The high school football team opened up its season with a win over Doniphan West last Friday night, knocking off the Mustangs 14-6 to notch a season-opening league win as well. It was their fifth win in the seven games the two teams have played in the series that began back in 2014, and the third in a row.
The first quarter saw little fireworks, as both teams went three-and-out to open up the game. The Mustangs would then turn it over on downs in their second possession, giving the Buffaloes a short field. Unfortunately, what looked like a 40-yard scoring drive after three big plays and a D-West penalty, ended up stalling at the one yard line as Onaga failed to score.
The Mustangs’ next drive started off well but would again stall, this time just short of midfield where the Buffalo defense forced a second consecutive turnover-on-downs. This time Onaga would capitalize and march 48 yards in 6 plays to score their first points of the season. It came on a 5-yard run by freshman quarterback Ryder Kolterman with 8:13 to go in the second quarter.
The first-year signal caller got his career off to a great start on Friday night, rushing for 88 yards on 14 carries in his debut while also leading the team in tackles with 8 from his safety position.
The Buffaloes allowed D-West to get past the 50 yard line for the first time on the ensuing possession, but it didn’t get much further before they forced a punt. Onaga’s offense then continued to heat up as it went 82 yards in just 9 plays to score again. Kolterman ran for a 21-yard gain on the drive, his senior brother Gavin had a 14-yard carry, and fellow senior Graham Valburg had 3 carries for 28 yards, capped off by a 10 yard run to the endzone. The freshman Kolterman would run in the PAT to give Onaga a 14-0 lead with 14 seconds left before halftime. Then, with a two-score lead, the Buffaloes nearly put the nail in the coffin before the break.
After the ensuing kickoff, sophomore Jesse Miller forced a fumble on the next play and Gavin Kolterman recovered it with 8 seconds remaining. Kolterman then hit Valburg on a 14-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back for an illegal man down field. The film would later show that that flag was thrown in error, and the Buffaloes should have had a 20-point lead going into halftime. But instead, they went into the break up with a 14 point lead.
The third quarter brought the same amount of offensive firepower as the first, as Onaga saw the opening possession end on downs thanks to several penalties. Then a fumble recovery by junior Monty Meyerkorth would give the ball back to Onaga, before they then fumbled it right back to the Mustangs a few plays later.
The fourth quarter saw the Mustangs score for the first time, turning a short field into a 5-play, 30-yard scoring drive. Ketcher Peterson scored from 11 yards out to end the drive, but the PAT pass was incomplete, leaving the score at 14-6 with 10:40 left in the game.
Onaga’s next possession got off to a great start, but an interception ended it five plays in. The Buffalo defense held again though, forcing D-West into a three-and-out. Onaga got rolling again on offense, but a pair of penalties stalled it and forced a punt that pinned the Mustangs inside their own 10 yard line with less than three minutes to go.
Three pass plays in a row that netted D-West 70 yards brought some drama to the game’s final moments and gave the Mustangs an opportunity to tie the game, but it started to stall with under a minute to go. Then an overthrown pass to the endzone was picked off by junior Brett Kablerine, sealing the game and a 1-0 start to the season for Onaga.
Senior Josh Daniels led the team in rushing on the night, going for 105 yards on 20 carries and helping the Buffalo offense pound out 262 total for the game. After Ryder Kolterman’s team-leading 8 tackles, Valburg and junior linebacker Xavier Berges recorded the second most with 6.
Onaga now goes on the road for the first time this season, as it heads to Valley Heights for the second of three league games to start the season. The Buffaloes and the Mustangs will kick off at 7:00pm on Friday night.
For a look at the stats from any game, highlights, season totals, and everything else Onaga football related, head over to the district website (usd322.org) and go to the team’s page under the “Athletics” tab.