The North Nodaway 1983 football team is becoming forgotten. For instance, it was not brought up at last year’s Homecoming celebration, which paid tribute to past successful teams. However, that team laid the groundwork for 1989’s State Championship team.
Team members were Darin Colville, Duane Brown, Mike Blackney, Rich Baldwin, Mike Coleman, Mike Spalding, Alan Roush, Scott James, Todd Gorman, Tony O’Riley, Charles Blake, Rodney Vance, Kent Porterfield, Craig McIntyre, Clinton Weddle, Larry Bix, Joey Spalding, Kevin Owens, Jeff Blackford, Todd Stites, Bruce Judd, Kirby Morrison, Greg Thompson, Tim Coleman, Jonathan Keyes, Bryan O’Riley, and Steve Knorr. Cheerleaders that year were Amy Pennington, Christy Sorensen, Lila Lynch, Melody Burgess, Sherry Lowrance, and Sonya Alexander. They were coached by Marty Albertson.
Before there was Kobe Reynolds, there was Tim Coleman; the tandem of Coleman and Bruce Judd could break down most defenses and open everything else up. The Mustangs had some other capable receivers that year, as well as two steady backs in Bryan O’Riley and Jeff Blackford.
On the very first play of the season, at home against Mound City, starting from their own 20 yard line, Tim Coleman hooked up with Bruce Judd for 80 yards to put North Nodaway up 7-0 over Mound City after Darin Colville’s extra point kick. The Panthers would come to dominate eight man football in the late 1990’s and the 2000’s along with Worth County; however, they were a tailender that year. North Nodaway would go on to rack up 427 total yards against the Panthers that game. Tim Coleman was 5 for 14, but threw for 178 yards. Bryan O’Riley ran 12 times for 124 yards, while Jeff Blackford ran 5 times for 74 yards.
The Mustangs would go on to take control of the game in the first half. Jeff Blackford scored off a 16 yard run with 6:37 left to put his team up 13-0. Bryan O’Riley added a 3 yard scoring run in the second quarter and Tim Coleman would air one out to Darin Colville to make it 27-0 at the half. Bryan O’Riley got his second score in the second half with a 64 yard run, and Coleman hooked up with Kent Porterfield to make it 39-0.
The next game was against another tailender in West Nodaway, but the game was anything but a pushover. Games with West Nodaway were knock-down drag-out affairs in which the record book didn’t always matter. But North Nodaway came away with the 16-0 victory.
The Craig game started off as an eight man shootout. Once again, North Nodaway scored off its first play from scrimmage, getting a 33 yard pass from Tim Coleman to Darin Colville to put them on the board at 7-0. But then Craig, who was celebrating its homecoming, came right back behind Lyle Smith’s two yard run and a two point conversion to make it 8-7. Bryan O’Riley promptly ran back the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to put North Nodaway back in front 14-8. Craig struck right back, going up 15-14. Then, Tim Coleman aired one out to Darin Colville for 46 yards to put his team up 21-15.
After that, North Nodaway began to take control against the Hornets. Bryan O’Riley scored off a 3 yard run and Tim Coleman aired one out to Bruce Judd to make it 35-15 at the half. The Mustangs broke it open in the second half as Bryan O’Riley scored off a 26 yard run and a 31 yard run and Darin Colville added a 41 yard scoop and score to make it 54-15 before Craig tallied late for the 54-22 final score. Tim Coleman completed 10 out of his 17 pass attempts for 199 yards. Bryan O’Riley had 13 carries for 97 yards, while Jeff Blackford had 10 carries for 63 yards. North Nodaway had 389 total yards against the Hornets.
The Mustangs had a much easier time with winless Fairfax, putting them away 56-0 for their third straight shutout. That put them at 4-0 and set up their Homecoming clash with South Holt.
Bryan O’Riley was crowned Homecoming King that year, while Lorrie Brown was crowned Queen. They were crowned by Mike Blackford and JoAnn Frueh, the 1982 royalty. Other candidates were Cathy Pope, Lila Lynch, Kent Porterfield, and Bruce Judd. Freshman attendants were Cherlynn Miller and Todd Stites. Sophomore attendants were Angie DeMott and Mike Spalding. Junior attendants were Carla Scroggie and Kirby Morrison. Crownbearers were Chad Drummond and Miranda O’Riley.
The Knights were much sterner foes than any of the other four teams North Nodaway had faced. While South Holt was not in the league of Nodaway-Holt, Tarkio, or Rock Port, who were the main powers in the 275 that year along with North Nodaway, they were the “best of the rest,” finishing their season with a 5-4 mark. But North Nodaway prevailed in their contest as Coleman completed 13 of his 26 passes for 144 yards. Bryan O’Riley had 15 carries for 86 yards as North Nodaway pitched their fourth shutout in five tries, winning 23-0.
