The Indianola Academy Colonels appear to be making a move for a strong finish to their regular season football schedule.
With playoff competition looming, the now 4-4, 2-2 Colonels claimed their second consecutive win last Friday night in Clarksdale with a physical 17-12 victory over the Lee Academy Colts.
“We had a good game on both sides of the ball,” said IA Head Coach Tommy Nester. “We had a lot of people who contributed with big plays and good effort. Defensively it may have been our best performance of the year. We ran to the ball well as a team and tackled well.”
Additionally, as a testament to the work of the IA offensive line, those 17 points earned also reflect the second highest total scored against the strong Lee Academy defense this season.
Meanwhile, it was wide receiver/kicker Spencer Roberson and quarterback/place-kick holder Thomas Putnam who combined to have a hand in all 17 points scored by the Colonels in this game.
Roberson’s night of play included a 48 yard field goal, two PAT kicks, and a 20 yard touchdown reception.
In addition to his TD pass to Roberson, Putnam also tallied a second quarter eight yard touchdown run.
With this win over the 4A member Colts (4-3) now in the books, the Colonels will welcome Greenville Christian School to Legion Field at 7 p.m. this Friday for the final regular season home game of the year.
This non-district game promises to be a battle as it will bring a 4-4 Saints squad to town which is on a four game win streak.
Offensively, indications are the Saints have hit their stride by posting a 51.3 per game scoring average over their last three contests played.
According to Coach Nester, Greenville Christian School “Is a nice-sized squad full of athletic players. They will be a big challenge for us to contain.”
After beginning their season with four losses, the GCS team has reeled off those four victories with the most recent occurring last Friday night by way of a dominating 56-0 thrashing of Porter’s Chapel Academy of Vicksburg.
Historically, IA and GCS have not met on a varsity football field since the 1999 season.
As for last Friday’s win over Lee Academy, the IA defense would turn in a first half shutout performance to allow the Colonels to take a 10-0 lead to the dressing room.
The Colonels earned those points with Roberson’s 48 yard, first period field goal and Putnam’s second quarter dash into the end zone from eight yards away.
On the opening possession of the second half IA then engineered a five play, 57 yard scoring drive which ended with Putnam finding Roberson in the back corner of the end zone on their 20 yard TD collaboration.
However, the Colts began to storm back.
Using their passing attack to eat up yardage, the Colts quickly cut the lead to a 17-12 margin following a one yard TD run and a 25 yard TD pass.
The Colts then generated one final threatening drive midway through the fourth quarter; but this 14-play march ended when defensive back Woods Toler picked off a Colts pass.
With 4:41 remaining to play, the IA offensive line, along with hard running by Leland Selby and Putnam, enabled the Colonels to earn a pair of crucial first downs. Inevitably, the Colonels were able to run the game’s remaining time off the clock.
In this game the Colonels greatly benefited from the work of an offensive line which paved the way for five IA ballcarriers to pick up yardage.
The Colonels ground game garnered 201 yards on 44 rushes and Selby’s 80 yards on 14 carries led the way.
Meanwhile, three more Colonels carried the ball eight times apiece and the group included Ashton Powell (48 yards), Toler (31 yards), and Walker Zepponi (24 yards),
Through the air, Putnam completed nine of his 16 attempts for 109 yards and a touchdown.
While Roberson’s three catches netted 64 yards and a TD, Toler also pulled in three passes which accumulated 30 yards of offense.
Defensively, the Colonels only allowed 51 yards of rushing to the Colts during their 20 attempts into the line.
The Lee Academy passing attack did find a little more success as 18 completions in 36 attempts garnered 169 yards of offense.
Leading the IA resistance was defensive end Brandon Brown with seven solo tackles and one assist.
While Grant Coleman was close behind with five solos and two assists, Brayden Kimble (4 solos, 8 assists), John Luther Selby (4 solos, 7 assists), and Houstin Danna (3 solos, 6 assists) also made their presence known in this game.
