A soggy Friday evening saw the Indians football squad fall just short of Western Dubuque on their home field 21-19 in a game heard live on 94.3 KNIA. The Indians got ahead early on a Kael Kolarik 2-yard touchdown rush to lead 7-0, but it was immediately answered by the Bobcats to tie the score at 7 apiece heading into the second quarter, where the only score was a 34-yard field goal from Indians kicker Stephen Stark to take a 10-7 advantage into the halftime break.

It was all Western Dubuque in the third quarter however, scoring on a 45 yard quarterback scramble and a 51 yard touchdown pass on back-to-back possessions to quickly take a 21-10 lead, while Stark again mustered the only Indians offense in the frame with a 26 yard field goal. Late in the contest with Western Dubuque looking to potentially seal the game deep into Indians territory, a mishandled lateral pass was picked up by Jacob Darr and returned for 83 yards into the endzone to make it a two point game at 21-19. The ensuing two-point conversion was unsuccessful for the Indians, and with less than two minutes remaining the Bobcats converted a 3rd and 11 near midfield to seal the victory.

Head coach Eric Kluver tells KNIA Sports the Indians gave up some big plays, and didn’t convert enough on the offensive end to win.

“When we had opportunities to make plays we just didn’t on the offensive end. There’s only a few plays throughout a game where you have to connect and we just didn’t do that. Give a lot of credit to Western Dubuque, going on a long bus trip on short notice and outplaying us tonight on our home turf. Trust me, this hurts bad in the locker room and we have to get better for next week.”

Kolarik had 103 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while John McGinnis had three receptions for 46 yards. The Indians fall to 1-2 on the season, and will have a tough test hosting Urbandale next week.