The high school football team opened up its season last Friday night on the road against a league foe for the first time since rejoining the 11-man ranks, as it headed up to Denton to take on Doniphan West in the sixth ever matchup between the two schools on the gridiron. The Mustangs found themselves in a similar situation as Onaga a few years ago, as it was playing its first game after a return to 11-man football. Despite being TVL brethren, the two teams hadn’t played each other since a 2019 triple-overtime thriller that saw the Buffaloes come out on top 42-36, and hadn’t played an 11-man game against each other in nearly 10 years.
As good as that 2019 game was, the 2024 version of the matchup couldn’t have been much more of the opposite in terms of nail-biting moments. But for Onaga fans, it was a fun night that got started on the first drive of the game. The Buffaloes started the game from their own 36-yard line, and on the first play junior Josh Daniels ran 13 yards for a first down. That play would be an indication of the night to come for both the Onaga offense, and Daniels’s debut as the starting running back for the Buffaloes.
Onaga would drive 64 yards on five running plays to open the game, the final one being a 14-yard touchdown strike by Daniels. The PAT run failed, but the Buffaloes had an early 6-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
A three-and-out for Doniphan West gave Onaga the ball back in the first quarter and a long, time-eating drive ensued as the Buffaloes went 50 yards in 12 plays. It was junior fullback Gavin Kolterman that would find paydirt this time, punching it in from four yards out. That would give the Buffaloes a 12-0 lead through one quarter of play.
The second quarter was much of the same as Doniphan West accumulated negative total yardage in both the first and second periods. Meanwhile, the Onaga offense kept churning away yardage on the ground with two more scoring drives in the half. Both ended with senior quarterback Jackson Kolterman scoring, and the signal caller added a 2-point conversion as well to give the Buffaloes a 26-0 lead at intermission.
The third quarter was more of the same as the Buffaloes held Doniphan West scoreless once again and managed to score two more times. Both touchdowns came on Daniels runs, one a 36-yarder, the longest of his career. With another Jackson Kolterman PAT, Onaga led 40-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
With no JV game on Monday against the Mustangs, the coaches made it a priority to get as many players on the field in the second half as possible. Though they didn’t get a score in the fourth quarter, they did keep the shutout alive as they kept Doniphan West out of the endzone and sealed a 40-0 win for Onaga in the season opener.
The win gives Onaga not only a 1-0 start on the season, but also a 1-0 start in league play. They now move on to another league matchup this week, as they host Valley Heights in their first home game of the season. The Mustangs are coming off a season-opening loss to Centralia, 20-14, that they actually led in at one point. Despite their 0-1 record, it’ll be a great measuring stick game for the Buffaloes moving forward. With that in mind, get out to the Rosenfield Sports Complex on Friday night and MAKE SOME NOISE for your high school football boys. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.
For a look at the stats from any game, highlights, season totals, and everything else Onaga football related, head over to the district website (usd322.org) and go to the team’s page under the “Athletics” page.