include matchups against Fort Madison, Solon, and Keokuk.

You can hear all Indian games on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN and watch a live HD video stream on radiokmzn.com, and the KMZN mobile app.

Five Honored in Class 4A and 5A All-State Softball Teams

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Rick Watts

Last week, the All-State Softball Teams were released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, and there are athletes from all five classes that were honored in our listening area.

We’ll start by breaking down the lists from the large schools in Class 4A and 5A.

Oskaloosa finished in third place at the state tournament this year and several players were a big part of that success.

Perhaps the most important player for Oskaloosa softball once again was pitcher Alexis Groet, who was named First Team All-State once again, and finishes her high school career as a five-time All-State player for Head Coach Jay Harms.

She is joined by fellow senior Aubrey Miller, who was named to the Second Team after five successful seasons at the plate for the Indians. Freshman Ava VandeWall finished a great year as one of the best hitters in the Osky lineup and she was named Third Team All-State.

The trio of Osky players were the only ones from Class 4A in our listening area.

As for Class 5A, Ottumwa is the only team in our listening area and a pair of Bulldogs were named as All-State players.

On the Second Team, sophomore Morgan Greiner made the list after a great season for Head Coach Frank Huston. She is joined by freshman Kacy Nickerson, who was named to the Third Team.

Ottumwa finished one win away from the State Softball Tournament in Fort Dodge, but the future is bright for the Bulldogs with two underclassmen leading the way.

Later this week, we’ll look at the Class 1A, 2A, and 3A All-State Teams from the IGHSAU as we continue to wrap up our coverage from the summer sports season.

Oskaloosa Quartet Highlight Class 3A and 4A All-District Teams

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Rick Watts

The baseball season was a memorable one for our listening area and the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association have released their All-District teams for 2017.

Today, we’ll take a look at the lists for Class 3A and 4A, with a look at Class 1A and 2A tomorrow.

In Class 3A, the Central District is chock full of area players, led by state qualifier Oskaloosa, who has four players honored.

On the First Team, Osky’s Bennett Spry had a great senior year, and he was listed as the second baseman. Freshman Tyler Miller led the Indians in batting with a .463 average and he was honored as an outfielder on the First Team.

Joining them on the top squad was Pella’s junior catcher Jaden Rolffs, who hit .449 this year. Pella’s Tyler Hillman was listed as a utility player with great batting and pitching numbers this season as a senior.

Knoxville made it to a district final this season, and three of their players were named to the first team. Third baseman Rylan Cox, outfielder Jacob Zuck, and utility Ben Wallace were all honored for their outstanding work for the South Central Conference Champions.

Rounding out the First Team is Grinnell shortstop Ethan Mitchell, who spearheaded a renaissance year for the Tigers.

On the Second Team, Oskaloosa has two more players who made the cut.

Sophomore pitcher Rian Yates had an outstanding season and was one of three pitchers on the team. He’s joined by outfielder Tucker Nunnikhoven, who batted nearly .400 this year while playing great defense.

Knoxville again is well represented with three more players on the second list. Catcher Patrick Crawford, first baseman Cam Liston, and utility Blake McClung were named to the Second Team, which puts two-thirds of the Panther lineup on the All-District Teams for 2017.

Pella’s Caleb Piersma and Grinnell’s Jayden Gibson round out the Second Teamers from our listening area. They are honored as a utility player and catcher, respectively.

In Class 4A, Ottumwa and Newton are the only teams from the area and both are represented in the South Central District.

On the First Team, Ottumwa’s junior catcher Tyler Ward and senior third baseman Austin Shotts received the honor. Ward hit .320 this year for the Bulldogs, while Shotts led the way hitting .480 to wrap up his stellar career.

On the Second Team, two more Bulldogs made the list. Pitcher Jaylon Jones went 5-2 in his junior campaign. He was joined by senior Kane Brumbaugh, who went 5-1 on the mound, including throwing a no-hitter. Brumbaugh was listed as a utility player.

Rounding out the list is Newton senior Trey Vanderlaan, who batted .342 and is listed as the first baseman on the Second Team.

While Oskaloosa was the only team from the area to make it to the State Baseball Tournament, Pella, Knoxville, Grinnell, and Ottumwa all had winning seasons, and Ottumwa played in a substate final.

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the Class 1A and 2A All-District Teams, which is full of players from several schools dotting the area.

No Coast Network Announces Broadcast Lineup for State Softball Tournament

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Rick Watts

State softball is on deck and five area teams will be playing for state titles in four different classes.

All the action on the No Coast Network begins Monday morning around 10:45 on 104.9 FM KBOE, kboeradio.com, and the KBOE mobile app. In Class 1A, #8 Montezuma will face #1 Kee in the first game on Buena Vista University Diamond at the Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge. Monte enters at 19-12 while Kee is 35-2.

Following that contest on the same field at around 3 PM will be #7 Sigourney vs. #2 Akron-Westfield. That game will also be broadcast on 104.9 FM KBOE, kboeradio.com, and the KBOE mobile app. Sigourney is 22-11 entering the tourney and Akron-Westfield is 35-2.

Not too long after that will be the Class 2A quarterfinal between #6 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and #3 Waterloo Columbus Catholic. First pitch is on Diamond 2 around 5:30 PM Monday evening. The Rockets will be playing on 104.9 FM KBOE, kboeradio.com, and the KBOE mobile app just before the first pitch. If the Sigourney game is still going on prior to first pitch, the game will begin on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, radiokmzn.com, and the KMZN mobile app. EBF enters at 30-8, with Columbus Catholic entering at 34-5.

Tuesday morning, #7 Albia takes the field in the Class 3A bracket. The Lady Dees are playing #2 Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. First pitch is at 11 AM on Buena Vista University Diamond. You can check for regular updates on 104.9 FM KBOE throughout the game, as well as the KBOE 104.9 FM Facebook page. Albia goes into the tournament at 28-8, and Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley enters at 32-2.

Finally, Oskaloosa will round out our first round games Tuesday afternoon at 3 PM in the Class 4A quarterfinals. The #4 Indians play #5 Mount Pleasant on Buena Vista University Diamond, and that game can be heard on both 104.9 FM KBOE and 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN. It will also be streamed on both kboeradio.com and radiokmzn.com. Osky goes into the tournament at 29-12 and Mount Pleasant enters at 31-10.

You can follow all of the state tournament action by liking our Facebook pages, KBOE 104.9 FM and KMZN. You can also follow us on Twitter: @KBOERadio and @KMZNRadio.

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