Roadrunners Charge at Clarke

By Mariah Lewis

The Cross Country Roadrunners braved the race terrain yet again at Osceola on September 27. The already small team was even smaller at this meet due to the fact that one of its star runners, sophomore Holly McKinney, did not run because of wrist injuries.
However, the Roadrunners still raced to win. Senior Maddie Beeler charged in ninth place. The presence of both our men’s and women’s teams was strongly felt.

Maddie Beeler adds a more personal perspective as a runner.

October Roadrunner Report

This link will take you to the latest paper edition of the Roadrunner Report!
http://www.i-35.k12.ia.us/pdfs/RR%20Oct%202011.pdf


You can also go to http://www.i-35.k12.ia.us/ to find the link for the pdf file of the paper

What's up?

What's Up?

Bad Start Equals the End of Roadrunner Winning Streak

The huge advantage in the special teams in the contest between the Pella Christian Eagles and Interstate 35 Roadrunners became apparent in the opening seconds. Pella's kickoff specialist was able to pin the hometown Roadrunners in the hole by booting the ball to the return team's one yard line where it was fumbled a few times before gaining three yards. After failing to move the ball for the first down, an error in special teams on a snap gave the Eagles a two point safety. The two points opened a flood gate of momentum that the Roadrunners were never able to overcome and homecoming ended in defeat 43-0.
Blitzing linebackers were a constant problem for Interstate's line and a speedy Eagle defense was able to hold Roadrunner running backs to only ten yards rushing. With the running game held down, the Roadrunners went to the air 20 times for 13 completions and 104 yards. Sophomore Briar Vogel was the main target taking in five receptions for 30 yards.
By the end of the first quarter the visiting Eagles had already reached a 23-0 lead. The Roadrunners answered back by stiffening on the goal line twice and only allowing one more touchdown in the half. The defense attempted to switch momentum on a wicked hit on the Eagles leading rusher by Colton Hurst who put all of his 6'3'' 280+ frame into the unlucky ball carrier. Another 13 points were allowed in the second half. With the odds of a comeback not in their favor, Interstate kept fighting back.
A positive note for the night came from senior Ryan Deuel, who averaged almost 40 yards per punt. This was an incredible feat after one punt was almost blocked in the second quarter.
The Roadrunners will need to improve tackling and ball possession as they travel to Clarinda who is coming off of a huge win against Bondurant-Farrar last Friday.

$100 Earned for Charity

Pie pictures courtesy of Ms. Haines

The End to a Spirited Spirit Week

Thursday, the walls of the high school held in a totally rad flashback. With leg warmers, cut-off sweatshirts, big hair, and short shorts, ’80s day was a success. By now, even the freshman catch on to the idea that students in this high school go big or go home when it comes to school spirit. With no argument, this place was practically a real live time machine. The high school students even topped off their ‘80s fads with the traditional homecoming games taken place on the baseball field. Relay races and pie eating contests are even better while looking like a big wave of retro hit them.

As always, Friday was held as “Spirit Day”. Red, white, and blue was on the clothes of the entire school, for nobody has better school spirit than Interstate 35. To conclude our enthusiasm and spirit, all grades attended the pep-rally at the end of the day. Cheering along with the cheerleaders and even catching a glimpse of the principals receiving pies in the face all contributed to our goal of winning tonight’s football game. Homecoming week for the year 2011has been, yet, another wild and exciting one.

Combating Inclines and Bringing in Reserves

By Mariah Lewis

What’s the toughest terrain cross country runners combat? The logical answer to this question would be large hills, twisting turns, or an abrasive landscape. This is not so according to the cross country Roadrunners. Supposedly the most challenging topographic aspect of a course is gradual inclines.
“Those gradual slopes are brutal!” said sophomore Holly McKinney who placed fifth at the Adel meet on September 19. The Roadrunners felt the intensity of their workout that day, with gradual slopes generously sprinkled throughout the Adel course.
Despite the presence of difficult obstacles at that meet the Roadrunners remained strong and even started multiplying!
The I-35 women’s cross country team increased in number with the addition of two participants. Junior Rachael Wiggins and Caylin Brommel ran their first race of the season at Adel. These ladies are both members of the I-35 volleyball team and had thus been unable to participate in meets before this one. Both contributed to their respective races and were beneficial to
the team.
It is safe to say that the Interstate 35 Cross Country team is having an excellent season when it gains members in the face of the meet with the most difficult course and the roughest terrain. When confronted with a challenge, the Roadrunners face it head on, and bring in the reserves!

