Eric Kluver grew up in Ankeny wanting to play football for legendary coach Jerry Pezzetti.
Kluver eventually followed in Pezzetti’s footsteps, becoming a head coach and building a solid program at Indianola.
On Friday, Kluver prevented his mentor from tying the state’s all-time record for coaching wins.
Indianola overcame an early 13-7 deficit by scoring 35 unanswered points and posted a 42-13 victory over visiting Ankeny Centennial in the season opener for both teams. Pezzetti, the Jaguars’ co-head coach, will have to wait at least another week to reach the milestone.
“Honestly, I didn’t know coming in (what to expect),” said Kluver. “Coach Pezzetti means a lot to me, and it’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. This win means a lot not only to myself, but it’s a great win for our football program. We’ve been doing some nice things the last few years, but to come out and play the way we did against a good Centennial team, I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
This was the first meeting between Centennial and Indianola. Kluver’s only previous win against Pezzetti came in 2010, when the Indians posted a 21-10 victory at Ankeny.
“That was a big win under some different circumstances,” Kluver said of the 2010 contest. “We brought a roster of 27 to Ankeny that night on their homecoming, and it was a huge win for us. I think we’ve established our football program because of guys who played in that game. We expected to win tonight, and that was the mindset going into this game. I’m just awfully proud of the way the guys responded after they got down, because it could have gone either way.”
Kael Kolarik scored three touchdowns for Indianola, while backup quarterback Bennett Brueck accounted for three more after replacing injured starter Brady Blake in the first half.
“They’re a great team,” Centennial co-head coach Ryan Pezzetti said of the Indians. “They’ll make a run in every game that they play. We’re big supporters of coach Kluver and the things that they do down here.
“We’ve just got to get better,” he added.
Indianola took an early 7-0 lead when Blake connected on a screen pass to Kolarik that resulted in a 63-yard touchdown less than 2 minutes into the game. However, Centennial then answered with a pair of scores in the next 38 seconds.
Trey Porter returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, but the play was nullified by an illegal block. The ball was placed at Indianola’s 27-yard line and after another penalty against the Jaguars, Peyton Goode rolled to his left on the first play from scrimmage and fired a 32-yard strike to Dominic Berry for the tying score.
Two plays later, Centennial’s Brody Targgart recovered a Kolarik fumble at the Indians’ 19-yard line. Then, on the next play, Ty Morgan dashed 19 yards up the middle to give the Jaguars a 13-7 lead with 9 minutes 40 seconds left in the first quarter.
After Indianola blocked the PAT attempt, the Indians then drove 66 yards to take the lead for good. Kolarik scored on a 1-yard run out of the Wildcat formation to make it 14-13.
A roughing-the-passer penalty against Centennial ignited Indianola’s next scoring drive. Several plays later, Brueck threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Carter Erickson on a flanker screen to extend the lead to 21-13.
“We had a toe-to-toe battle at quarterback, and we didn’t decide (the starter) until this weekend,” Kluver said. “They’re both very capable. I hate to lose Brady–it’s just unfortunate, but hopefully he’s going to be able to rebound. But they’re both very capable of running our offense. Bennett did a nice job once he was put in the game.”
The Jaguars committed back-to-back holding penalties on their next possession and were forced to punt. Indianola then drove 50 yards for another score–aided by a pass interference penalty–and took a 28-13 halftime lead on a 3-yard keeper by Brueck.
“You can’t make penalties and plan to sustain drives that way and win football games,” Pezzetti said. “You know, we gave up big plays on defense and then we got behind and it was just too much for us to overcome.”
Centennial turned the ball over on downs at the Indianola 23 with 35 seconds left in the half. The Jaguars then reached the red zone on their opening drive of the second half before Indianola’s Max Flaherty intercepted a pass by Goode at the 3-yard line.
Brueck threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Drew Kingery with 4:30 left in the third quarter. Kolarik later leaped into the end zone from a yard out to complete the scoring with 8:28 remaining.
Indianola was fourth in Class 4A in the preseason rankings by The Des Moines Register.
“We’ve been here 18 years now, and this is the first time we haven’t been in the big class,” Kluver said. “We’re hoping that it’ll create some more excitement here in Indianola–get more kids out, and we can have some success. A win like tonight is going to help in that area.”
Kluver hugged Pezzetti after the game. A few minutes later, he marveled at his former coach’s longevity.
“I don’t know how a coach can stay in it (for 60 years), but I’ve just got a lot of respect for the man,” Kluver said. “I’m doing what I’m doing because of him and his mentorship. I grew up as a young boy watching Ankeny Hawk football and no matter what sideline he is on now, I wanted to be like him. And 26 years later, I’m still doing it.”
