Iola makes puppies out of Bartlett

JARRELL - The Iola Bulldogs made Bartlett look like pups in the battle of the Bulldogs Oct. 20, with a, 61-12, win at Cougar Stadium in Jarrell.

Iola unleashed their offense early and often. Adrian Garrett scored the first touchdown on a 17-yard run. A successful conversion gave Iola an 8-0 lead.

Tyler Elliot connected on 30-yard pass to John England setting Iola up for Garretts second rushing touchdown, and a 14-0 lead.

Bartlett battled back with a passing touchdown, but Iola responded quickly with a 12-yard pass from Elliot to Garrett. Chris Arzola connected on the extra point, to take a 20-6 second-quarter lead.

The Bulldogs pounded for five more touchdowns in the opening half. Elliot connected with Kage Lee for a 50-yard touchdown, then Elliot ran in the conversion. Elliott scored twice more on quarterback keepers in the half. Bartlett’s final score of the game was on a touchdown pass.

“We knew from watching the film that Bartlett was going to throw the ball quite a bit, and to be honest that had been a little bit of a weak spot for us on the defensive side of the ball,” said Iola Defensive Coordinator Jayme Timm. “The guys worked really hard this past week at getting better in that aspect of the game and it paid off big time.”

Cooper Cadro picked off a Bartlett pass and returned it for a touchdown before the end of the half finalizing the first-half score, 54-12.

“It is always an awesome feeling when an athlete causes a turnover on the defensive side of the ball because we talk about getting the ball back to the offense all the time,” said Timm. “And it’s really awesome when we can score some points on the defensive side of the ball like with Cooper Cadro’s interception.”

Iola, still on fire, came out in the second half ready to send the puppies back to the pound. Caden Jordan intercepted the ball to set up the final score of the game. Austin Calvillo carried the ball in for the 61-12 win.

Iola (6-2, 2-1) travels to face the Chilton Pirates (7-1, 2-1) Friday, Oct 27. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“The game plan for Chilton is kind of the same,” explained Timm. “They like to throw the ball quite a bit, but they do have a few more weapons on the offensive side of the ball than Bartlett did. They are a top-10 team, and they for sure play like it. We will just prepare the same we do for any team and let our players fly around and have fun.”