Pirates Set To Face Iowa Western Saturday Afternoon
October 11, 2018
INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - Coming off a gut-wrenching defeat last week, the Independence Pirates (1-4) gear up and prepare for a true road test as they head seven hours northwest to take on the third-ranked Iowa Western Reivers (5-1) in an early afternoon contest.
Independence accounted for 281 yards of total offense last week in one of the best performances of their best performances of the season. However, a great showing from Chase Hildreth who went 17-for-35 passing for 129 yards and 161 rushing yards from Davijuan Dean wasn't enough as the Pirates fell short by a score of 17-14.
"I'm proud of the kids playing hard and I thought we played as a team," Coach Jason Brown said. "We didn't execute very well in the red zone and I think it cost us the game."
"I'll take the heat for not kicking field goals when we could have, but I just wasn't confident enough in doing that. I wanted to give our guys a chance to win and make plays to get the 'Mojo' back, but we just couldn't make the connections we needed."
"I think we've rejuvenated the locker room now and the road was good for us last week so this week we'll see who wants to be here and wants to play hard."
The Pirates' defense allowed only 248 yards of offense in one of the best efforts of the year and Coach Brown was very pleased with the performance.
"We did a couple of things differently last week," Brown said. "We changed some things up and I thought the defense played well and I think that we can only continue to get better every week."
The Pirates face an Iowa Western team that accounted for 478 yards of total offense in a 33-10 victory over the Ellsworth Panthers. The Reivers led by quarterback TJ Starks who last week went 16-for-25 passing for 222 yards while also rushing for 55 yards on nine carries and, also picked up 97 yards from running back Gayflor Flomo on 25 carries.
"We just have to play hard and get off the field," Brown said. "Attack the quarterback, condense his pocket and make him feel pressured to make him escape to our speed to make plays on not just him but every ball carrier.
Kickoff for Saturday's afternoon contest is at 2:30 pm. General admission at Titan Stadium is $10. Fans can also stream the game at http://www.949kind.com/icc-sports/