Corrigan-Camden went on the road to defeat Iola 21-18 in a district battle of the Bulldogs on Friday.
The hard-fought contest saw several momentum swings before Corrigan pulled ahead for good late in the third quarter. The defense ultimately sealed the narrow victory with a pair of critical fourth-quarter stands deep in its own territory.
“We have grit, and even when there was a little bit of worry, we never flinched. When they drove close at the end, a lot of teams would fold in that situation and doubt,” said Bulldog head coach Brett Ratliff. “We have a lot to clean up, though. I think we overlooked them a bit. We are ready for an open week. We need the rest and recovery, but we did what we needed to tonight and can celebrate the win.”
Corrigan suffered a three-and-out to start, then forced an Iola fumble to regain possession. Iola quickly moved the chains on their second possession and reached the red zone, but Corrigan’s defense still held strong on a fourth-down stop.
Going into the second quarter, Corrigan sophomore quarterback Mikey Murphy threw a high floater to senior receiver N.J. Love for a massive gain to midfield.
Right after, Corrigan quarterback Da’Tavin Love had the ball snatched away by on a rush that was returned all the way for an Iola touchdown, going up 6-0 after a missed two-point try.
Corrigan senior back Derrick Reagie later got a nice run into Iola territory, but the offense would stall out again and turn it over on downs.
Murphy held the ball on a roll out for a massive gain to get to the red zone midway in the second quarter. This helped set up Reagie to later finish it out with a seven-yard touchdown run, taking a 7-6 lead after the extra point.
On the next Iola possession, quarterback Colton Sajewski was allowed to scramble for a long gain to the Corrigan 20. On third down under heavy pressure, Sajewski threw it right into the hands of Da’Tavin Love in the end zone for an interception that was downed at the one yard line. That held the one-point lead going into halftime.
Sajewski wasted no time in the third quarter and scored on a long-distance keeper for another Iola touchdown to steal the lead 12-7 after a botched extra point try.
A long potential touchdown run by Reagie was called back on an offensive penalty. However, Corrigan still swung back with a huge gain by sophomore receiver Emmanuel Foreman.
Reagie would reach the one-foot mark before Nemo Marshall punched it in for a Corrigan touchdown, regaining the lead 13-12 in the third quarter.
Iola answered again, moving the chains and finishing another scoring drive with a touchdown pass to receiver Luke Day for an 18-13 lead after another missed two-point try.
Corrigan did not stop fighting late in the third, as Foreman caught a big pass to get to midfield and help spark one more scoring drive.
Then, on a risky fourth-and-long from that same spot, Murphy connected on a long contested pass to Foreman, who took it to the end zone to put Corrigan up. Marshall made the two-point conversion reception to make it a three-point Corrigan advantage.
Corrigan tried to extend the lead in the fourth, moving the chains, but Murphy was intercepted and gave Iola a chance to steal the lead again late.
Corrigan‘s defense would make their most significant stop at the one yard line after Iola had marched down the field with just a few minutes left. Then, the visiting Bulldogs held one final time inside the last two minutes for the win.
Corrigan-Camden will have an open week before hosting Normangee on Oct. 30 for its next district matchup.
