After opening the season with a shutout win at Doniphan West, the Onaga High School football team returned home to host Valley Heights last Friday night in another league contest. Entering with an all-time 24-17 advantage in their series with the Mustangs since it began in 1968, the Buffaloes were looking to remain undefeated in the home opener.
Valley Heights would set the tone early, scoring all three times they had the ball in the opening quarter. The first came on a one-yard run by senior quarterback Mason Shanks after a long opening drive. After an Onaga punt on their first possession, the Mustangs struck quickly on a 75-yard pass from Shanks to senior Royce Ekstrum. A fumble ended the Buffaloes second drive of the night, and Valley Heights would score again with no time left on the clock. This time it was senior running back Jayden DeWalt, the only returning All-League performer from last year’s playoff team. He would end up with 106 yards on the night on just nine carries to go along with his first quarter score.
The second period was more of the same, as Shanks threw for another score in Valley Heights’s first possession, a 35-yarder to sophomore Aiden Unruh. Onaga would be forced to punt on its next possession and had it blocked, which set up a short field for the Mustangs. Three plays later it was senior running back Logan Gray how found paydirt on a 17-yard scamper.
With the Buffalo offense unable to find the endzone in the first half, the score at halftime was 35-0.
The second half would go much better for Onaga, as it broke the goose egg on the scoreboard in their opening drive. It came on a massive 16-play, 70-yard drive that would end with senior quarterback Jackson Kolterman scoring from one yard out. That would be the only score of the period for either team, making it 35-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams would turn the ball over on downs to open the final period before Valley Heights would score their last touchdown of the night. It was a short, three-play drive that saw Unruh carry the ball all three times, scoring on his final eight-yard run.
After that, it was a 37-yard kickoff return by junior Josh Daniels, followed by a 34-yard pass from Kolterman to sophomore Casen Hutfles, which set up the Buffaloes to score for a second time. That would come after three straight runs by Daniels, who punched it in from the two-yard line with 4:42 left in the game. Kolterman added the two-point conversion to make it 42-14.
The Mustangs would have a punt blocked of their own to end their ensuing drive, which allowed Onaga to score one more time. A drive that saw four plays and three penalties ended when Kolterman ran for his second score of the game from fifteen yards out, with just four seconds left on the clock. The PAT failed, and the game ended on the ensuing kickoff with a final score of 42-20.
The loss drops the Buffaloes to 1-1 overall and in league play, with just one more league game left on the schedule before district play kicks off. That will come against Centralia, who Onaga will take on this Friday. The Panthers are also 1-1 on the season as well. They opened their season with a come-from-behind win over Valley Heights, but were beaten 41-6 last week against Mid-Buchanan High School out of Missouri. The game will be played at Centralia, with kickoff scheduled 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” page.