Photo courtesy of Katie Jacobson

Angry Birds

By Ellen Lupkes
Homecoming is the week to bring home the bacon. Victory is essential to boost morale and show how good your school can be. This Tuesday, the Interstate 35 Roadrunners faced the Wayne Lady Falcons. The first game was won with ease to a tune of 25 points for the Roadrunners and 12 for the Falcons. After a hiccup in the second game, the Roadrunners came back with good digs and attacks and won by six points. Senior Taylor Parish saved the day in the third game with an amazing save followed shortly by an epic attack. The Roadrunners took the lead and ran home to an 25-11 victory.

Would You Still Be My Friend If I Wore This?

By Alyssa Bissell
Whoa, buddy! What the heck was going on in the high school this Wednesday? Given that it was “Would you be my friend if I wore this?" day, the high school was looking a bit out of whack. The point of this particular day was to dress in any way of your choice that would make people stop and wonder “Should I really still be your friend? This is humiliating.” With such creative thinkers, one can only imagine what stunts were pulled. For instance, there were some people who decided to dress in Martensdale/St. Mary's clothes to point out how they’re our main rivals in almost all sports. Some other great examples were the students dressed in regular clothes of their opposite gender and the random penguin suits, infamous celebrities, and, of course, the Hawkeye/Cyclone fans pretending to support each other’s teams. It’s easy to see the Interstate 35 High School will never see a day like this come by again. Until next year, possibly.

Extra Points Are Key to Success

Sometimes it is the little things in life that are so important. In the case of the I-35 JV football squad, extra points meant the difference between sending the visiting Mt. Ayr Raiders home happy or dejected. Winning by the score of 16 to 13, the JV Roadrunners were able to set a winning tone for a homecoming week featuring four home football games and a home volleyball match along with coronation and a parade.
With less than two minutes left in the contest, the Roadrunners were up by three points but were forced to punt from their half of the field. Freshman punter Wyatt Davenport was able to punt the ball away to a very speedy Raider return man. The returner jabbed to his left, then went right to find a seam. He did and cruised passed numerous Roadrunner tacklers for the score that would put the Raiders up for good. Two or three blue jerseyed Roadrunnners laid dejected on the field while Mt. Ayr celebrated a come from behind win. However, one of the Roadrunners on the field was put there by a block in the back which brought the play back and dashed the hopes of Mt. Ayr. The visiting Raiders put the ball in the air numerous times, but were thwarted in their attempt to pull out a thrilling come from behind victory.
The Interstate offense clicked when it needed to behind the powerful running of fullbacks Jonathan "Rollie" Young and Hunter Wearmouth and the slick escape ability of tailbacks Joe Bedwell and Travis Yossett. Besides the powerful running game, the Roadrunners went to the air a few times with Kenneth Thompson and freshman Wade Hood. Hood took the reigns for the second half and was able to pass for the second and much needed two-point conversion on Interstate's second touchdown when he connected on a streak pass with Chase Ferris.
The Mt. Ayr offense spent much of the night trying to use their speed to get to the outside and capitalized on a few Interstate miscues on containment. The Raiders were eventually penned in by the help of down lineman Bobby Heilman and Lonnie Harper who recorded numerous stops for loss in the backfield. At the end of the contest, the secondary came up big knocking down numerous passes.
The win gave the JV team their third of the season as their record stands at 3-1.

"Greek Day"

By Alyssa Bissell

Historically speaking, the second day of the high school’s homecoming dress up day took place Tuesday as “Greek Day”. The halls were flooded with togas and laurels as the students all gave us a look on how the Ancient Greeks presented themselves. Although a majority of the togas were hand-made from curtains or bed sheets, the high school students successfully pulled off an Ancient Greek look. Occasionally, you might have even found a real live gladiator, (freshman Holly McKinney). With such a success of “Greek Day”, seniors of the high school even voted on decorating their own hallway with Ancient Greece characteristics.

