Miss-Delectable
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SW Iowa News - Kansas Deaf tops ISD
Mark Murray called it one of his worst days as the football coach at Iowa School for the Deaf.
His team blew assignments on defense and put the ball on the ground eight times.
The Bobcats (1-2) had five turnovers and struggled to move the ball at times on offense.
And at the final whistle, they trailed league rival Kansas Deaf by 42 points.
Yet, early in the second half of its 64-22 loss, it looked as if Iowa Deaf was about to turn the tables on the Jackrabbits for the second consecutive year.
Down 28-8 at intermission, the Bobcats capitalized on a pair of Kansas Deaf fumbles in the third quarter to pull within six with 1:06 to play in the period.
Two plays from scrimmage later, the Jackrabbits broke Iowa Deaf's back, and its spirit, on the same play-action pass they burn the Bobcats with three times in the first half. Curtis Grice's 67-yard TD reception started a run of five unanswered scores that allowed Kansas Deaf to pull away for the Great Plains for the Deaf Conference win.
Jackrabbit running back Al Wigley had the final three of those five TDs and finished with five on the day. He ran for four scores and returned a punt for another. His presence was also the reason Iowa Deaf continually left receivers open on fake handoffs by Cody Johnston.
"(Wigley) broke our backs all day long," said Murray, whose team fell to 1-1 in conference play. "We couldn't contain him. Any time they needed a big play they went outside and killed us all day.
"And the pass coverage defense, we probably had six or seven blown coverages where nobody was even covered and the guy runs down the field free. You can't play football like that. They were reading that play-action and sucking up, and the kid's 20 yards down the field with nobody on him."
Wigley set the tone for the game when he ripped off a 45-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. He scored four plays later from four yards out.
Iowa Deaf answered with 1-yard sneak by Kenny Smith, which was set up by his 37-yard pass to Peter Schwietz.
Three long passes, all off play-action fakes, helped the Jackrabbits in the second. The first, a 24-yarder from Johnston to Grice, led to Wigley's second score. The others, both to Sam Rush, went the distance to put Kansas Deaf up by 20.
The Bobcats, who won 44-38 after trailing by 20 at the half in Kansas a year ago, got fumble recoveries from David Grandberry and Colby McIntosh in the third quarter that sparked their rally. Both turnovers resulted in TD passes from Smith to Mic Dolan that pulled Iowa Deaf within 28-22.
But the long pass to Grice two plays later changed the momentum of the game. The Jackrabbits rolled the rest of the way.
"It killed us," Murray said. "That just took the wind out of the kids' sails. From that point on, it was over."
Rush returned a fumble for a score, and Wigley found the end zone three times to put the game away.
Kansas Deaf 8 20 14 22 - 64
Iowa Deaf 8 0 14 0 - 22
K - Al Wigley 4 run (Wigley run)
I - Kenny Smith 1 run (Mic Dolan pass from Smith)
K - Wigley 9 run (Cody Johnston run)
K - Sam Rush 35 pass from Johnston (run failed)
K - Rush 24 pass from Johnston (pass failed)
I - Dolan 20 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
I - Dolan 3 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
K - Curtis Grice 67 pass from Johnston (Wigley run)
K - Rush 31 fumble return (pass failed)
K - Wigley 24 run (Grice pass from Johnston)
K - Wigley 26 run (Johnston run)
K - Wigley 55 punt return (run failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing - K, Wigley 18-173, Johnston 6-51, Rush 3-20, Miller 2-24, Grice 2-18, Gott 1-0. I, McArthur 17-96, Finley 10-26, Smith 7-(-32), Dolan 6-(-6), Schwietz 2-9, McIntosh 1-(-10).
Passing - K, Johnston 5-8-1 188. I, Smith 6-10-1 127.
Mark Murray called it one of his worst days as the football coach at Iowa School for the Deaf.
His team blew assignments on defense and put the ball on the ground eight times.
The Bobcats (1-2) had five turnovers and struggled to move the ball at times on offense.
And at the final whistle, they trailed league rival Kansas Deaf by 42 points.
Yet, early in the second half of its 64-22 loss, it looked as if Iowa Deaf was about to turn the tables on the Jackrabbits for the second consecutive year.
Down 28-8 at intermission, the Bobcats capitalized on a pair of Kansas Deaf fumbles in the third quarter to pull within six with 1:06 to play in the period.
Two plays from scrimmage later, the Jackrabbits broke Iowa Deaf's back, and its spirit, on the same play-action pass they burn the Bobcats with three times in the first half. Curtis Grice's 67-yard TD reception started a run of five unanswered scores that allowed Kansas Deaf to pull away for the Great Plains for the Deaf Conference win.
Jackrabbit running back Al Wigley had the final three of those five TDs and finished with five on the day. He ran for four scores and returned a punt for another. His presence was also the reason Iowa Deaf continually left receivers open on fake handoffs by Cody Johnston.
"(Wigley) broke our backs all day long," said Murray, whose team fell to 1-1 in conference play. "We couldn't contain him. Any time they needed a big play they went outside and killed us all day.
"And the pass coverage defense, we probably had six or seven blown coverages where nobody was even covered and the guy runs down the field free. You can't play football like that. They were reading that play-action and sucking up, and the kid's 20 yards down the field with nobody on him."
Wigley set the tone for the game when he ripped off a 45-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. He scored four plays later from four yards out.
Iowa Deaf answered with 1-yard sneak by Kenny Smith, which was set up by his 37-yard pass to Peter Schwietz.
Three long passes, all off play-action fakes, helped the Jackrabbits in the second. The first, a 24-yarder from Johnston to Grice, led to Wigley's second score. The others, both to Sam Rush, went the distance to put Kansas Deaf up by 20.
The Bobcats, who won 44-38 after trailing by 20 at the half in Kansas a year ago, got fumble recoveries from David Grandberry and Colby McIntosh in the third quarter that sparked their rally. Both turnovers resulted in TD passes from Smith to Mic Dolan that pulled Iowa Deaf within 28-22.
But the long pass to Grice two plays later changed the momentum of the game. The Jackrabbits rolled the rest of the way.
"It killed us," Murray said. "That just took the wind out of the kids' sails. From that point on, it was over."
Rush returned a fumble for a score, and Wigley found the end zone three times to put the game away.
Kansas Deaf 8 20 14 22 - 64
Iowa Deaf 8 0 14 0 - 22
K - Al Wigley 4 run (Wigley run)
I - Kenny Smith 1 run (Mic Dolan pass from Smith)
K - Wigley 9 run (Cody Johnston run)
K - Sam Rush 35 pass from Johnston (run failed)
K - Rush 24 pass from Johnston (pass failed)
I - Dolan 20 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
I - Dolan 3 pass from Smith (Smith kick)
K - Curtis Grice 67 pass from Johnston (Wigley run)
K - Rush 31 fumble return (pass failed)
K - Wigley 24 run (Grice pass from Johnston)
K - Wigley 26 run (Johnston run)
K - Wigley 55 punt return (run failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing - K, Wigley 18-173, Johnston 6-51, Rush 3-20, Miller 2-24, Grice 2-18, Gott 1-0. I, McArthur 17-96, Finley 10-26, Smith 7-(-32), Dolan 6-(-6), Schwietz 2-9, McIntosh 1-(-10).
Passing - K, Johnston 5-8-1 188. I, Smith 6-10-1 127.