Football Season Comes to a Close

By Ryan Deuel
This past Friday the Roadrunner football team took on the Colfax-Mingo Tigerhawks for the last game of the 2011 season. With any chance of the playoffs out of the picture, both teams came into the game with nothing to lose. The Roadrunners entered the night with a four and four record and two and four in district play, while the Tigerhawks were two and six record and a one and five record in district play.
The first half was an old fashioned shootout with the score at halftime being 41-20 in favor of the Tigerhawks. The opposing team opened the game up with a quick score on a 68 yard touchdown pass on the very first play from scrimmage. With their backs against the wall, the Roadrunners didn’t back down. After the Tiger hawks took a 14 to nothing lead Roadrunner return man Andrew Morris took the ensuing kick-off 85 yards for the first score of the game for the Roadrunners.
The first half was an air raid for both teams. Roadrunner quarterback Tommy Bregar threw for a season high 363 yards with 21 completions on 33 passing attempts. He also threw for a season high four touchdown passes with only one interception. The ball was spread around fairly evenly on the night with Ryan Deuel having 133 receiving yards and three touchdowns on nine receptions for the night. Briar Vogel had seven catches for 130 yards and one touchdown on the night. The other big target for Bregar was senior tight end Tanner Bean who received four catches for 81 yards.
The Roadrunner rushing attack wasn’t to be denied although they didn't score any touchdowns on the night. They racked up a total of 146 yards with senior back Andrew Morris leading the charge with 65 yards of his own and an outstanding 8.1 yards per carry as he picked apart the Tiger hawk defensive front.
The second half was a defensive struggle for both teams when a total of only 19 points were scored as opposed to the 61 points in the first half. Briar Vogel led the defense with 16 total tackles on the night. Andrew Morris and Joe Bedwell both recorded nine tackles for the defense.
The team looks to come back next year in hopes to make it to the playoffs and improve their record. The team has a big hole to fill next year with most of the offensive line needing to be replaced. The team’s starting quarterback is returning next year with one of his favorite targets returning as well.

Cross Country Runners on to State!

By Rachael Wiggins

The Interstate 35 Cross Country team ran a great race last Thursday at the district meet in Atlantic, qualifying tworunners to state. To qualify, runners must finish in the top ten. Maddie Beeler, a senior, and Holly McKinney, a sophomore, bothmade the cut. Beeler finished tenth and will make her first state appearance this Saturday, October 26, while McKinney finishedfourth and will be running at state for the second year in a row.

“There comes a point during a race when you have to reach deep inside and think, “How bad do I want this?” You haveto be tougher than the rest of the competition, both mentally and physically,” commented McKinney.

“I’ve worked hard all season for this, but I know that without Holly’s support, it wouldn’t have been possible. Icouldn’t ask for a better teammate and friend,” added Beeler with a smile.Both also shared that their personal motto for the season is ‘Run and Done!’ Good luck at state, girls!

Roadrunners Net First Postseason Victory

By Ellen Lupkes

The Roadrunner volleyball team entered a full gym at home on Tuesday night to begin the post season facing the Nodaway Valley Wolverines. A week previous, I-35 had battled with the Wolverines for a victory and the third place crown in the conference tournament.
“The feeling was intense knowing we had to take them to four [games] in conference play. We knewwhat they had and came in ready to win, confident, and focused,” said senior setter Staci Morris.
Determination was on the faces of every member of the team as the whistle for the game to beginsounded. The first game was a victory for Interstate allowing Nodaway to score 19 points. The second game followed with another Roadrunner victory and two less points for the Wolverines. One of theNodaway players came out slightly winded after Olivia Sulentic smashed a ball into her chest/throat area.
Ethan Jones said of the hit, “I think that girl needed a breather after that. It was awesome.”
The final game totaled 20-25 in yet another I-35 victory, closing the gap for a 20 win season
“We served well. The whole night we only missed five serves and hit the 91% mark. The team had focusand played consistently. This is the first time we have had a 20 win season in a while,” stated Coach TimMcKinney.

Strong First Half Not Enough to Hold Back the Bluejays

On a night that featured a state record tying 99 yard touchdown pass from the Roadrunners and a very strong first half start ended in disappointment as the varsity football squad dropped their third straight game. Interstate took the early momentum on two different defensive stands to hold the Bluejays to two field goals and took a 14-22 lead into halftime after a close call in the endzone. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners wouldn't score again and the Bluejays would tack on 27 unanswered points to make the final score 41-22. There was no answer for feature Bluejay runningback Colton Halder added over 200 yards to his total on the night in the second half alone.

Even though the Roadrunners could move the ball in the second half, they were unsuccessful at putting the ball deep into the opponent's territory. Mistakes and unfortunate calls that were going in Interstate's favor in the first half seemed to take a 180 degree turn. The change in momentum may have taken down the Roadrunners, but they were still able to put up some big numbers offensively. The night was highlighted by a 201 yard passing effort by Tommy Bregar who went 9 for 13 and a 99 yard touchdown, but also added two interceptions to his season total. Bregar was also the lead rusher for the night with 87 yards and two touchdowns with many of those yards called back because of yellow laundry on the field. Senior Andrew Morris was the second rusher on the night with 77 yards on only 12 carries.

