Offense turned out to be the name of the game for the Iola-Scandinavia football team.
The Thunderbirds qualified for the state playoffs Thursday, Oct. 21, with a 49-21 win over Weyauwega-Fremont and opened postseason play Tuesday, Oct. 26, in a Division 6 Level 1 game at Wild Rose.
The T-Birds and Indians came into the regular-season finale needing a win to qualify for the playoffs.
Eric Keenan put W-F on the board in the first quarter with a 4-yard run, but the T-Birds answered later in the period on Jake Metz’s 20-yard pass to Devin Peterson for a 7-6 lead.
Keenan gave the lead back to the Indians with a 2-yard run in the second quarter and completed a pass to Dakota Saase for the two-point conversion in the second quarter, but the T-Birds closed out the half with Ronnie Knapstein’s 4-yard run and a 5-yard score from Bradly Hardel for a 21-14 lead.
Keenan scored his third touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run in the third quarter, but that would be the last time the Indians would find the end zone.
Peterson returned the kickoff 76 yards and Hardel scored from 27 yards out in the third quarter. Knapstein added runs of 4 and 28 yards in the fourth quarter.
The T-Birds outgained the Indians 338-286 on the ground, but W-F had a 65-62 advantage through the air. The teams combined for 751 yards of offense.
Peterson and Knapstein led the T-Bird ground game with 169 and 119 yards, respectively, while the Indians also had a pair of 100-yard rushers in Keenan (129) and Casey Haase (108).
If the T-Birds defeat Wild Rose, they would likely play at defending Division 6 state champion Edgar Saturday, Oct. 30.