The hope is tonight’s Indianola Academy football game will bring more than just the Colonels’ first win of the season.
A bonus riding along with today’s trip to Benton Academy is that the 0-2 Colonels can also claim a District 2-3A victory.
In this game between winless teams, today’s 7 p.m. kickoff will be against a Raiders squad which also owns a 0-2 record.
“We match up well with Benton Academy,” said IA Head Coach Tommy Nester. “It is going to boil down to who executes the best and limits turnovers,” he continued.
In both teams’ recent action, last Friday night the Colonels fell by a 49-7 score to visiting Lee Academy of Clarksdale.
Summarizing the Colonels’ loss, Coach Nester noted, “Lee Academy just won the game on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.”
Meanwhile, that same night it was North Delta School of Batesville which handed the Benton Academy team a 47-17 home-field defeat.
If comparable scores mean anything, tonight’s contest with Benton Academy holds the promise of a tightly-played event.
For two weeks ago, the Colonels opened their season by falling by a 43-13 margin to that same North Delta School squad.
In its own other action thus far this season, Benton Academy dropped a season-opening 45-18 home-field decision to River Oaks School of Monroe, Louisiana.
Last season, Benton Academy claimed a narrow 14-13 victory over IA while on its way to a 3-7 record.
In this short football series between these two schools, IA owns a 5-1 won-loss advantage.
Meanwhile, in last Friday’s loss to 4A member Lee Academy, the Colonels fell prey to the now 1-1 Colts’ strong running game.
The Colts featured a clock-chewing ground attack which by the end of the first quarter had built a 14-0 lead. The Lee Academy ball-control offense ultimately limited the Colonels to six offensive plays and a punt in the game’s opening period.
With the Colonels’ offense also finding progress difficult against the Clarksdale school’s defense, the first half ended with the Colts owning a commanding 21-0 lead.
However, a shutout was avoided with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter after the Colonels put together a sustained drive.
It was sophomore quarterback Ty Killebrew who finished off the march down the field with a one-yard plunge into the end zone.
Senior Haygon Sheedy’s PAT kick then split the uprights which left the Colonels facing a 27-7 deficit.
The Colts would tack on three more scores in the game as IA substituted freely throughout the remainder of the game.
Offensively, IA’s ground game was led by Sheedy’s 47 yards earned on seven carries.
Through the air, Killebrew completed eight of 13 passes for 80 yards while freshman Patrick Davis’s three completions in four passes netted nine yards.
It was junior Graham Howard leading the receiving corps as his three catches accumulated 34 yards.
Senior Evan Burke also gathered in two receptions which added another 21 yards of offense for the Colonels’ efforts.
Defensively, Burke’s nine tackles paced IA while sophomore Blayne Fleming completed the game with another seven tackles.
Rounding out the Colonels’ defensive leaders were juniors Matthew Gary and Carson Miller recording six tackles apiece.
