By JIM GRIES
Herald sports editor
OSKALOOSA
September 08, 2008 09:53 am
—
For much of the first half, it appeared whichever team had the ball last would come out on top.
Both Pella and Oskaloosa scored virtually at will as they combined for 509 yards and seven touchdowns in the first 24 minutes of their non-district game.
The defenses showed up the second half, but the Little Dutch held on for a wild 35-30 victory at Community Stadium.
Little Dutch junior quarterback Blaine Forsythe sparked the win by throwing for 238 yards on 13-for-26 passing and four touchdowns — two each to Steven Overbergen and Richie Bales.
The Indians (0-2 on the season), stayed with Pella, which improves to 2-0 on the year.
Oskaloosa opened the game by driving the ball 45 yards in eight plays as senior Andrew Reed booted a 29-yard field goal with 9:37 left for the game’s opening points.
The Little Dutch moved the ball down to the Indian 5 before a delay of game penalty stalled the drive. They turned the ball on downs as Forsythe disconnected with Overbergen on fourth down and the Indians took over.
The Little Dutch got the ball back after forcing Oskaloosa to punt and they wasted little time in taking over the lead late in the first quarter.
After Marcus Haustein, who ran for 165 yards on 28 carries, had a 1-yard gain, Forsythe threw 4 yards to Haustein then Forsythe hooked up with Bales for a 49-yard scoring strike at the 2:57 mark to put Pella ahead at 7-3.
Then the fireworks really got going.
The teams combined for 41 points and six touchdowns to keep the fans on the edge of their seats.
“They got us in their passing and we got them in rushing a little bit,” Oskaloosa coach Darrell Schumacher said. “Both teams made adjustments in the second half.”
The teams traded punts as the first quarter ended and Oskaloosa got the ball at Pella’s 34 to begin the second quarter. Oskaloosa junior quarterback Jon Eveland began the 5-play drive with a 9-yard run and Tye Sparks had 17 yards on a couple of carries to put the ball at the Pella 10. Eveland found Reed in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdowns to put the Indians back in front at 10-7 with 10:17 remaining in the half.
Hardly two minutes later, the Little Dutch answered right back with Forsythe finding Overbergen, who had six receptions for 121 yards, behind the Oskaloosa secondary and raced 52 yards for the score and a 14-10 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Austin Blanchard fumbled the ball and Josh Pringle pounced on the loose ball at the Oskaloosa 35.
But the Indians defense turned the tables on the Little Dutch as Haustein couldn’t hang onto the ball and senior Chris Kollasch picked the ball at the Oskaloosa 39 and rambled 61 yards for the touchdown. Reed’s PAT gave the Indians a 17-14 lead midway in the second quarter and it appeared like Oskaloosa had momentum on its side.
“That was a great momentum shift and our kids were down a little bit and it got us right back in it,” Schumacher said. “We came back and scored right before halftime. I’m real excited about what we can do. We’ve just got to start stopping people better and our defense will keep getting better.”
But Pella regained control of the game on its next possession by going 64 yards in just six plays and never looked back.
Forsythe fired his third touchdown of the opening half as he found Overbergen for a 25-yard touchdown with 4:45 to go and give Pella a 21-17 lead.
The Little Dutch got he ball back following a Matt Bowie punt and they extended the lead to 28-17 as Forsythe hit Bales for a 10-yard scoring toss with 48 seconds left in the half.
The Indians appeared to get the momentum back by scoring a late touchdown to make it 28-23 at intermission. They went 69 yards in just three plays as Eveland found Blanchard for a 39-yard gain and hit Wiebe Goodyk for a 29-yard pickup to put the ball at the Pella 3. On the next play, Sparks, who had 175 yards rushing, capped off the drive with a 3-yard run with just 23 seconds left in the first half.
Both teams made defensive adjustments in the second half although Pella controlled the ball for much of the third quarter.
The Little Dutch had the ball for nearly 8 minutes of the period and scored on the first drive of the period. Ironically, it was not a pass but Matt Meyers bulling his way over from a yard out with 8:06 remaining to put Pella’s final points on the scoreboard. Forsythe kicked the PAT and Pella held a 35-23 lead.
The Indians, on the other hand, ran just 10 plays in the third quarter and had the ball for just under 4 minutes.
“We just didn’t have any field position in the third quarter,” Schumacher said. “The defense played really hard and gave us a chance. I’m proud of the kids because we got a lot better this week and we have a lot more in us yet.”
They did score the game’s final points on the opening play of the final quarter as Sparks raced 68 yards to cut the Pella lead to 35-30.
Neither team could score the rest of the way as twice Oskaloosa got down to Pella’s 23 only to give the ball away.
The first time was on a fumble by Jordan Van Wyk which was recovered by Kirk Korver early in the final quarter. The last came as Eveland failed to connect with Bowie on fourth down with 2:38 left and Pella ran out the clock.
Both teams begin their district season at home next week. The Indians start Class 3A, District 5 play with a game against Washington while the Little Dutch open District 6 action against Centerville.
Pella 35, Oskaloosa 30
Pella 7 21 7 0 — 35
Osky 3 20 0 7 — 30
Scoring Summary
O — Andrew Reed 29 FG, 9:37
P — Richie Bales 47 pass from Blaine Forsythe (Forsythe kick), 2:57
O — Reed 10 pass from Jon Eveland (Reed kick), 10:17
P — Steven Overbergen 52 pass from Forsythe (Forsythe kick), 8:27
O — Chris Kollasch 61 fumble return (Reed kick), 7:28
P — Overbergen 25 pass from Forsythe (Forsythe kick), 4:45
P — Bales 10 pass from Forsythe (Forsythe kick), :48
O — Tye Sparks 3 run (Kick failed), :23
P — Matt Meyers 1 run (Forsythe kick), 8:06
O — Sparks 68 run (Reed kick), 11:47
Team Statistics
P O
First downs 18 11
Rushes-yards 45-227 33-193
Passing yards 238 137
Total yards 465 330
Comp-Att-Int 13-26-0 9-17-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-3
Penalties-yards 6-35 3-20
Punts 5-34.8 5-38.2
Time/possession 29:37 18:23
Individual statistics
Rushing — Pella, Marcus Haustein 28-165, Blaine Forsythe 10-45. Oskaloosa, Tye Sparks 21-175.
Passing — Pella, Forsythe 13-26-0-238. Oskaloosa, Jon Eveland 9-17-0-137.
Receiving — Pella, Steven Overbergen 6-121, Richie Bales 3-85, Haustein 3-16, Kirk Korver 1-16. Oskaloosa, Andrew Reed 4-56, Austin Blanchard 1-37, Wiebe Goodyk 3-35, Matt Bowie 1-9.
Tackles — Pella, Stephen Vanderwert 7, Meyers 7, Josh Pringle 7, Teag Klyn 6. Oskaloosa, Drew Ruggles 11, Goodyk 10, Kyle Ford 7, Reed 7, Brad Vonk 7.
Fumble recoveries — Pella, Meyers, Pringle, Korver. Oskaloosa, Chris Kollasch.
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