The Independence football team got off to a shaky start in its season opener against Columbia on Friday.
The Blue Devils allowed the Raiders to return the opening kickoff for a touchdown then fumbled away the ensuing kick, which led to another Columbia score.
“We spotted them 13 points on poor special teams play,” said Independence coach Rick Adams. “Within a couple of minutes we were down 13.”
Independence rallied back but ran out of time in a 35-28 loss.
“That’s the one thing I was proud of,” Adams said of his team’s response to the early deficit. “I told them we kept fighting even though at one point we had five starters out because of cramping, which was frustrating. Kyle Stefanski, our quarterback, went out and Nick Mroczynski came in and put two drives together for us, so that was nice. We fought back.”
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Mroczynski finished the game with 25 carries for 128 yards and scored three of Independence’s four touchdowns. He also completed 2-of-5 passes for 24 yards and caught three passes for 24 yards.
Stefanski was 10-for-14 passing for 119 yards and Owen Ramm led the Blue Devils with four receptions for 38 yards. He also returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown.
Braden Sears contributed with two catches for 24 yards and Trevor Thompson hauled in one for 25 yards.
With the loss in the rearview mirror, the Blue Devils have turned their attention to their Week 2 opponent.
Trinity opened the season with a 38-14 win over Hawken.
“They remind us a lot of Columbia,” Adams said. “They have a really good quarterback, who was their fullback last year, and their tailback is really good. He runs hard and has good speed. Their defense flies to their ball and their defensive line does a lot of twists and loops, so our offensive line has to be solid and patient for those twists. They’re a very solid team.”
For Independence, success begins with what the Blue Devils can control.
“We have to start ready to play, that’s the big thing,” Adams said. “If we can contain their tailback, that will be the big thing for us. Offensively, we have to finish drives. We got down to the 5-yard line against Columbia and didn’t punch it in and then missed a field goal. We had an 11-play drive and came away with no points. We have to finish those.”
Finishing drives hasn’t been easy for the Blue Devils in 2017.
Independence possessed the football 10 times against Columbia and scored just three offensive touchdowns, with the fourth coming via special teams.
“We were 30-percent,” Adams said. “Our goal is we want a 40-percent touchdown efficiency. We have to do better than that.”
