The Indianola football team traveled to Fort Dodge Friday evening to take on the Class 4A #7 ranked Dodgers. Indianola had won three straight in the series that has seen its fair share of close games over the years. A back-and-forth affair that saw several penalties and multiple turnovers proved to be another classic battle as Fort Dodge escaped 28-21 in overtime in a game heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
Fort Dodge scored on their opening drive, followed by a few punts before Indianola tied it up on a touchdown carry by Kael Kolarik. At one point in the first half, there were five straight punts in the game.
The Dodgers went on a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to tie it up at 21, and that would be the score heading to overtime. Indianola won the coin toss and elected to play defense first. It only took one play for Fort Dodge to find the end zone, as quarterback Asle Thorson lobbed a pass into the corner of the end zone that was pulled in by Nick Bice for the touchdown. A false start on Indianola’s possession pushed them back to the 15, and faced a 4th and Goal from the 6. A handoff to Kael Kolarik wound up inches shy of the end zone, and Fort Dodge escaped with the win. Indians coach Eric Kluver said that his team had its chances, but couldn’t make the plays down the stretch.
Fort Dodge improves to 3-0 on the season while Indianola drops to 1-2. The Indians will celebrate homecoming next week when they host Des Moines Lincoln.