The Indianola football squad had a second half lead against #2 WDM Dowling in their season opener Friday evening, but couldn’t hold on in a 25-14 defeat to the Maroons. Dowling struck first with a first quarter touchdown, but a missed extra point put the Indians only down 6-0. A dropped punt forced by the Indians defense gave them an opportunity to score their first touchdown of the season, which Kael Kolarik did on a three yard scramble to put the Indians up 7-6. Dowling kicked a field goal, which brought the halftime score to just 9-7. Another field goal in the third put the Maroons up 12-7, but a 52 yard connection from quarterback Brady Blake to Carter Erickson gave the Indians a 14-12 lead late in the third. That would be all the offense the Indians could muster, as despite several more defensive stops Dowling scored 13 unanswered to avoid the upset. Head coach Eric Kluver tells KNIA Sports he knew the Indians would have to rely on their experienced defense, and they were not intimidated.

“Our guys were fully aware of who we were facing and what we were up against, just a perennial powerhouse in the state of Iowa. A lot of positives came out of this game, our defense played phenomenal, I’m proud of their effort. If we clean a few things up this is a different ballgame, but we won’t play the woulda-coulda-shoulda game. Game one we have to go back to work and fix some things going into week 2.”

Kolarik led the Indians in rushing with 20 attempts for 76 yards, while Brady Blake had 64 yards through the air with a touchdown. Indianola falls to 0-1 on the season, and will next play at Norwalk.