The Carl Junction Bulldogs overcame the Ozark Tigers with a last second goal-line stop in a thrilling regular season finale that came down to the wire. With a 33-28 win, the Bulldogs had everyone on the edge of their seats as they wrapped up their season and head into the playoffs.
The night got started with a dominant performance by Carl Junction who forced an Ozark punt on the first drive of the night, which was punctuated by a tipped ball from sophomore Braxton Dodds. Dodds would go on to have an impressive night, especially on special teams, where he made several big tackles and the tipped punt.
Taking advantage of the short field, Carl Junction leaned on their strong run game to move the ball and scored on a 17-yard reception touchdown by senior Noah Southern. Southern would go on to have two touchdowns on the night. However, the Bulldogs started having kicking troubles early as they missed their first extra point of the night.
The Tigers responded with a strong drive of their own, continuously running the ball with senior quarterback Cannon Cox, and senior running back Tylr Bolin. Without throwing a single pass, the Tigers made it all the way to the Bulldogs’ 4-yard line. The Carl Junction defense held strong for their first goal-line stand of the night, forcing a turnover on downs. It would be a prelude of what was to come.
Despite getting the ball back and preventing a score, the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on the next drive and had to punt it away.
As the second quarter began, Ozark also was unable to get a drive going and had to punt. The Bulldogs quickly moved down the field and scored on a 1-yard rushing touchdown from senior quarterback Alex Baker. This time CJ converted a successful try for two, bringing them to 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
“We put in a quarterback sneak this week, and I’ve been waiting for it all year, and we finally called it,” said Baker. “I was very excited.”
Despite an uncharacteristically slow start, Ozark rebounded with a very quick drive down the field and scored a touchdown of their own on a 64-yard catch and run from senior Ethan Pritchard. It would be his first of two long touchdowns on the game. However, the Tigers kicked the ball out of bounds on the following play, putting the ball at the 35-yard line for the Bulldogs with less than three minutes left in the half. Just a few plays later, Baker hit senior Cole Stewart for a 54-yard touchdown. It would be the highlight of the night for Stewart, who finished with over 120 receiving yards.
“Our offense did really well,” said Stewart. “I hope we can have another good week of practice and carry it into the playoffs.”
The Bulldogs once again missed their extra-point try, sending both teams into the half with a 20-7 Bulldog lead. The Bulldogs received the second half kick and once again got the best of Ozark by relying on their ground game to eventually get back on the board with a 1-yard touchdown catch from Southern, his second of the night.
On their first possession of the second half, the Tigers seemed revitalized and quickly scored on back to back drives, forcing a Bulldog punt in between. One score went to Ethan Pritchard, who got a big 36-yard TD, and the other was on a quarterback keeper by Cox. As the third quarter ended, the Tigers were suddenly threatening a comeback down just six points.
Neither team was able to get any traction at the beginning of the final frame, trading back-to-back fourth down stops. The Bulldogs once again turned to their run game to lead them to the end zone, and hit paydirt on a 37-yard end around for a touchdown by senior Brady Sims. Once again, however, the Bulldogs were unable to convert the two-point try.
“It was spur of the moment call, but Cole Stewart had a great block which let me go all the way,” Sims said. “What really made the difference this week was our O-line. They picked up a lot of blitzes, Alex Baker had time in the pocket, and we were able to make a lot of deep plays.”
Sims recorded over 85 rushing yards.
With the game looking seemingly out of reach, and the Bulldogs nursing a 12-point lead with less than six minutes to go, the Tigers were unwilling the give up and stormed down the field thanks to another long catch by Prichard and quickly scored on another quarterback keeper by Cox.
Only needing a couple first downs to put the game away with less than three minutes left, the Bulldogs took over but only managed to convert one first down, giving the ball back to Ozark on a long punt that started their final drive near their own end zone.
With less than two minutes, and with only one timeout, the Tigers made one final bid at a comeback, and nearly succeeded.
With the game on the line, the Tigers once again pulled off several big plays, and smartly used their timeouts and a few spikes to stop the clock. In less than 120 seconds Ozark found themselves inside the Bulldog 5-yard line with less than four seconds left.
A touchdown looked all but certain as the Tigers did a toss out to the right, and as the whole stadium held their breath, the Bulldogs made an open field tackle for their second goal-line stand of the game, preventing a Tiger comeback as the clock hit zero.