That set up a showdown with undefeated Rock Port in Rock Port, always a difficult venue to play in. The first half was all Rock Port; the Blue Jays, under coach Stu Cline, would go on to win state the next year. Mike Thomas and Mark McMahon had one tally each as they went up 14-0 against North Nodaway and completely took away their passing attack. Nothing changed in the third quarter, but in the fourth quarter, North Nodaway came alive and showed that they were for real in the conference. First, Tim Coleman ran for a touchdown and the Mustangs successfully faked the extra point try as Coleman threw a strike to Jonathan Keyes to cut North Nodaway’s deficit to 14-8. Then, a pass from Coleman to Bruce Judd and Darin Colville’s extra point kick put North Nodaway in front 15-14. Then, a run from Bryan O’Riley made it 22-14. Jeff Blackford rushed for 75 yards against Rock Port, while Tim Coleman completed 9 of his 21 passes for 92 yards.
North Nodaway got a breather the next week, a 59-0 victory over DeKalb. But then, they had a showdown with Tarkio, the second part of the end of the season gauntlet they would have to run. Tim Coleman aired one out to Bruce Judd for a 74 yard pass to put North Nodaway up 7-0, a lead that they made stand up until halftime. But then Scott Graybill’s 16 yard run and a two point conversion put Tarkio in front 8-7 in the third. But Bryan O’Riley’s 76 yard run put North Nodaway back up 14-8 going into the fourth. In the fourth, Rod McEnaney’s one yard run tied it up at 14, setting up a wild finish.
With 30 seconds left, David Brussard’s tally put the Indians up 20-14. Despite little time left, North Nodaway was able to drive down to the Tarkio 10 with time running out. Tim Coleman threw it to Bruce Judd for what would have been the game-tying score, but the referees said he caught it out of bounds, and North Nodaway dropped a heartbreaker to Tarkio. Tim Coleman passed for 159 yards for the game, while Bryan O’Riley rushed for 93 yards.
That meant that North Nodaway would have to beat Nodaway-Holt in Graham in order to get a tie for the 275 title. The Trojans were a powerhouse team back in the early 1980’s, and playing against them was difficult because of the constant ringing of the cowbells that the Nodaway-Holt fans would do. One of the biggest North Nodaway crowds ever to attend a Mustang football game, over 500 people, made the trip to watch their team. They even brought a mascot, “Squeaky,” along, a mule owned by football player Rodney Vance and trucked to Graham by Arnold Garst.
North Nodaway moved the ball up and down the field in the first quarter, but couldn’t do anything with it. Finally, a fake field goal attempt backfired on them and it set up Joe Day’s 38 yard run to put Nodaway-Holt up 7-0. Shawn Skoglund’s pass to Scott Boyer made it 13-0 at the half. But like the Rock Port game, North Nodaway showed that they were a strong second half team. A desperation pass on fourth down from Tim Coleman somehow found Clint Weddle for a score and a two point conversion made it 13-8. Then, a one yard scoring run from Tim Coleman turned out to be the winning margin and the Mustangs were Highway 275 Conference Co-Champs with Nodaway-Holt with the 14-13 win. Coleman was 16 for 28 for 141 yards, while Bryan O’Riley rushed for 44 yards.
Named to the All-275 Squad were Bryan O’Riley (runningback, defensive back), Tim Coleman (quarterback, defensive line), Bruce Judd (end, linebacker), Steve Knorr (linebacker), Greg Thompson (offensive and defensive line), and Kent Porterfield (end, defensive back).
The win put North Nodaway in the state playoffs; however, that meant they would have to go back to Graham and play Nodaway-Holt. It was bitterly cold, with strong winds and rain. The buses had to park somewhere else to avoid getting stuck in the mud, while Nodaway-Holt had to deploy pumps just to clear water off the field so they could play ball.
The first half was scoreless, but North Nodaway had their chances. First, North Nodaway recovered a muffed punt on the Trojan 34, but couldn’t capitalize. Then, Kent Porterfield stole a pitch to set up a 25 yard field goal attempt that went just underneath the crossbar. Then, Jonathan Keyes’ blocked punt put the Mustangs on the Trojan 27, but Coleman was picked off on the 3 yard line. Porterfield picked off a pass on the Mustang 16 to kill a Trojan threat.
Finally, the Trojans took over in the second half as Joe Day’s 29 yard run put them up 7-0. A bad snap made it a two possession game at 9-0, and Nodaway-Holt added an insurance score to make the final score 15-0. But Coach Marty Albertson’s words at the end of the season turned out to be prophetic when he expressed hope that 1983 would lay the groundwork for future successes on the gridiron. The 1989 Mustangs would go on to win the Eight Man football championship.
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