By Brad Greer

If one drive solidified North Delta’s football season it was with  just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s regular season finale’ against Indianola.

Trailing 32-28 after stopping Indianola on its own three-yard line, the Green Wave showed the heart of a champion by driving 97 yards on 10 plays capped off by Austin Hagstrom’s 34-yard game-winning touchdown run with 2:07 remaining to lift North Delta to a thrilling 35-32 victory and a third consecutive District 1-AA championship.

A pair of 12-yard runs by quarterback Tyler Pirtle moved the ball to the North Delta 36-yard line before Hagstrom busted a 19-yard scamper to the Colonel 45. Three plays later, Hagstrom raced up the middle for the winning score.

“I have to give all the credit to the offensive line.They did an amazing job blocking the entire game. We played as a team and made some key plays on both sides of the ball there at the end. After we stopped them on that last drive, we knew there was plenty of time on the clock to drive down and score. It just came down to executing our game plan,” said Hagstrom, who finished the night with 126 yards and two touchdowns which included a 75-yard scoring run in the second quarter to give North Delta a 14-8 lead.

North Delta (8-2, 4-0) took the opening possession and drove to the Indianola 20 before Hunter Vance’s interception halted the drive. The Colonels then marched 80 yards on 11 plays to take an 8-0 lead as Ashton Knight snagged a deflected pass and raced 40 yards for the score. Quarterback Jonathan Holland completed a pass to Knight for the two-point conversion.

The Green Wave answered with a five-play, 61-yard drive as Pirtle scored on a 34-yard run. Dean added the PAT  for an 8-7 Indianola lead with 1:17 left in the quarter.

The second quarter was filled with excitement as both teams combined for 39 points and two lead changes. Wheeler Timbs’ 75-yard punt return coupled by a 63-yard jaunt from Knight gave the Colonels a 20-14 advantage with 6:04 left in the half.

North Delta responded with a 30-yard scoring run from Taylor Morris to  give the home team a short-lived 21-20 lead at the 4:45 mark.

Dalton Sykes gave Indianola the lead back at 26-21 with a six-yard plunge to cap off a seven play, 69-yard drive.

North Delta was not through however as Pirtle connected with Hagstrom on a beautiful 46-yard scoring strike with 1:33 left in the half. Dean then booted the PAT to make the score 28-26 at intermission.

The Colonels retook a 32-28 lead on the opening drive of the second half as  Holland hit Michael Sykes between two defenders for a nine-yard touchdown pass.

From there on it was all North Delta as the stout Green Wave defense held Indianola’s offense to 42 yards in the fourth quarter.

The biggest drive of the game started with 11:01 left in the fourth quarter as the Colonals drove to the North Delta three-yard line where they were stopped on fourth and goal.

“We knew from a defensive point of view that we had to stop them on that last drive and give our offense one last drive to win the game,” said defenisve linemen Parker Jones. “Pirtle came up with a huge stop down there on the two or three (yard line) and we knew we had plenty of time left on the clock,” said Jones who registered six tackles in the game.

North Delta out-gained Indianola 412-338 on the night. Pirtle led the Green Wave with 23 carries for 141 yards and one touchdown. Morris followed with 94 yards on 11 carries and one score.

Tyler Hardin led the North Delta defense with five solo tackles and three assists. Hunter Pitcher followed with four assists and three solos. Will Magee and Morris chipped in with five stops each while Brett Harrington  and Hunter Baker contributed with four tackles.

North Delta will take a much needed week off Friday before hosting a yet-to-be-named wild card opponent Nov. 2 in a first round playoff game.