“We faced the ultimate adversity right there on the last play of the game, from inside the five. We got it done and made the play,” said Carl Junction coach Doug Buckmaster. “Earlier in the season, in some games we’ve had trouble overcoming adversity. We did a tremendous job in the first half, and managed to get a couple scores in the second half to help us win it, too. I’m really proud of our kids for hanging in there and overcoming that adversity. It was a big win for us. Ozark is a good football team.”
Day: October 24, 2020
FOOTBALL: Carthage handles Nixa to finish regular season unbeaten
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Nursing a 14-6 lead with only minutes until halftime, the Carthage Tigers started a drive at their own 8-yard line. The offense advanced the ball to its 30, but faced a fourth-and-1 situation.
Knowing there was minimal time remaining and that his team would receive the opening kickoff of the second half, coach Jon Guidie planned to punt the ball away and hoped to take the one-score advantage into the break. The guys who would have to pave the way for that 1 more yard had another idea.
“(Nixa) called timeout and I went out there and said, ‘Guys, we’re going to have to punt here, we can’t go for it and risk it here,’” he said. “And our offensive line said ‘No, put it on us. Put it on us.’ Right then, man, I knew it was on.”
Senior quarterback Patrick Carlton followed his blockers for a 3-yard run and a new set of downs. Five plays later, Carlton hit Justin Sneed on a play-action pass for 40 yards, down to the 1-yard line, then punched it in for the score that loosened what had been a tight contest and vaulted Carthage to a 35-12 victory over the Nixa Eagles at David Haffner Stadium. The win capped an undefeated regular season for the Tigers at 8-0.
Nixa came into the matchup of COC championship contenders at 7-1, and looked ready to give Carthage a run for its money when the first play from scrimmage was an untouched Ramone Green dash to the end zone from 80 yards out. The Eagles, though, would go on to add only 271 more yards of offense, for a total of 351.
“These guys are a special group,” Guidie said. “We talked all week about ‘Yeah, this is a big game, but we’ve been in big games before. We’ve been there and we’ve done that.’ Champions are going to rise to the occasion, they’re going to overcome adversity. We came out, first play of the game they go 80 yards for a score and our kids didn’t flinch, and they very easily could have. They came right back and got after it. I love this group.”
Carthage flipped the script on a Nixa team that had, for the most part this season, dominated its opponents, allowing an average of only 11 points per game, while racking up more than 36 on offense. The Eagles scored only once more after Green’s long run, and Carlton and his offense pulled away with touchdowns on both of its final two drives.
Carlton totaled four touchdowns, and his usual backfield running mate, sophomore running back Luke Gall, added one for good measure. Carlton had 102 yards on 27 carries, while Gall added 18 attempts for 81 yards. Green finished with 147 rushing yards on 19 carries.
SCORING SUMMARY
CAR 7 14 0 14 — 35
NIX 6 0 6 0 — 12
FIRST QUARTER
NIX: Ramone Green 80-yard run. Kaleb James kick failed.
CAR: Patrick Carlton 2-yard run. Caleb Calvin kick.
SECOND QUARTER
CAR: Carlton 6 run. Calvin kick.
CAR: Carlton 1 run. Calvin kick.
THIRD QUARTER
NIX: Green 3 run. James kick failed.
FOURTH QUARTER
CAR: Carlton 1 run. Calvin kick.
CAR: Luke Gall 7 run. Calvin kick.
FOOBALL: A night of firsts leads Joplin to 48-0 win over Neosho
NEOSHO, Mo. — Heading into the regular season finale while coming off a win against Branson, Joplin coach Curtis Jasper wanted to see his team come up with another strong performance against Neosho to build some momentum heading into the postseason.
The Eagles did just that, blanking the Wildcats 48-0 on Friday night at Bob Anderson Stadium.
It was a night of firsts for Joplin, as the Eagles’ defense pitched its first shutout, while scoring its first touchdown. Joplin (5-4) won back-to-back games for the first time all season, while moving to above .500 for the first time since Week 1. The Eagles forced a running clock for the first time. Sophomore wideout Dante Washington returned from an injury suffered in Week 3 and scored his first rushing touchdown of the year. To top it off, late in the game, freshman quarterback All Wright threw his first-career varsity touchdown pass to freshman Whit Hafer, which was his first-career varsity touchdown reception.
“I was really happy with the way we played tonight,” Jasper said. “We had a lot of energy. We hadn’t achieved a turbo clock on anyone this year. We hadn’t won two in a row. We are just looking for consistency. We had a good week of practice, prepared well and did all the little things. It would have been easy to fall into a trap looking ahead to districts, but our leadership did a good job of making sure everyone was focused this week on doing what we needed to do.”
