By Keith Brake
Montezuma Magazine Editor
MONTEZUMA – By the end of the third quarter, football players from both Iowa Valley and Montezuma must have felt like a large army had marched across their tongues.
Second-ranked Class 8 Iowa Valley kept scoring touchdowns. Fourth-rated Montezuma kept matching them. . .until Tigers running back Nolan Kriegel sprinted 28 yards for a touchdown that opened a seemingly endless 11-point lead to 17 with 10 minutes left to play.
It also seemed to let the last of the air out of the Braves.
The final was Iowa Valley 83, Montezuma 64.
Nolan Kriegel is a 6-3, 180-pound junior back that the Braves will swear has super powers. He ran 36 times for 353 yards – 9.8 per carry – and a dazzling 9 touchdowns.
The Tigers piled up 511 yards on the ground, including 11 TDs. (If you’re wondering, Iowa Valley completed one pass for 10 yards).
The Braves had a certain amount of saltiness on their side, too.
All-state quarterback Brady Boulton ran it, handed it off to artful dodger running back Broox Stockman, or passed to tight end Luke Erselius, fleet wideout Luke Brennan, or Stockman, or to fast fullback Dane Strong.
Montezuma totaled 267 rushing yards and 278 through the air.
Montezuma trailed most of the way, but was never out of the game until Kriegel’s aforementioned fourth quarter run.
Montezuma led 8-7 after one quarter; Iowa Valley was up 34-30 at the half and 63-46 through the third, during which these two offensive juggernauts combined for 45 points.
Punts? I don’t remember one, do you?
But customers did not line up at the exits, offfering to pay more for all they had just witnessed. For one glorious September evening, they had seen enough and knew they got their money’s worth Thank you, boys!
Iowa Valley is 4-0. Montezuma is 2-1. A positive for Montezuma: Tne loss didn’t hurt them in the district standings, Iowa Valley is in a different district, which means they may not be done with the Braves yet.
Stockman and Luke Brennan were among those having career nights for Montezuma.
Stockman rushed 22 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 4 passes for 123 yards and two TDs. On defense, he had 9 tackles including two solo. And, he had three two-point conversions.
Brennan had 14 tackles including 10 solo. He plays in the secondary on defense, so he may have been the Braves’ last line of defense on some of Iowa Valley’s runs.
Brennan also caught 5 passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Braxton Plants was tearing ’em up inside on defense. He had 11 tackles, 7 solo, a sack and two tackles for loss.
Once again, the Braves showed an iron will, but this time at a much higher level, against a terrific football team.