The high school football team wrapped up league play at Centralia in week three, then moved on to district action last Friday night when it took a road trip to Valley Falls. The Buffaloes entered the contest having won 8 of the last 9 games in the series, and 16 of the 19 the two teams had ever played. Their dominance in the series continued, as Onaga took control early in the game and never looked back.
Onaga started by forcing the Dragons into a three-and-out, then senior Gavin Kolterman blocked the ensuing punt to give the Buffaloes terrific field position to start the game. Onaga’s defense controlled the game all night, allowing just 123 yards of total offense, including a stifling negative 6 yards on the ground, and forced 5 turnovers.
The short field turned into a touchdown two plays later, as Kolterman found paydirt for the first time this season.
Valley Falls’ next drive did not go any better than the last, as they went three-and-out again. But despite getting down to the 3 yard line, the Buffaloes could not punch it in and ended up turning it over on downs.
The Dragons had a 44-yard pass play on their next drive that briefly changed the momentum in the game, but it was short-lived as they fumbled on the very next play. Linebacker Keagan Venneberg recovered the loose ball, which was the beginning of a big night defensively for the senior. He would end the game as the team’s leading tackler, while also registering 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass deflection to go along with his fumble recovery.
The second quarter saw Onaga open up their lead with back-to-back scoring drives. The first one ended with a 25-yard touchdown run from senior Josh Daniels. Then, after a turnover-on-downs, senior Graham Valburg capped off the ensuing drive with his second score of the year on a 9-yard run.
Another long pass play, this time a 74-yarder, put Valley Falls on the board for the first time late in the first half. But the Buffaloes went into intermission up 20-6.
The second half started off slowly for Onaga, as they fumbled on the third play of the third quarter and gave the ball to Valley Falls with a short field. But a 13-yard sack from sophomore Jesse Miller set up a desperation heave from the Dragons that was intercepted by fellow sophomore Luke Poell. Though the quarter ended without a score, the Buffaloes were 1 yard away from the endzone when the game headed to the final period.
Onaga wouldn’t score on that drive, thanks to a pair of penalties and a sack, but an interception from Daniels on Valley Falls’ first offensive play of the fourth quarter kept things on the Dragons’ side of the field. Two possessions later, a 42-yard pass play from first-year quarterback Ryder Kolterman to junior Brett Kaberline set up the older Kolterman’s second touchdown run of the night. That gave the Buffaloes a 26-6 lead with 5:44 to go in the game.
A third interception, this time by Kaberline, set up Onaga for its final score of the game. Kaberline returned the pick 43 yards down to the Valley Falls 11 yard line. Three plays later Gavin Kolterman completed the hat trick, scoring his third touchdown of the game to give Onaga a 32-6 lead. A defensive stop on the next possession ended the game with that being the final score.
The win moved Onaga to 2-2 on the year, but more importantly started them off 1-0 in district play. Point differential will end up breaking any ties at the end of the season, so winning by at least 21 points is also important in the final five regular season games. The 26-point win means that the Buffaloes are tied for first place in the district, and they will take on one of the teams they are tied with on Friday night when they welcome 4-0 Jeff County North to town. The two teams met last year in a wild district game that saw the Chargers come out on top 28-22. The Buffaloes will look for redemption when the two teams meet for Onaga’s homecoming game Friday at the Rosenfield Sports Complex. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.
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.