Joplin’s offense gained 374 yards on 57 plays. Nathan Glades carried the ball 18 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns, while Always Wright completed 10-of-15 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. Washington caught two passes for 30 yards and a touchdown and added 44 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Keaton Renfro, Trayshawn Thomas and Bruce Wilbert each had two receptions in the win.
“We came out in all three phases and played our butts off,” Glades said. “I am proud of the way we are playing. I am ready for the playoffs to see if we can continue it.”
Joplin’s defense limited Neosho to 37 yards on 43 plays, which comes out to .86 yards per play for the Wildcats. Drayke Perry had four rushes for 9 yards, while Cayden Auch caught two passes for 28 yards.
“I thought our energy, getting guys to the ball and tackling was really great tonight,” Jasper said of his defense’s performance.
After both teams traded turnover-on-downs, Joplin got on the board after turning to the ground game. Glades carried the ball nine times in the 12-play drive, crossing the goal line from a yard out to put the Eagles on top 7-0.
Joplin’s defense followed up with its first touchdown of the season after Jayden Holt forced Neosho quarterback Logan Whetzell into a fumble on a third-down pass attempt before scooping the ball up himself and scoring from 18 yards out to extend the Eagles’ lead to 14-0 with 9:58 to play in the first half.
“It was the trifecta,” Jasper said. “He caused the fumble, picked it up and scored. On a production chart, that’s the best you can do. He made plays all night long. He is a great player and he showed that tonight.”
“Coach (Nick) Reid drew up a really good game plan,” Holt said. “We just went out and executed. It was great to get that momentum, especially heading into the playoffs.”
Joplin went up three scores after a 13-play drive on the ensuing possession culminated in a 5-yard touchdown run by Glades, who had 115 rushing yards in the first half alone, to put the Eagles on top 21-0 with 4:24 left in the half.
With time winding down, Neosho was facing a fourth-down look from near midfield that was unsuccessful, giving Joplin possession at the Wildcat 47 with 1:37 left on the half. The Eagles needed just four plays to get into the end zone for the fourth time, with Washington catching a 28-yard touchdown pass from Always Wright to make the score 28-0 with 45 seconds left in the half.
“It felt great,” Washington said when asked how it felt to be back on the field. “It was really hard (not being on the field with the team). It is kind of weird watching someone else play your position knowing you can’t play. But, I could cheer, and I made sure I did that part.”
Neosho opened the second half with possession and the Joplin defense forced a three-and-out punt. The low snap went between the punter’s legs and was downed on the 1-yard line for a 33-yard loss. On the next play, Glades took the handoff all the way to the far pylon, evading would-be tacklers on the way, for a touchdown to put Joplin on top 35-0 early in the second half.
On the ensuing JHS possession, Washington ran the ball six straight times, including a 10-yard rushing score to make it a 41-0 lead for Joplin.
“When you get a kid back from injury, you always hold your breath and hope his first game goes well,” Jasper said. “He did a lot of things for us tonight on special teams, offense and defense.”
Freshman reserve quarterback All Wright hooked up with freshman Whit Hafer for a 29-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give Joplin a 48-0 lead.
“To get those guys out there, and they did a great job of going out there and scoring, it was a lot of fun to see,” Jasper said when asked about the production from the reserves.
DISTRICT UPDATE
Joplin currently holds the fifth seed with 32.74 points in the Class 6 District 3 standings, with Lee’s Summit West as the fourth seed with 34.54 points. If this holds firm through Saturday night when the official bracket is announced, Joplin will be traveling to open the playoffs.
“The nice thing is, this late in the year, I feel like we are finding our identity,” Jasper said. “Our guys are really enjoying each other and playing for each other. It’s nice, at this time of year, to be having a lot of fun playing football.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Joplin 7 21 13 7 — 48
Neosho 0 0 0 0 — 0
FIRST QUARTER
JHS—Nathan Glades 1 run (Joseph Ipsen kick)
SECOND QUARTER
JHS—Jayden Holt 18 fumble return (Ipsen kick)
JHS—Glades 5 run (Ipsen kick)
JHS—Dante Washington 28 pass from Always Wright (Ipsen kick)
THIRD QUARTER
JHS—Glades 1 run (Ipsen kick)
JHS—Washington 11 run (kick fail)
FOURTH QUARTER
JHS—Whit Hafer 29 pass from All Wright (Logan Beaver kick)
MOMENTUM: Webb City finishes regular season with eighth straight win
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals are heading into the postseason with plenty of momentum.