Hobo Vs. Zombie Day

By Alyssa Bissell

The first day of the high school’s homecoming week is not exactly the best day for students to represent their school to the outside world. Imagine being a visitor and the only thing you see is students dressed in filthy, overly sized clothes or shredded wardrobes with “open wounds” all over their bodies. Monday was successfully played off as “Hobo vs. Zombie Day.” To start off their homecoming week, seniors through freshman classes all participated in the festivity. With the exception of a few students, most of the seniors went with the homeless hobo look. However, all classes still brought their dirty smiling

faces to contribute to the festive week. On the other hand, our school’s zombie members brought many looks that this school has never before seen. Ripped and torn tops and bottoms

clashing with distorted skin and bloody wounds gave the high school a taste of a zombie apocalypse. Thanks to junior, Wyatt Oliver, many zombies were given very realistic “injury” looks.

Roadrunners Fight Goliath

By Mariah Lewis

Underdogs usually appear in sports like football or basketball. In these situations one team is smaller than its opponent (sometimes in size, number, or both). This team must then fight harder, move quicker and be more focused than the other to achieve a victory. The I-35 cross country team experienced this at the Ballard Invitational meet on September 12. This was the largest meet of the entire season with the exception of the state meet (which will take place October 29 at Fort Dodge). The Ballard meet was so massive, teams had to be classified as A, B, C, or D based on their class (1A, 2A, 3A, or 4A). This is not necessary at most meets. Another unusual concept at this meet was the removal of numbers (runners usually wear numbers safety-pinned to their jerseys during races) and the addition of place cards given to each runner at the conclusion of their race as they cross the finish line.
Neither the changes nor the enormity of the race fazed our runners. The Roadrunners finished strong with sophomore Holly McKinney coming in fourth, senior Maddie Beeler in twelfth, junior Megan Ellis in 39th, freshman Tia Snyder in 53rd, and junior Shelby Spoerl in 55th for the women’s class C division. The men’s class C division felt the presence of the I-35 Roadrunners as well with junior Ryan Hart in 35th, senior Ben Merrick in 44th, freshman Randy Ray Walker in 48th, and freshman Sam Cook in 50th. The results of this mammoth meet prove that the cross country roadrunners are a small team with a huge amount of determination.

Roadrunners Spike Devils in Four Sets

The smell of a rivalry is the air. The Interstate 35 volleyball team traveled to Martensdale on Tuesday for a battle royale with the Blue Devils. After a close JV game and a little controversy in the stands, the crowd was pumped and ready for intense volleyball action.
The first game the Roadrunners came out strong and ended the same with a score of 25-17. M-St. M came back early in the second game and with the score 7-2 it wasn’t looking good for Interstate. A turn of the tide came in the form of a missed serve from the Devils. From there, the teams scrapped back and forth with the Roadrunners pulling ahead with some big saves late in the game. With a final score of 26-24, Interstate had momentum and was ready to sweep Martensdale. However, the Blue Devils would have none of this and ended the game five points ahead of the Roadrunners. The fourth game started much the same as the second but improved serving late in the game helped bring Interstate final victory.
Olivia Sulentic led the team with thirteen kills and seventeen digs. Staci Morris had twenty assists and the team had a total of eight service aces.

By Ellen Lupkes

Fourth Quarter Spurs Route of Pesky Indians

At the half of the Interstate 35 game against the neighboring Clarke County Indians the score was 14-0 with all of the points scored in the first quarter. After the a calamitous third quarter the score was 20-13 with the Indians gaining momentum. The slight momentum shift allowed for a slight possibility of a barn-burner ending. The ending never came. The Roadrunners began a balanced attack through the air and on the ground to score 21 unanswered points to cruise to a 41-13 victory. Though the game had a few head scratching moments and a few questions to be answered on both sides of the ball, the biggest questions for the Indians at the end of the night were 1) Where did this passing game come from? Tommy Bregar hit three different receivers for 11 completions on 17 tosses, and 2) How do we stop Alex Middleton?
Unfortunately for Clarke, they had no answer to either question with Middleton toting the ball 12 times for 124 yards allowing just over 10 yards per carry and adding a touchdown on the night.
Receivers on the night were held scoreless but did manage to pile up 141 yards with those 11 receptions. Ryan Deuel and Briar Vogel led the way with four catches and Zach Goering added three.
The Roadrunners didn't only end the night strong offensively, the began it that way as well. Led by a strong ground game Interstate marched down the field and Bregar put the first points on the board on a bootleg scramble. Dylan Webb then added the point to take the early lead. On the ensuing kickoff Bregar found a hole in the Clarke return team and the Roadrunners capitalized by recovering the ball and quickly added another touchdown to finish the scoring for the first half. Although Bregar and Middleton put up strong yards for the visiting team, Sam Bedwell and Andrew Morris added their fair share of yards, 143 combined, and two scores a piece.

