For the eighth consecutive year, an Indianola Academy Colonels football team is headed to the playoffs.
Following their fourth straight victory last Friday night, a 33-7 road win over Canton Academy, the 6-4 Colonels will now open their 3A state playoff competition this Friday night on Legion Field.
Taking a No. 6 seeding into this week’s 7 p.m. playoff game, the Colonels will take on a 3-5 Tunica Academy squad which brings their No. 11 seeding to town.
This opening playoff game will be the first-ever varsity football meeting between these two schools and IA Head Coach Tommy Nester noted “They are pretty good. They have good sized kids and we will have to come ready to play.”
Last Friday night the Blue Devils closed out their regular season with a dominating 38-0 victory over Rossville (TN) Academy.
Tunica Academy’s other victories this season have been earned over Oak Hill Academy of West Point (48-42) and Kirk Academy of Grenada (8-6).
As for the Colonels’ non-district win over 4A member and playoff-bound Canton Academy, a balanced run game slogged through the wet field and picked up 287 yards on 55 carries to pace IA’s offensive efforts.
Meanwhile, the IA defense recorded a shutout for three periods until a Panthers three yard TD run midway through the final quarter took the score to its final margin.
“I thought we played well,” said Coach Nester. “We hung on to the ball in the wet conditions, we played good defense, and even the ball boys did a great job of keeping the football dry for the team.”
While the Colonels’ defense did its job, the IA offense used four different players to post points on the scoreboard.
This scoring began on IA’s opening possession of the game following Leland Selby’s long punt return to the Canton Academy one yard line.
One play later, Ashton Powell bulled his way into the end zone and although the PAT kick was blocked, IA owned a 6-0 lead barely three minutes into the game.
The Colonels scored again on their next possession when Selby completed a nine play, 50 yard drive with a 10 yard run to paydirt.
In the second quarter, a short 25 yard drive was available to the Colonels after linebacker John Luther Selby picked off a Panthers’ pass.
This march to the end zone ended with a 22 yard scoring pass from quarterback Thomas Putnam to wide receiver Spencer Roberson; a play which took the score to a halftime ending 19-0 margin following Roberson’s PAT kick.
In the third period, the Colonels added another touchdown when Putnam crashed over from three yards away to complete a nine play, ground churning 62 yard drive.
The Colonels’ final score occurred in the fourth quarter when Selby’s 11 yard run, along with Roberson’s PAT kick, gave the IA squad a 33-0 lead.
Offensively in this game, the Colonels’ run-heavy offense was led by Selby’s 83 yards earned on 18 carries.
Following close behind was Powell with 82 yards on 11 rushes while Putnam picked up another 72 yards during his 10 carries against the Panthers’ defense.
Through the air, Putnam’s 22 yard TD pass to Roberson served as his one completion in only three attempts while playing on this wet field.