The Cardinals extended their winning streak to eight with a dominant 55-0 Central Ozark Conference football win over the Willard Tigers on a cold Friday night at Cardinal Stadium.
The Cardinals were superior in every phase of the game in this one, as Webb City led 41-0 at intermission.
“I thought our kids, from the onset, in all phases really competed well,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “I thought our kids were really focused. We talked during the week about focusing on ourselves and getting better. You want to continue to make strides and get better. That’s hard to judge sometimes, but we felt like we did that this week.”
Webb City ends the regular season at 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the COC.
Ranked second in Class 5, the Cardinals locked up the second seed for the District 6 tournament. With only six teams in the district, the top two seeds have a bye next week.
It was Webb City’s third shutout of the 2020 campaign.
NAMES & NUMBERS
Webb City racked up 443 yards on 48 plays, with 414 yards on the ground and 29 through the air.
Senior running back Devrin Weathers ran 11 times for 154 yards and four touchdowns, with all of his carries coming in the first half. Junior Dupree Jackson added 76 yards on seven carries, while senior quarterback Cole Gayman added 54 rushing yards.
Jacob Ott had six tackles, while Gavin Stowell and Treghan Parker had four tackles apiece. Cale Stephens grabbed an interception, while Cohl Vaden, Spencer Lortz, Ott and TJ Boyd all recovered fumbles.
Webb City had 20 first downs, while Willard had eight.
Willard (2-7) committed five turnovers, with four lost fumbles and an interception. The Tigers were limited to 129 yards on 38 plays, with 115 rushing and 14 passing.
Owen Bushnell ran 18 times for 53 yards, while Tyler Janes completed 2-of-5 passes for 14 yards with one interception.
GAME RECAP
Webb City literally took control from the start, as the Cardinals recovered an onside-kick to begin the night.
A Kansas State recruit, Weathers scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter—a 12-yard run and a 43-yard scamper.
Gayman’s 18-yard QB keeper and Vaden’s two-point conversion gave Webb City a 21-0 cushion at the 10:39 mark of the second quarter.
Weathers sprinted to a 28-yard touchdown run at the 9:33 mark of the second period, making a number of defenders miss while changing direction.
With the Webb City offensive line opening up big holes, Jackson scored Webb City’s fifth touchdown of the first half on a 3-yard plunge.
Weathers added a 24-yard touchdown sprint to give the Cardinals a comfortable 41-0 lead with 5:06 left in the first half.
At the break, Webb City had 318 yards while Willard had just 91.
Roderique rested his starters for the entire second half and got many other players into the game.
Freshman David Neal scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter, while sophomore Cy Darnell recorded a 9-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“We played our starters just one half and we put a lot of guys in,” Roderique said, estimating about 75-80 different athletes saw time on the field. “We had eight different running backs carry the ball tonight. We tried to do what we should do in that situation. I wish the score wasn’t 55.”
Roderique noted getting that many kids into the game will help them in the future.
“They only have one more JV game, and all of them getting a chance to play really does a lot for the morale and the excitement,” Roderique said. “What I really appreciate is the first one to congratulate a David Neal or a Cy Darnell is Devrin Weathers. Devrin, like a lot of the guys we’ve had here over the years, isn’t concerned with individual stats. He’s worried about winning and he’s worried about the other guys. That’s a selfless guy.”
DISTRICT SEEDS
With Friday’s 35-12 win over Nixa, Carthage edged Webb City for the top seed in Class 5 District 6.
Carthage finished with 48.53 points, while Webb City had 48.17 points.
Ozark (33.63), Republic (26.85), Branson (26.07) and Neosho (14.96) round out the district.
Carthage and Webb City will both have the night off on Friday, Oct. 30.
BYE WEEK
The Cardinals will have a full week of practice next week without a game. Webb City will be in the district semifinals in two weeks against an opponent to be determined.
“It’s a little bit unusual,” Roderique said. “It probably comes at a pretty good time because we’re banged and we’ve lost some guys over the last few weeks. It gives you a chance to get some other guys ready. We’re going to welcome it. It is what it is and we’re going to try to make the most of it. We’ll get to the basics and get back to some fundamentals.”