While the first quarter offense was clicking, the first quarter defense was stifling holding the surprised Indians to only a few plays of positive yards. The third quarter was a different story. Clarke fought back on their way to two scores and a chance to get back in the game. Even an incredible blocked extra point attempt by Ryan Deuel was not enough to keep the Indians off the board. While yellow flags helped the Roadrunner cause on numerous occasions in the first half, the men in stripes kept their flags in their pockets the second half while Interstate faithful watched Clarke take advantage of the very aggressive defense. Ethan Jones again led the way in tackling while the defense allowed only one 100+ yard rusher and forced three fumbles.

The Interstate offense will again need to be running on all cylinders when Pella Christian comes to town for a homecoming match up. The varsity will again follow the freshman team who are now 1-0 on the season after taking out Clarke in the first game Friday.

Photos Courtesy of Craig Bregar

Strong Second Half Boosts JV Roadrunners to Second Victory

Down 6-8 at the halftime of their Monday game in Leon, the junior Varsity Roadrunners dug a little deeper to tack on 26 second half points to take the victory 32-20 over Central Decatur. Interstate took the lead early in the first half by taking their first offensive possession down the field to make it a 6-0 score. However, they were stymied in the second half and allowed a touchdown and a quick two point conversion to put them in the hole at the break.

With a strong break out performance by sophomore fullback Jonathan "Rollie" Young, the offense was able to get back in gear the second half. Young made road kill of the hapless Cardinals as they tried to make the tackle. He was even given the nod on many 3rd and long plays from his fullback position to bust a simple trap play into a quick, hard-nosed ten yards.

Not to be outdone in the second half was Travis Yossett who accounted for a couple of scores himself including a kick-off return after the momentum looked to have changed in Central Decatur's favor. Up two scores, the Roadrunner kickoff team allowed a deep kickoff to be run back for a touchdown. After denying the two point conversion, a long kick over the head of Yossett looked like it was going to be trouble. Yossett then scooped up the ball on his own 20, ran to the Interstate wall, made one cut to head for daylight and hit paydirt in the end zone a couple of seconds later. The score would be the remedy needed to break the Cardinal momentum and the victory was earned late in the fourth quarter when freshman Austin Wagner weaved his way through the porous Cardinal defense ending Interstate's scoring at 32.

While the Cardinal defense struggled to adjust to a unbalanced Interstate offense, the defense was able to keep the fast paced Central Decatur bottled up in the second half. A rejuvenated Roadrunner defense held the Cardinals to one score that came as time expired in the game. Hard hits and forced fumbles were the hallmarks of the defense after halftime spurring the Roadrunners on to victory.

The Roadrunners take their 2-1 record back home on Monday of homecoming week to take on the Raiders of Mt. Ayr.

