What a difference a year makes.
Last season at this time Indian Lake’s football team was thrilled just to be playing in its first state playoff game.
Indian Lake’s Collin Coburn makes a catch near the sideline during a Division IV state playoff game against River Valley. (EXAMINER PHOTO | AARON LaBATT)
On Friday, the Lakers were in attack mode and delivered a 34-7 knockout blow against visiting River Valley for its first ever playoff win in a Division IV, Region 12 regional quarterfinal game.
“The biggest thing for us was taking that next step,” said IL head coach Dave Coburn. “We got to this point last year and we didn’t handle it as well as we would have liked. We learned from that. From a team stand point we handled things better all week. I felt that really showed and consequently we played well.”
Indian Lake (11-0) advances to the regional semifinals Friday at 7:30 p.m. against second-seed Ottawa-Glandorf (10-1) at a site not yet determined. OG defeated Bellevue 49-34 in their opening playoff game.
The Lakers outdid themselves again with a program best 11-0 and captured the school’s first ever playoff victory. Now they turn their attention to the Titans, who defeated the Lakers 23-15 in last year’s playoff game.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” said senior lineman Tyler Huffer. “It was a full team effort tonight. It took all 11 of us out there to get this win. We have each other’s backs.”
Indian Lake’s defense gave another stellar performance. The Vikings were averaging just over 250 rushing yards per game entering Friday, but were held to 170 by the Laker defense. River Valley standout running back Tyler Spears was held to 119 yards on the ground.
Alex Jacobs delivered another impressive performance on offense. He completed 13-of-20 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns and had 166 rushing yards on 17 carries and a score.
Also for the Indian Lake offense, Adrew Hulbert finished with 44 rushing yards on 17 carries with a score. Collin Coburn led the wide receivers with 84 yards on five catches and Parker Grothaus added 45 receiving yards on two catches.
Indian Lake’s Andrew Hulbert leaps over the goal line for a touchdown during the second quarter of their Division IV state playoff game against River Valley Friday night at ILHS. (EXAMINER PHOTO | AARON LaBATT)