WEBB CITY 55, WILLARD 0
Willard 0 0 0 0 — 0
Webb City 13 28 7 7 — 55
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
WC: Devrin Weathers 12 run (Cameron Clark kick)
WC: Weathers 43 run (Kick failed)
Second Quarter
WC: Cole Gayman 18 run (Cohl Vaden run)
WC: Weathers 28 run (Kick blocked)
WC: Dupree Jackson 3 run (Clark kick)
WC: Weathers 24 run (Clark kick)
Third Quarter
WC: David Neal 1 run (Clark kick)
Fourth Quarter
WC: Cy Darnell 9 run (Clark kick)
Platte County’s Peoples knows all about Webb City softball
Platte County softball coach Callie Peoples will see some familiar faces across the field when her Pirates host the Webb City Cardinals at 2 p.m. on Saturday in a semifinal contest of the Class 4 state tournament.
“Kathy Harris was one of my coaches and Shauna Friend was my science teacher in high school,” Peoples said on Friday in a phone conversation with SoMo Sports.
Yes, the Cardinals will be squaring off against a team coached by a former Webb City standout.
A member of the Class of 2011, the former Callie Beaver was a stellar four-year performer for Webb City under then head coach Walter Resa and assistant coach Harris.
During her playing days (2007-10), the Cardinals won a state championship when she was a freshman and took third in both her sophomore and senior years.
“I have nothing but fond memories when I look back on my days at Webb City,” Peoples said. “We went to state every year but my junior year. Coach Resa and Coach Harris made me into the player I was all through high school and the player I became in college. They have shaped a lot of my coaching decisions. They were good mentors as I’ve developed my own coaching techniques and strategies. I still look up to both of them very much.”
As a senior right fielder, Peoples earned all-state, all-district and all-conference recognition after hitting .526 with an on-base percentage of .681. The team’s leadoff batter, Peoples scored 41 runs and stole 35 bases as the Cardinals went 31-2 en route to the third place finish at state.
After her prep career, Peoples played collegiately at Park University. She is married to Richie Peoples, another former Webb City Cardinal, and has been teaching and coaching at Platte County since 2015. She took over as the softball program’s head coach in 2018.
Under Peoples’ guidance, Platte County is having a remarkable season. Ranked fourth in Class 4 by the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association, the Pirates defeated Grain Valley 3-1 on Thursday in the quarterfinals to improve to 21-1.
“This season has been great,” Peoples said. “It seems like it has flown by. We have six seniors and most of them have played on varsity for three or four years. Our seniors have put this team on their backs. They want to win state. Our seniors have got the other girls to rally around them for a common goal.”
A player to watch for Platte County is senior pitcher Emma Koeneke, who struck out 10 and surrendered just five hits in the quarterfinals.
“She is totally in control when she’s in the circle and she doesn’t let a lot of things fluster her,” Peoples said. “She wants the ball in big games and I love her for that.”
Senior shortstop Halle Magee sets the table for the Pirates from the leadoff spot. She has also hit six homers.
“She has had a great year,” Peoples said. “She’s stepped up to a new level this year. She just has a way about her. She gets on-base and makes things happen.”
Sophomore first baseman Takayla Lawson hits cleanup.
“When runners are in scoring position, TK just finds a way to get them in,” Peoples said.
Webb City enters Saturday’s showdown with a record of 26-5 and ranked first in Class 4. Peoples said she’s well aware of what type of team her Pirates will be facing.
“My parents (Alan and Elaine Beaver) still live in Webb City so they’ve kept me up to date on how this year’s team is doing,” Peoples said. “I still talk to Coach Harris once in a while. I know they’re having a great season.”
Peoples noted it will be a memorable day for her when she leads her team against her alma mater, especially with a spot in the state title game on the line.
“I think it’s very special that I get to coach against a great team like Webb City,” Peoples said. “Not very often do you get to coach against someone who was your coach in high school, so I’m just excited to get to see Coach Harris and Coach Friend. It will be special to coach against them. I don’t think it adds any pressure, but it just makes it a little more of a unique situation. We’re excited to play them tomorrow.”
SEMIFINAL NOTES
Platte County has announced that the semifinal contest is closed to the general public. Tickets are being limited to family members of the players. Live audio of the game will be broadcast for free at www.kneo.org. MSHSAA is charging $10 to watch the live video broadcast on KNEO’s website.
Saturday’s other Class 4 semifinal features Webster Groves (14-2) at Rockwood Summit (11-3).
The semifinal winners meet in the championship game on Oct. 30 at Killian Softball Complex in Springfield.