Introducing Novelty and Math Equations

By Mariah Lewis

You’re lost. You’re walking down a hallway trying to find the room you’re supposed to be in and the bell between classes is about to ring. When you finally do get to the classroom, you don’t know anybody and all the faces look unfamiliar. The names you catch here and there don’t stick and you basically feel completely out of your element. This sounds like the typical scene for students when they first begin attending classes at a different school; it’s almost clichéd…but what if you’re the teacher? The Interstate 35 Math Department has acquired a new teacher this year, and although his first day was probably considerably less dramatic than the scene previously described his originality in the classroom and fresh approach to math are innovative additions to our school community. The students in Mr. Messer’s class experience the elements of surprise on almost a daily basis.
“[The students] are not going to know what’s going to happen next” stated Messer. He keeps them guessing in the classroom with the introduction of math games including math Jeopardy and logic games.
“I’m going to contribute something new and exciting to the math program here” The novelty of Messer’s position is not entirely one sided. He is new to us but our district is also very new to him. Messer stated that he grew up in suburban Iowa and attended high school at Norwalk and college at Central College. He finished undergraduate school in December and has been substitute teaching for the past six months around the Carlisle/Norwalk area. He could be considered a bit of a novelty himself with interests in sports such as basketball (Messer is going to be coaching Middle School girls basketball this year), and snowboarding (he was once a snowboarding instructor at Sleepy Hallow sports park). He was attracted to the position here at I-35 because of our ideal size and location.
“I think 2A is perfect. I guess I really liked the location and I’ve heard nothing but good things about Interstate”. Messer said when he arrived, he felt nothing but welcome here at Interstate 35.
“Everybody here is family. It’s so nice and no school or teaching position has ever made me feel this welcome. I’d like to say thanks. Just thanks for making me feel so welcome” said Messer.

Mrs. Myers Takes on a New Role

By Alyssa Bissell


If you have noticed students on their very best behavior this year, it’s all due to our very own Mrs. Myers. She is officially our first dean of students in the history of Interstate 35. Under the position of dean of students, Mrs. Myers now has the primary role of handling discipline, communicating our school’s policies and making sure that students meet expectations. Although the role of being Dean sounds a bit intimidating to most, she also handles “lighter” responsibilities. For instance, we now have a “Student of the Month” award that will be given away to one student per month who has displayed the best character.
Mrs. Myers, one of the high school’s science teachers, has prior experience in discipline and feels that she has always been consistent when enforcing rules, and she is much excited to be able to take on something new. Although she gets a brand new position at our school, she still gets the best of both worlds by teaching her Physics class.
When asked about the hardest part of her new position, Mrs. Myers replied, “Not being in the classroom with kids.”
So far, our Dean of Students already likes the fact that she can be more one on one with the students and get to know them better outside of the classroom. Compared to our discipline system from previous years, she feels that this system will allow issues to be handled more immediately, and also allow the principal to have more time doing his own primary roles.

Die Hard Athlete

By Olivia Sulentic
How do you feel about being in two sports in one season? For one athlete at I-35 she found that it was more difficult than she anticipated, but there is always a good to every bad.
Missing one practice to go to the other, going to two practices in one day, and being sore from both practices, are just some of the difficulties from being in two sports in one season.
“Finding time to practice for each sport and deciding which event I should go to is a difficult decision, but the hard work and dedication will be a reward at the end of the season,” said junior Rachael Wiggins.
Rachael is participating in both volleyball and cross country this fall. She goes to volleyball every day after school, so each night she has to find time to run for cross country.
“Volleyball is always going to come first, but being in cross country I feel that I will be in better shape for the upcoming track season, which is why I am running this fall,” stated Wiggins.
“I am very proud of Rachael. Taking on two varsity sports isn’t easy. I’m proud that she is already getting better for the upcoming track season,” said cross country coach Mark LeMaster.

Tweet All About It

By Ryan Deuel
Every year in the high school there is always something that sweeps through and takes the students by storm. This year that something is the social network known as Twitter. Many of the high school students this year have created a Twitter account to post or tweet random things that go through their minds. Twitter is where you can go online and tweet or post about what is going on during the day. People can also go online and tag their friends in their tweets to communicate with one another.
Tanner Bean, a senior this year commented “Twitter is so pointless, yet somehow is addicting and fun.” He believes it is pointless because no one can gain anything from having a Twitter and not everyone wants to know what you are thinking 24/7. “I only tweet about things that I think are awesome, like seeing a Maserati in the morning,” stated Tanner.
Kyle Johnson, also a senior says “Twitter equals #awesome,” a common phrase people put in their tweets. The pound symbol in front of the “awesome” is known as a hash tag to twitter users. Hash tags are put in front of phrases that are used to describe something that the user has tweeted about.
Twitter is one of a few social networks used by the students at Interstate 35 this year and there will be many more to come in the near future as long as there is Internet available.

