Colonels roll to second victory, prep for St. Joe
The football game was over quickly last Friday night.
Racing to a 34-0 halftime score, the 2-1 Indianola Academy Colonels earned a 48-7 victory over an outmatched Delta Streets Academy squad from Greenwood on Legion Field.
Scoring quickly and often on four of their five possessions to open the game, the Colonels also received a 60 yard pass interception for a touchdown by C.J. Brown to put the game out of reach.
“I thought we played well,” said IA Head Coach Tommy Nester. “We came out focused and received some big plays from a lot of people. I was well-pleased with our effort.”
However, this week will find the challenge much larger for the Colonels.
While also closing out a three-game string of non-district home dates with this Friday’s 7 p.m. clash, the Colonels will welcome a familiar foe to Legion Field.
For it will be the Fighting Irish of Greenville St. Joseph High coming to town.
“This will be a good challenge for us,” said Coach Nester. “They are quick at the skill positions and are a very talented team.”
The Irish enter this Friday’s game owning a 1-1 record following last week’s 35-0 loss to 6A powerhouse Jackson Prep.
That score to the Patriots is very misleading as the 4A member Irish only trailed 7-0 at the end of the first half of play.
“Prep’s depth just wore them down in the second half of the game,” noted Coach Nester.
In St. Joe’s season-opener two weeks ago, the team earned a 41-0 victory over Riverside High of Avon.
Last season, the Irish earned a 9-2 record and saw its season end in the 3A state semifinal game.
Although the IA-St. Joe series is a short one, it is one which owns a rich and intense history.
To date, IA owns a narrow 3-2 series advantage over St. Joe High.
However, the Irish claimed the last victory of this series with IA in 2019 during the 3A state championship game.
That talented 2019 St. Joe squad was led by current Mississippi State running back Dillon Johnson and University of Oregon running back Trey Benson.
In last Friday’s victory over Delta Streets Academy, it would require only four offensive plays on the game’s first series for the Colonels to find the end zone.
Quarterback Cole Ferrell did the honors with his three yard run through the middle of the line.
The Colonels then took advantage of IA defensive lineman Jack Jenkins’ blocked punt on the Lions’ first possession of the game.
Setting up at Delta Streets’ 30 yard line, five plays later Ferrell connected with sophomore E.J Hall on a 14 yard TD pass. The wide receiver’s first varsity touchdown was followed by a Leland Selby two point conversion run to give IA a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Colonels then ran the score to a 20-0 margin less than three minutes later when Selby raced 19 yards for another touchdown.
The Lions suffered another blow on their first snap of the second quarter. It was Brown stepping in front of the Delta Streets receiver for a perfectly timed interception and subsequent sprint to the end zone.
The Colonels then scored their final touchdown of the first half when junior running back Conner Roncali burst through the middle of the line and raced 73 yards untouched for the score.
Wade Lang’s second of three PAT kicks took the score to its 34-0 halftime mark.
In the third period, Ferrell and Hall collaborated on another touchdown pass. Hall’s nice run after the catch ultimately covered 35 yards to paydirt.
Now owning a 41-0 lead and playing with a running clock on the scoreboard, a Delta Streets touchdown was followed by IA’s Howie Judson scoring run to take the score to its final 48-7 margin.
Recording his first varsity touchdown for IA, the sophomore would run 15 yards around the left side of the offensive line.
Offensively in this game, the Colonels rushed for 231 yards on 21 carries and Roncali’s 95 yards on four rushes paced this attack.
Selby was close behind, however, as the senior accumulated 81 yards and two touchdowns on only eight efforts into the line.
Through the air, Ferrell completed six of his 10 passes for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Hall’s two TD receptions garnered 49 yards while Selby also pulled in three passes for another 25 yards of offense.
Defensively, the Colonels limited the Lions to only 91 yards on 24 carries while 11 pass completions earned 116 yards for the visitors.
Hayes Fleming led the IA effort with six solo tackles, four assists, and a knocked down pass.
Also active this night was Lofton Gary with eight assists while Jenkins was busy with his one solo, seven assists, a sack, and a blocked punt.
Adding seven assists to his pair of interceptions this night was Brown while Hamp Judson finished with a two solo, five assist performance.
