T-Birds win Friday night playoff
By Holly Neumann
The Iola-Scandinavia Thunderbirds defeated the Marathon Red Raiders 32-12 in a WIAA Division 6 Level 3 playoff game at home on Friday.
The Red Raiders were the first to strike when Donavon Free made it into the end zone on a 27-yard run. With the extra point attempt failing, Marathon took an early 6-0 lead.
The T-Birds made it on the board in the second quarter, when Connor Kurki ran the ball in from 2 yards out. Ethan Olson kicked the extra point giving I-S a 7-6 advantage in the game.
The T-Birds widened the gap when Ben Cady caught a pass from Connor Kurki and scored. Olson once again kicked the ball in, putting the T-Birds up 14-6, to close out the scoring for the first half of the game.
Marathon started the second half with a scoring run by Richie Seubert. With the extra point failing, the T-Birds maintained the lead at 14-12.
Carter Kurki scored the final touchdown in the third quarter, putting the T-Birds up 20-12.
Bryce Hucttner scored twice in the final quarter to give Iola-Scandinavia the victory.
Topping the stats for Iola-Scandinavia was Huettner who led the rushing with 31 carries for 264 yards, followed by Carter Kurki with nine carries for 82 yards. Connor Kurki connected on one pass for 3 yards.
Leading the way for Marathon was Donavon Free who connected on 20 of 34 passes for 172 and carried the ball 17 times for 87 yards.
The T-Birds will move on to Level 4 on Friday, Nov. 10 when the take on Eau Claire Regis. The playing field is yet to be determined.
