Indians Win District Championship
Weather Creates Numerous Turnovers
The Indians won the district football championship with an 18-6 win over the Rawlins County Buffaloes on a cold, windy, snowy evening at Massacre Canyon in Atwood. Both teams entered the game with 2-0 district records having recorded wins over Wichita County and Syracuse. The game was a very close contest throughout with the weather conditions making for difficult playing conditions. The game was marked by numerous turnovers and penalties by both teams, but the Indians prevailed to win another district championship.
Rawlins County won the toss and elected to receive. The Indian defense forced a quick three and out. St. Francis scored on their second offensive play on a 61 yard scamper by Trent Raile with only 2:32 gone in the game. The conversion try was no good. St. Francis led 6-0.
Rawlins County fumbled the ball back to the Indians on the kickoff return and St. Francis set up their second possession on the RC 32 yard line. The Buffalo defense held strong and St. Francis was unable to move the ball. RC went 3 and out on their next possession also. The RC punt was a short one and St. Francis got the ball back on the Buffalo 45 yard line. The Indians moved the ball some, but then fumbled the ball. Matt Raile recovered the Indian fumble and St. Francis moved the ball to the RC 5 yard line only to fumble again. The Buffaloes recovered this time with 3:05 left in the first quarter.
Terrence Lamb intercepted a Rawlins County pass to stop the next Buffalo drive and returned it to the RC 40 yard line.
On the Indians opening drive of the second quarter, the Buffalo defense held strong and penalties by the Indians plagued the offense. St. Francis fumbled the ball back to Rawlins County on the RC 49 yard line. Atwood could only muster another three and out against the Sainty defense and punted into the end zone for a touchback.
On the next Indian possession, several Indian penalties eventually led to a third and 32 situation for the Indians. On the next play, the Indians fumbled again. Rawlins County recovered on the Indian 17 yard line.
The Buffaloes scored two plays later on a 17 yard touchdown run by Ziegler with 1:14 remaining in the first half. RC elected to kick the PAT, but a poor snap caused the attempt to fail. The scored was tied 6-6.
Rawlins County attempted an onside kick, but Grady Brunk recovered the ball for the Indians on the 40 yard line. A good pass from Matt Raile to Garrett Figgins advanced the ball to the RC 26 yard line but time ran out in the first half.
Sainty received the kick to open the second half. The Indians were forced to punt. The punt snap was long and RC took the ball on the Sainty 35 yard line. The Indian defense forced RC into a 4th and 5 situation, but the Buffaloes picked up 6 yards on 4th down. The Indians then forced a 4th and 7 situation, but the Buffaloes again kept the drive alive by gaining a first down by the length of the football on the 18 yard line. A St. Francis penalty then set up a first and goal for the Buffaloes. Rawlins County ground the ball to the three yard line, but committed a penalty to bring up 4th down. The Buffaloes elected to kick a 22 yard field goal but the ball sailed wide left with 1:32 left in the third quarter. Indian fans breathed a sigh of relief.
Turnovers continued to plague the Indians. St. Francis again fumbled the ball on their next possession and RC recovered with 0:53 left in the third quarter. RC quickly returned the ball back to the Indians when Matt Raile picked off another Buffalo pass.
After dodging several scoring opportunities by the Buffaloes, the Indians scored again on their next possession. Trent Raile broke loose for a 77 yard run with 9:53 remaining in the game. The conversion run was no good, but the Indians led 12-6.
The Buffaloes went three and out on their next possession. After a Rawlins County punt, the Indians began their final possession of the game on their own 37 yard line with just under nine minutes remaining in the game. The Indians used the clock well, burning the clock with deliberate timing and good play execution. After using nearly eight minutes of the clock, Trent Raile scored from 4 yards out with 0:54 left to move the score to 18-6 (conversion no good). Trent compiled 233 yards (3 TDs) on 23 carries in the game. Matt Raile intercepted another Buffalo pass with seconds left in the game.
Snow continued to accumulate as the game unfolded. By the time the game concluded, Highway 36 was closed due to blowing and drifting snow. A snowplow led the Indian fans back to St. Francis. Thanks, KDOT!
St. Francis will now host Decatur County on Tuesday for the Bi-District championship in St. Francis. Go, Indians!
