Roundup: Holt powers Independence to big win

There was no dancing on a rain soaked football field Friday night at Go-Hawk Stadium.

With an opportunity to put Waverly-Shell Rock away, Independence quarterback Nicholas Holt marched straight ahead.

The Mustangs signal caller, stymied for the better part of three quarters, orchestrated touchdown drives on his team's final two possessions to keep No. 8 Independence unbeaten with a 14-7 road win over Waverly-Shell Rock.

Independence took advantage of the Go-Hawks' third turnover to break a scoreless tie after the ball slipped from the grasp of Waverly-Shell Rock's quaterback on his own 17-yard line.

A 7-yard slant from Holt to Spencer Pink got the Mustangs (4-0, 2-0 district) on the scoreboard with 7:37 to play, and Holt showed his determination on his next possession. The Mustang quarterback called his own number for six rushes, pushing the pile forward until he finally exploited a hole on the right side for a 30-yard insurance touchdown at the 2:12 mark.

It was a crucial score as Waverly-Shell Rock answered with 1:45 to play on a 22-yard completion from Tanner Krueger to Jackson McNally. Independence recovered ensuing onside kick and se-cured the win.

'We knew we needed to keep the ball,' Holt said, addressing his team's final scoring drive. 'We told our linemen to get the best drive we could and we came up and had some big plays.

'They (Waverly-Shell Rock's defenders) were flowing to the ball, it was wet, and there were no cutback lanes really. It was there, but you couldn't cut back on this wet turf. It became really slick and hard, so it was straight forward.'

Despite his team's offensive woes throughout much of the game, Indepdence coach Justin Putz knew the ball was safe in his quarterback's hands down the stretch.

'He's a tough kid, he'll keep hitting it up in there, get positive yards, and then he's going to spring that big one,' Putz said. 'He did a great job of leading our team today.'

Independence won despite managing just 137 rushing yards on 51 carries and another 87 through the air. The Mustangs held Waverly-Shell Rock to 35 rushing yards on 26 carries, with three sacks, two fumble recoveries and one interception.

Senior linebacker Jake Juhl led the way with nine tackles as Independence completed a payback tour of three consecutive wins over opponents that defeated the Mustangs last season.

'It just starts we our seniors,' Putz said. 'They're stepping up right now. ... They're playing at a high level, playing intelligently, and they're doing a great job of bringing everybody else along with them.'

Waverly-Shell Rock (2-2, 0-2 district) came up with a pair timely defensive stops prior to Inde-pendence's first score. The Go-Hawks blocked a field goal attempt prior to halftime, and later stopped Independence one-yard shy of third quarter first down at their own 2.

McNally, the W-SR receiver, made several impressive catches as a part of his 94-yard night — including one where he tip-toed the sideline — but in the end the Go-Hawks' turnovers proved too much to overcome.

'Our kids were able to continue to fight through the adversity,' Waverly-Shell Rock Coach Mark Hubbard said. 'Independence is a good football team. You can't take anything away from those guys. We've got to do a better job of taking care of the football. We put ourselves in some tough spots at times. All and all this is a good group of kids. I look for us to continue to get better and learn from this one.

'Sometimes when you're dealing with young players on the field, they have to learn. They learned a couple hard lessons tonight, but we're going to be alright.'

— Nick Petaros, Waterloo Courier

NORTH SCOTT 27, CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE 14