Hoping to record their first win of the season, the Indianola Academy Colonels football team will take a long road trip today.
Traveling to Holly Springs, the 0-5, 0-1 Colonels will take on the 2-3 Marshall Academy Patriots in a 7 p.m. non-district match-up.
Both squads will be looking to rebound from road losses suffered last Friday night.
In their game last week in Lexington, the Colonels fell by a 41-6 margin to district foe Central Holmes Christian School.
Meanwhile, the Patriots suffered a district loss as well by falling 42-8 to Kirk Academy of Grenada.
Thus far this season, the only common opponent the Colonels and the Patriots have played has been North Delta School of Batesville.
The Patriots picked up a 20-13 win over the Green Wave three weeks ago while the Colonels were defeated 48-30 by the Batesville school in the 2023 season opener.
Last season, the Patriots accumulated a 7-4 record and saw their season end in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.
Historically, this series between IA and Marshall Academy has been hotly contested with both teams winning six games apiece.
The last time these two schools met on a football field was in the 2019 season, which resulted in an IA playoff victory.
In last Friday’s loss to the Trojans of Central Holmes Christian School, the game initially appeared to be a tightly-played occasion.
The Trojans began the night’s play by taking a quick 7-0 lead following a game-opening drive down the field.
However, the Colonels answered the call.
For it would only take three plays to find the endzone as quarterback Lawson Zepponi connected with Abel Williamson for a 77-yard touchdown pass play.
Although the PAT kick was blocked, the long scoring pass down the center of the field left the Colonels behind by only one point.
Unfortunately, this was as close as the Colonels would get in the game.
Unable to score the balance of the game, the Colonels went to the dressing room at halftime down by a 28-6 margin; a deficit which grew in the second half of the night’s play.
Offensively, Zepponi completed four of his 17 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Williamson’s 77-yard touchdown reception led the receiving corps as EJ Hall pulled in another three passes for 29 yards.
On the ground, the Colonels were limited to 49 yards on 27 carries with Walker Perkins leading the way with 33 yards on his six rushes.
Defensively, Graham Howard led the IA resistance with his seven solo, three assist night of play.
Close behind was Williamson with six solo tackles, one assist, and a fumble recovery.
While Perkins added an assist to his five solo tackles, Gage Berry and Matthew Gary added four solo tackles and an assist apiece.
Berry also recorded one sack while Gary came up with a fumble recovery.
Rounding out the defensive leaders was Brycen Stevens, who contributed two solo tackles and five assists.