Getting Lost

By Mariah Lewis
If I had a quarter for every time I’ve been lost at a cross country meet, I could probably go out to dinner at a five-star restaurant tonight on the money I might have earned. The golf courses cross country meets are usually held at tend to be a bit maze-like. I have been managing the I-35 cross country team for two years now (this is my third) and there has not been one meet I have attended that I have not gotten lost. The usually hand-drawn maps given to the runners and managing staff sometimes help, but typically I can’t read the map either, it winds up doing more harm than good to my almost non-existent sense of direction and I get lost again anyway. Thank goodness the runners generally don’t get lost! They blaze the trails of the course with athletic certainty and purpose. The Winterset meet on September 6th was another success for the Roadrunners with sophomore Holly McKinney coming in 4th place in the freshman/sophomore division and senior Maddie Beeler receiving 5th in the junior/senior division. In addition to the honor of having two teammates place, the I-35 Roadrunners can proudly claim that during the course of the race, not one runner got lost!

Sophomore Retreat

By Ryan Deuel
Every year the sophomores at Interstate 35 go on the sophomore retreat to Camp Dodge in Johnston. The sophomore retreat is where all the sophomores split up into groups of eight to twelve students per team and go to one of the twelve stations. The courses teach the team members how to work together as a team and it is a test on their physical strength and mental strength.
Briar Vogel, one sophomore that went on the trip said “Some of the courses were challenging because they tested your abilities to work together as a team and will to accomplish the course.” The students get to do half of the courses during the morning and then go to lunch. After lunch they all return to the obstacle course for the other half of the day. Camp Dodge also features a new obstacle course that the sophomores get to run at the end of the day.

Roadrunners Remain Undefeated with Strong Shutout Performance

The locally famous "Rally Rake" wasn't needed for the Roadrunners Friday night, but the proverbial white flag could have been used for the visiting Shenandoah Mustangs as the home team went to the air for two scores on 147 yards. By the time Briar Vogel danced over three or four (depending on your vantage point) would-be tacklers for the final score of 42-0, slinger Tommy Bregar had already hit his favorite target on the night, senior Ryan Deuel for 106 yards on four receptions and added a score.

Not to be outdone by the new "Pistol" look and air attack, the ground game didn't disappoint with 326 yards and four touchdowns. Most of those yards came from senior back Andrew "Mo" Morris with 125 and junior Sam Bedwell with 101. Bedwell also added two touchdowns while Morris and Briar Vogel tacked on one a piece.

A gang-tackling defense added three turnovers off Mustang miscues. On the second offensive play for the visiting team, the Mustangs were able to rush the ball into the Roadrunner red zone. They were never able to finish the job, however; because on the ensuing snap the ball was plucked away by a Roadrunner defender and recovered by lead tackler on the night Ethan Jones. Jones had 17 tackles on the night followed by Luke Simmerman who added 14 of his own. Only three of the tackles by these defenders were solo tackles leaving this harassing four-four defense unscored upon in the contest. Sophomore Joe Jackson added the icing to this defensive jeweled cake by nabbing an almost perfectly thrown ball late in the game. The shutout sealed an impressive victory and kept the defenses scored upon average below a touchdown as the Roadrunners have only allowed 14 points in three games.

Interstate will send their sparkling undefeated record into Osceola next Friday to take on the Indians who are 0-3 on the season after opening up their district play with a loss to Clarinda. The varsity game will take place right after the Freshman Roadrunners open up their season against Clarke earlier in the night.

Photos courtesy of Craig Bregar

Roadrunners Take WCV in Four Games

It took a mighty effort by the West Central Valley Wildcats to come into a rowdy Interstate gym and compete, but after four hard-fought games the Roadrunners came out with a victory. The home team Roadrunners were already up a solid two games when the scrappy Wildcats came back in the third game down eight points at one juncture in the game. As the cheering section full of spandex and random food costumes maintained their school spirited frenzy, two sport athlete Rachel Wiggins sent a crashing right-handed strike that looked like it would turn the tide in favor of the Roadrunners. However, the visiting team had different plans and the Wildcats held the momentum and eventually the third game 25-17.

After spotting the Wildcats four points in the second elimination game, the Interstate rally rake was again out to even the score. The two teams then began to battle point for point with neither gaining more than a four point advantage. At the score of 23 to 21 in favor of Interstate, it looked like the red, white, and blue blockers had buried the strong WCV spike and the match. However, another strong effort and a miscommunication on the side of the Roadrunners evened the score again at 24. The lead was taken, given back, then taken back again until senior Kate Bobst smashed a game and match winning ace across the gym from a very happy student cheering section.

