The Iola-Scandinavia Thunderbirds’ 8-player team arrived at Tyler Field on Thursday night as the state’s eighth-ranked squad. Led by nationally ranked UW recruit Korz Loken, the Thunderbirds scored 44 unanswered points before Highland’s Brady Nankey broke through with a 13- yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
The first quarter remained scoreless as Highland’s defense stopped the Thunderbirds twice inside the red zone. Late in the quarter, on second-and-11, Cardinal William Fritsch forced a fumble and Griffin Wineski recovered it, giving Highland strong field position. But the Cardinals struggled to run the ball against the larger Thunderbirds.
Highland Head Coach Jasen Scanlan, despite giving up 44 points, was pleased with their effort. “We expected a tough test. As a coaching staff, we were proud of the effort of our defense. Offensively, we really struggled to move the ball and take some pressure off of our defense. Iola- Scandanavia really overloaded the line of scrimmage and attacked us defensively, and we did not handle that very well with our young offensive line. As the head coach and offensive coordinator, I take most of the responsibility for that. We must, and will, get better in the weeks to come at handling teams attacking us with blitzes and overloaded boxes designed to attack our running game,” he said.
Thunderbirds quarterback Mason Kriesel opened the scoring in the second quarter with a 20-yard run, and Loken’s twopoint conversion put Iola-Scandinavia ahead 8-0. On the Thunderbirds’ next two possessions, Kriesel connected on touchdown passes, first finding the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Loken for a 67-yard score after a catch near midfield, then hitting Wyatt Wolberg over the middle for a 28- yard touchdown. Both conversion attempts failed, leaving Iola- Scandinavia in front 20-0 at halftime.
The Thunderbirds relied on their ground game in the third quarter. Loken scored from the shotgun on a 3-yard run, then converted the two-point try himself. After Highland was forced to punt, Broghan Gullixon took a handoff 42 yards for another touchdown. Dawson Nusz added the Thunderbirds’ final score in the fourth quarter on a 90-yard run, extending the lead to 44-0.
Highland continued to battle on its final drive. Freshman running back TC Cool gained 30 yards on 11 carries, Tanner Degenhardt added 40 yards on 16 carries, and Nankey finished with 44 yards on 11 carries, including the Cardinals’ lone touchdown.
“Defensively, we once again had a strong game plan that our players executed well. Still, eventually their top player, Korz Loken, a top-ranked recruit of the Wisconsin Badgers, was able to get open for a few big plays that turned the momentum of the game in their favor. He is obviously a very talented player who is a difficult matchup for anyone at the high school level, and eventually he will make his plays that impact the outcome of the game,” said coach Scanlan. “Our run defense was solid for most of the game, led by Tanner Degenhardt with 15 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss, and Bryce Bedward with 9 tackles in run support from cornerback.”
The Thunderbirds amassed 434 total yards for the game compared to 120 for Highland. The Cardinals turned the ball over four times two weeks ago against Wisconsin Heights but only turned it over once against the Thunderbirds. Coach Scanlan said his squad is learning as they prepare for this week’s conference game on the road at Kickapoo-LaFarge.
“As a young team, we have to learn from our mistakes and refocus on the task in front of us. We did improve in some areas. We cut down on our turnovers. With the exception of a few plays, I think our pass coverage was more sound as well. Offensively, we have a long way to go, but it all starts with being more confident and aggressive in our blocking. This week we face the challenge of going on the road for the first time this season as we travel to LaFarge to play another young, hungry team in Kickapoo-La- Farge, who is coming off of a big victory last week. We will need to keep improving if we hope to have success in this week’s key conference matchup,” said Scanlan.
Both Highland and Kickapoo/LaFarge are 1-1 on the season and of note, this week’s game is being played on Friday, with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at LaFarge High School.