The historic 99 yard touchdown pass was to Tanner Bean who took the ball on a quick slant with his back in the endzone. Bean then used some impressive downfield blocking and the lack of a safety in the middle of the field to scamper across the field to the other endzone.

Homecoming King and Queen

Maddie Beeler and Ben Merrick pictured above. 

The entire homecoming court pictured above.

Pictures from Homecoming Coronation

Homecoming Court

Spikers Hammer Home Third Place in POI

The Roadrunners came home to a chance at redemption on Monday night after a close Thursday night match in Afton against the 2010 state qualifying East Union Eagles. The Southeast Warren Warhawks and the Lenox Tigers traveled to Interstate for the first round of Pride of Iowa Conference playoffs. The night was a success for the Roadrunners who, after beginning the night with a victory against Lenox and ending the night with a victory against Southeast Warren, qualified for the second round of conference playoffs. This is the first time I-35 has qualified since the introduction of the new playoff setup. Tuesday proved to be a tough day for the Roadrunners who took conference champions Bedford Bulldogs to five games with the last game coming down to a close 12-15. Olivia Sulentic led the team with 19 kills, Staci Morris had 30 assists, and both served 100 percent.
In the consolation match to follow, the Roadrunners fought off the Nodaway Valley Wolverines for third place. Interstate pulled the feat off in four games with Morris and Kate Bobst serving 100 percent featuring three aces apiece. Sulentic led the Roadrunner attack with 12 kills. Morris had 25 assists. In total, I-35 went 3-1 in the conference tournament and is approaching a 20-win season, also a first in almost five years for the Roadrunners.

Roadrunners Run Down Memory Lane

By Mariah Lewis

On October 3, the Interstate 35 Cross Country team loaded up the buses, gathered all the necessary items like water bottles and running shoes, and headed out to Nodaway Valley for the sixth meet of the season. This trip, though very ordinary and stereotypical for a cross country meet, was one of special meaning for the upper classmen team members.
The Greenfield course holds a lot of memories for the Roadrunners. Two years ago, it was the site of districts. It was also on this course last year that our women’s team rallied together to pull out a first place ranking at the Pride of Iowa Conference meet. The weather was awful. It was freezing cold and pouring a monsoon. The managers had to camp out underneath the tent of another team simply to keep the time sheets dry enough to be considered legible. Despite these obstacles the Interstate 35 women’s team pulled through. They raced with heart and gave everything they had. The mood of that day was incredible. The entire team was exhausted but thrilled beyond measure. The moral was soaring off the charts as the Roadrunners cantered back to the bus singing and cheering all the way.
The recent Nodaway Valley Invitational was a trip down memory lane for our Roadrunners. They pulled through yet again with senior Maddie Beeler charging in eighth place. For the Cross Country Roadrunners, this meet was a great success as well as a sweet taste of nostalgia.

Bad Field Position Leads to Second Loss for Interstate

The Clarinda Cardinals scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to complete a 35 to 6 victory over the visiting Roadrunners. The scoring barrage was set up early in the second half by the Cardinals returning the opening kick off of the half to the Roadrunners four yard line. With the Roadrunner defense quickly on their heals, the Cardinals made short work of the drive and took a 13-6 lead. Interstate tried to gain momentum after a blocked extra point. The Roadrunner offense couldn't get on track in the second half and the defense played much of the two remaining quarters in their own territory. To make matters worse, Interstate had no answer for the strong running of the Clarinda quarterback who was held to under 100 yards but put the ball in the endzone twice. Interstate did put on a strong fourth quarter performance only allowing one touchdown, but it was not enough to pull the game back in their favor.

Falling behind so quickly in the second half meant the Roadrunners had to go primarily to the air to get those points back. With the Cardinals back in pass coverage quarterback Tommy Bregar still went 7 for 13 passing with one touchdown, but the Cardinals found the ball in their hands two times accounting for the two interceptions in the stat book.

The receiver of the one touchdown pass was Ryan Deuel who nabbed the tight end screen on a critical fourth down play in the first quarter. Deuel took the pass and with some nifty moves and a few excellent down field blocks he was able to scamper 36 yards for what would be the only Roadrunner score of the night. The Roadrunner ground game was also held back on the night with 120 total yards. A bright point was the running of sophomore Joe Bedwell whose number was called only six times on the night but tied for leading rusher at 51 yards giving him an average of 8.5 yards per carry.

The Roadrunners look to get back on the winning track as they head to Bondurant-Farrar to take last year's district champion. The Blue jays have struggled this season going 2-4 including a loss to Clarinda two weeks ago, but they are coming off a 42-6 win over Shenandoah this past week.