When two of Oskaloosa’s first three plays from scrimmage went for long touchdowns, it became readily apparent that Immaculata might not be able to hang with the host Bears, and that held true as Oskaloosa came away with a 50-20 home win Friday.
The Bears didn’t run over the Raiders on every possession, and at one point it appeared Immaculata had a chance to get back in the game, but a late first-half Bears score and strong start to the second half made that chance next to none for the visitors from Leavenworth.
The Bears’ first possession of the game started with a 5-yard run from junior Mark Newell on first down and then a 57-yard touchdown run by senior Brandon Barnes as senior Mitch Boucher added the 2-point conversion run to make it 8-0 Bears with only 24 seconds clicked off the game clock.
Immaculata got one first down before punting and pinned the Bears back at their own 7 for their second possession. That possession was one play as Barnes sprinted down the right sideline for a 93-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 Bears with, now, 1:16 having ticked off the clock in the first quarter. That gave Barnes 2 carries for 150 rushing yards and 2 TDs at that point in the game.
The Bears’ third drive stalled but the fourth drive resulted in a 15-yard touchdown run by junior Levi Wade with Boucher adding another 2-point run to make it 22-0 Bears. On Oskaloosa’s next possession, it was Newell’s turn to break a big run as he went up the middle for 64 yards and a score with Barnes adding a 2-point conversion run to make it 30-0 early in the second quarter.
Immaculata got a little momentum going its way, however, as they finally got on the board on a 23-yard touchdown pass play from sophomore quarterback Corey Leintz to junior Brett Seaba. A 90-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff by Bears sophomore Chris Garst was called back by an illegal block penalty and the Bears ended up fumbling the ball away at their own 44. Seaba had runs of 14 and 10 yards on the short drive and finished it with a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 30-14 as senior Greg Ponder added extra points on both Raiders TDs.
The Raider momentum stopped there, though, as the Bears ground out a 52-yard drive finished by the only pass play of the drive, a 10-yard scoring strike from junior Adam Bowser to Barnes. The score made it 37-14 Bears with the extra point by senior Cody Green and only 16 seconds to play in the first half.
Immaculata would make no more momentum swings in the second half as Bowser snuck in a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and the Bears tacked on a fourth-quarter score on a 3-yard Newell run. The Raiders did get one more score in the fourth quarter but that only made the final score 50-20 Oskaloosa.
Barnes and Newell chewed up the Raider defense as Barnes had 23 carries for 291 yards and 2 TDs, plus another score on the pass from Bowser. Newell had 118 rushing yards on 13 carries and scored 2 TDs.
The 2-0 Bears will play host to their homecoming game this Friday as league foe Jackson Heights, also 2-0, comes to town.
