The Andale Indians beat the Augusta Orioles on the road tonight. Andale came into the game with a 3-1 record, and Augusta came into the contest with the reverse record of 1-3. It was Homecoming for Augusta as Colby Willis and Jordan Spellman were named Homecoming King and Queen. Andale won the game 64-9.
Augusta struck first after they were called for intentional grounding, but a roughing the kicker penalty on Andale allowed Conner Hurst of Augusta to kick a 36 yard field goal giving the Orioles a 3-0 lead early in the game. Andale scored their first touchdown of the night after junior quarterback Jared Smarsh ran it in from three yards out.
On Augusta’s first play of their next drive, junior quarterback Tristan Finch fumbled the ball and Smarsh recovered the ball for a 17 yard return for a touchdown. Andale continued to rack up the points as Smarsh threw a 17 yard pass to sophomore Hunter Knoblauch making the score 20-3.
Andale put up 22 more in the second quarter, but not before Finch called his own number and ran three yards for an Oriole touchdown. The Andale scores came from Knoblauch on a seven yard run, a 35 yard pass from Smarsh to senior Ben Seiler, and a Gerad Deaver fumble recovery which he returned for 32 yards.
Andale started the third quarter strong as senior Tyler Bugner returned the second half kickoff for 82 yards. Andale scored with seven minutes left in the third as sophomore quarterback Luke Walstad ran it in from five yards out. Later, Walstad went another three yards and scored the final touchdown of the night for the Indians.
Coach Gary O’Hair said his team got better as the game progressed.
“We played very well, but we had mistakes early,” O’Hair said. “Augusta had a good option game going for them. We spread the ball around and we got to use a lot of our weapons.”
Individually for the Indians senior Jake May was the leading rusher with 3 carries for 51 yards. Smarsh completed 7 of his 11 passes adding up to 105 yards and two touchdowns. Andale’s leading receiver was Seiler with three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown.
For Augusta, Finch was the leading rusher with 13 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown. Finch was 2 of 12 for 30 yards with three interceptions. Augusta’s leading receiver was Hurst with a catch for 17 yards.
Andale (4-1) will host Wellington, while Augusta (1-4) will travel to Arkansas City.