JV Roadrunners Unsuccessful in Bid to Claw at Panthers

The JV football team continued it's home stand against Panorama the day after Labor Day and came up on the short end of a 22 to 6 contest. In a game that featured incredible pass rushes by both teams, Interstate was able to capitalize on a strong defensive surge in the late in the first half recovering a fumble in the end zone for what would be the only score of the night for the home team. An impressive Roadrunner defense also featured a pass interception by Travis Yossett deep in Panther territory and two fumble recoveries by freshman Garrett Thompson. The boys in blue created numerous opportunities for turnovers with hard hits and exceptional penetration into the Panorama backfield.
Offensively, the Roadrunners never clicked gaining numerous first downs but not were never able to string enough together because of a very athletic front four for the Panthers. After squeezing the lead to two points with a score of 8-6 in favor of the Panorama, the Panthers were able to take the kickoff all the way for a score putting them up 14-6. They were able to tack on eight more on an option pitch in the second half to reach the final score.
The JV will travel to Leon on September 12, to take on the Cardinals.

Strong Third Quarter helps Ground Conference Foe

With just under one minute and thirty seconds left in the second quarter it looked like the Interstate/ Southeast Warren rivalry was still in full swing. The second quarter started shaky and almost ended that way if not for a excellent kickoff return and a two-play drive to put the Roadrunners ahead for good with a final score of 34-8.

However, the drive that took less than a minute to score was not without its controversy. After finding success through the air early in the first quarter, the Roadrunners elected to let their six foot plus senior tight end Ryan Deuel tack on the go ahead touchdown, which he did by some nifty moves to get him over 30 yards to the end zone. Because of an illegal shift call on the home team, Interstate was backed up five yards and went to the air again. This time junior Mitch Vipond was the recipient of the Tommy Bregar lazer. With very little time left in the quarter, Bregar called Deuel's number yet again, this time with an even more nifty move to the end zone for the 13 to 8 score at half.

After the intermission Interstate was able to set the tone with a safety blitz and an eventual 20 plus yard loss issued to the weary Warhawks. With the help of juniors Dylan Webb, Ethan Jones and Sam Bedwell accounting for nearly 30 tackles on the night, Interstate's defense would only allow one more first down in the second half of play. Another bright spot for the Roadrunner faithful was the performance of freshman Zach Goering who notched another tally on his interception belt, nabbing his second in as many games as a starter. He was also in on seven tackles and caught two passes for 34 yards.

Offensively the ball was spread around on the ground by ten different Interstate ball carriers led by Sam Bedwell and Andrew Morris who combined for 141 yards. Bregar hit four different receivers on seven completions. His favorite target on the night was Briar Vogel who had three catches while Deuel was only hit once for the score. After two games Bregar has ten pass completions with three touchdowns.

The Roadrunners look to continue their good fortune at home when the open up 2A district 8 play against a Shenandoah team that is coming off their first win in over three years.

A Family Affair

“Crank that up!” somebody called from the back seat. The volume knob on the stereo was dutifully turned up two notches. Whoops and cheers sounded throughout the school van; another cross country season had begun. The excellent pro-team attitude and relatively small number of participants (our boys and girls teams were represented by only four runners each at the Dallas Center Grimes meet on August 30th) makes the Interstate 35 cross country team a family affair. All members of the team including reserve runners and managers get into the spirit of being part of this family and whole-heartedly join in the fun. Members of the I-35 cross country team can be spotted at meets carrying a red, blue, and white painted garden rake (affectionately termed the “Rally Rake”), yelling exceptionally loudly for their teammates, or even playing a vuvuzela (a large, plastic bugle-looking apparatus) as a method of cheering on their team! It’s no surprise that the group was ecstatic when senior Maddie Beeler placed 5th in the senior women’s division and sophomore Holly McKinney charged in 2nd place for the sophomore women’s division at the Dallas Center Grimes meet. What the team lacks in size, they make up for in spirit.
“We are small but mighty” says senior Rachel Brownlee, and no doubt great things are expected this season from this eccentric, close-knit family of runners.


By: Mariah Lewis