The Indianola football team was up 10-9 with time running out in the first round of the class 4A playoffs, but a late touchdown by Cedar Rapids Xavier ended the Indians season 17-10 as heard live on 94.3 KNIA.

It was a defensive struggle for both teams all game, as two of the top defenses made scoring a premium from the start. The Saints scored first after a short field in the first quarter to lead 3-0 after a field goal, but that would be the only offense they would muster until the fourth. Indians quarterback Andrew DeWall found Gavin Darling in the corner of the endzone in the first to lead 7-3, and Aiden Keller hit a 45-yard field goal off the center crossbar and through the uprights for a 10-3 lead at half.

Neither team scored in the third, but the Saints made adjustments to spread the Indians out in the fourth, often going five wide-receiver sets and found offensive success, scoring a touchdown with 4:30 left, but missed the extra point to keep the Indians in the lead at 10-9. As time winded down, the Indians defense forced a Saints 4th-and-27 to go from their own 10-yard line, but the Saints threw for 37 yards and eventually scored the winning touchdown with less than a minute remaining.

Head coach Eric Kluver tells KNIA Sports this team had a lot of ups and downs this season, but came through in the end and fought to the last minute, and as always this senior class will be one that is hard to forget and hard to replace.

“It’s just a fun group of guys that have really continued to work hard. They’ve had ups and downs, and we had to overcome adversity, exactly what we are going to face in life. Always like to relate everything to life, because this is the greatest sport to get you ready for it. Nineteen guys, seniors that I’m going to really miss, I’m just proud of them.”

The Indians season comes to a close with a 6-4 record.