Dominating defense, Iowa forces five turnovers in shutout
Published 8:00 am Saturday, September 10, 2022
- The Yellow Jackets’ Connor Roy, No. 49, stops Rayne running back Darian Chevalier for a loss Friday night at Iowa High School. (Dennis Babineaux / Special to the American Press)
By Damian Juneau
Special to American Press
IOWA — The Iowa Yellow Jackets used a stellar defensive performance Friday night in taking a 43-0 shutout victory over the Rayne Wolves.
Iowa (2-0) forced two fumbles and came away with three interceptions, two by Joe Natali. Iowa also limited to Rayne (1-1) to 52 rushing yards and 90 passing yards.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our defense with the way they stepped up tonight and they played a complete game,” said Iowa head coach Tommy Johns. “We talked about it coming in that we would have to get some turnovers, and we were able to that.
“They do a great job over at Rayne with the offense and they presented us some problems on defense at times. To be able to do some things against some of the offensive weapons they have, I couldn’t be happier.”
The Yellow Jackets wasted little time scoring on the opening drive. The drive took more than 6 minutes when Cole Corbello scored on a 9-yard run for a 7-0 lead.
Iowa’s defense held Rayne’s offense out of sync throughout the first half as they were unable to get into Iowa territory. Iowa took a 15-0 lead on a 49-yard score by Ronald Young with 5:24 to play in the second quarter.
The final touchdown of the first half came on a 68-yard run by Johnathon Walker to give Iowa a 22-0 lead with 3:36 to play.
The Yellow Jackets’ defense continued the pressure early in the third quarter. Cohen Charles intercepted a Dylan Judice pass and returned it 23 yards to give Iowa a 29-0 lead with 9:38 to play in the quarter.
Young scored his second touchdown late in the quarter on a 33-yard run with 3:46 to play. The final score of the game came with 2:09 left when J’Vien Fontenot scored on a 90-yard run.
Iowa finished with 315 rushing yards and 46 passing yards. Young finished with 142 yards on 14 carries.
“We preached to our offense all week that we had to get off to a quick start,” Johns said. “Last week we were a little sluggish but that was something to get on these guys as quick as possible and we hung on.”
Rayne was led by Juwan Daniel’s 51 yards rushing on 14 carries.
