No matter how the 17-point tiebreaker shakes out – Turkey Valley needs to win Friday night to have a chance to secure a ninth game this fall and a coveted playoff berth.
The Trojan football team was a heavy underdog at Gilbertville last week against No. 4 Don Bosco (7-0 5-0). The Dons proved that prediction right as they rolled past coach Mark Scott’s squad to post a 62-0 shutout victory in 8-Man, District 3 play.
Don Bosco rolled up 370 yards of rushing in the contest and led 35-0 after one quarter of play.
“We need to improve our tackling,” said coach Scott.
Still a chance
Now the task at hand for the veteran coach is to regroup his Trojans and earn win at home versus Riceville this week if TV wants to play in the postseason.
A win over the Wildcats could force a three-way tie to determine second and third place in district play between those Wildcats and Kee High. The 17-point tiebreaker will determine two of the automatic qualifiers from TV’s district. If TV does not snare one of those postseason spots, it still has a chance to claim one of two at-large berths 8-Man awards.
TV (3-4, 3-2) won last year’s Riceville game in a defensive slugfest, 14-8, to nab one of those two at-large bids a year ago.
Riceville is 6-1 overall and 4-1 in league play. Kee High is 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the district as the Hawks have already completed district competition and play at non-district foe Edgewood-Colesburg this Friday. Riceville defeated Kee, 65-44, back in September. Kee High defeated TV, 58-28, during the regular season.
Don Bosco – which has already locked up the district crown — plays at home versus Waterloo Christian (2-5, 1-4) in its last game of the regular season Friday.
A little review
The Don defense racked up seven tackles for loss and held TV to just 76 yards rushing on 27 carries.
Logan Busta, TV’s junior signal caller, led the Trojans in rushing with 34 yards on 10 carries. Busta also threw for 61 yards. Five of his completions went to his favorite target – junior wideout J.D. Kruse. Kruse hauled in 30 receiving yards.
Kaden Schmidt, a sophomore who was limited to 16 yards rushing last Friday, is TV’s leading rushing with 559 yards. He’s scored 10 touchdowns on the ground – which is fifth-best in the district.
Kruse (6.5 tackles) and sophomore Jordan Kriener (6 tackles) led the TV defense. Hugo Busta recovered a fumble in the contest as well.
Hunter Kruse, a junior who came up with five tackles on the interior line, talked about how setbacks can focus in on what the Trojans need to fix on both sides of the ball. That will not only be beneficial for TV the rest of 2024, but into 2025 also. TV has no seniors on its roster.
“A loss exposes what you don’t do right and what you need to get better at,” said Kruse. “Whether a win or a loss, we still see things that we have to improve on. That’s what’s going to help us learn for this coming season and into next year as well.”
TURKEY VALLEY STATS
Rushing – Logan Busta 10-34, Parker Reicks 7-13, Kaden Schmidt 6-16, Caleb Kriener 3-15, Hugo Busta 1-(-2).
Passing – L. Busta 7-16-61.
Receiving – J.D. Kruse 5-30, Reicks 1-8, Tucker Reicks 1-5.
Tackles – Kruse 6.5, Jordan Kriener 6, Hunter Kruse 5, Schmidt 2.5, L. Busta 2, H. Busta 1.5, Eli Holthaus 1.5, Traejin Keel 1.
Tackles for loss – Holthaus 0.5.
Fumble recoveries – H. Busta.
Kick returns – J.D. Kruse 4-15.5.
Kickoffs – J. Kriener 1-32.
Punts – J.D. Kruse 7-17.9.
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