FOOTBALL: Indians continue dominance in win over Belton

Story by Sarah Rellihan, Reporter

The varsity football team travelled to Belton High School on Sept. 24, 2021 to take on the Pirates. The Indians played a strong game and beat Belton 31-3. The last time the Indians and Pirates met was on September 25, 2020 and the Indians suffered a loss 34-7. 

The team’s success focused mainly on the offensive lineman making blocks to allow junior quarterback Gregory Menne to make passes to junior wide receiver Lorenzo Fenner for a total of 79 yards, which included a 33 yard TD pass. Menne believes the team’s want for revenge helped the Indians secure the win.

“The motivation was from last year. (Our) homecoming game we lost and we took this game super personal to get (our) revenge because it was(their) homecoming game,” Menne said in an email interview. “So to beat them bad felt really good for(our) team.”

The defense put pressure on the Pirates, only allowing them a total of 189 total yards. They compiled a total of 51 tackles. Both senior outside linebacker David Jacquez and senior Elijah Bernard intercepted Belton passes, which played a huge role in allowing the Indians to thrive. Bernard feels like the team’s victory does not mean they can not improve.

“It’s an outcome we expect but nonetheless feels good at the end of the night.” Bernard said in an email interview. “We can always get better.”

The team worked their way to get a total of 575 yards, 336 from passing and 239 from rushing. Javen Hall rushed for 71 yards and a TD. The defense held the Pirates down to 139 rushing yards which was 100 yards less than what the Indians compiled. Sophomore Landon Lamb finds that his team prepared adequately for the game.

“We worked hard all week as a team and had to get our mindset right,” Lamb said in an email interview. “We pushed each other hard all week as a team.”

The special teams continues to thrive with sophomore kicker Xander Shepherd making two FGs and 3 PATs scoring a total of 9 points for the Indians. The football team will travel to Grain Valley High School to take on the Eagles on Friday, Oct. 2, 2021. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.