Clutch plays by both teams led to a wild contest in Indianola Friday evening, as the Indianola football team outlasted the Norwalk Warriors 45-33 in a game heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
The back-and-forth first half saw the Indians score first on an Aiden Keller field goal, only for the Warriors to score on three plays on a Landon Hochstein 1-yard rush. Indianola answered with a 56-yard touchdown strike to Drew Kingery, with Norwalk answering again with a Gabe Johnson field goal to tie the score at 10 apiece. The game did not let up in the second quarter, with Hochstein running for another 7-yard score, and Indianola score 14 unanswered with another from quarterback Bennett Brueck to Kingery and Kingery throwing another to Will Shivers as the Indians took a 24-17 lead into the halftime break.
The wild play continued, as the Warriors held the ball for nearly the entire third quarter and scored 10 unanswered off of a Hochstein connection to Dillon Ranck and another Johnson field goal, however Brueck took over the in the final quarter, rushing for another touchdown and throwing for two more, one more to Shivers and the game clincher on an 83-yard connection to Drew Kingery to seal it.
Indians head coach Eric Kluver said this was the game he was waiting to see from his squad.
“I’m so happy and so proud of these guys. We battled. I thought we hit them on defense, and we wanted to be the more physical team and establish that and I think we did that. And I think it took its toll, by the end of the game offensively we were really good tonight.”
Warriors head coach Paul Patterson said Friday night was just a great football game, and while he is disappointed to not come out on top, he was proud of the way his guys fought and made plays.
“For those who watched the game and didn’t know anything about these two teams, the dudes that are supposed to make plays made plays tonight. I think that is a testament to our staff and the work they did and our kids did, but also to coach Kluver and his staff. We put our guys in a position to be successful and let them make plays.”
Brueck threw for 404 yards and four scores while rushing for another, while Kingery threw a touchdown, caught three more, and earned 236 yards receiving, and Will Shivers had two scores on 138 yards.
Hochstein showed off his usual dominance, throwing for 361 yards and two scores, and had two scores rushing, while Dillon Ranck had eight receptions for 174 yards and a score.
Indianola improves to 5-1 and will next host Carlisle, while the Warriors will host Perry as they fall to 4-2.