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Day: August 27, 2022

SOFTBALL: Joplin sweeps two games in Kick Off Classic opener; Carl Junction splits

Posted on by Lucas Davis

AURORA, Mo. — The 2022 softball season got underway on Friday with Joplin sweeping a pair of games on the opening day of the Kick Off Classic hosted by Aurora High School, with Carl Junction closing the day with a split.

The Eagles (2-0) earned an 18-5 win over Aurora before defeating Carl Junction (1-1) in the second game, 3-2. The Bulldogs also earned a 15-3 win over Aurora. 

 

JOPLIN 18, AURORA 5

Joplin started quickly with four runs touching home in the first inning before adding seven in the third, four runs in the fourth and three more tallies in the fifth on the way to the five-inning win in the opening game.

Jill McDaniel earned the win after allowing one unearned run on two hits, three walks and six strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings. Ava Wolf allowed four runs, three earned, on two hits, three walks and a strikeout in 1 1/3 innings of relief. 

Abby Williams took the loss after allowing 11 runs, nine earned, on seven hits, seven walks and a strikeout in three innings. Kenzie Malott allowed seven runs, two earned, on six hits, three walks and a strikeout in two relief innings.

Joplin scored 18 runs on 13 hits, with Bailey Ledford, Riley Kelly, Izzy Yust, Abby Lowery and Maria Loum all recording two hits apiece. Ledford doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in two, while Kelly had a double, drove in three and scored twice. Lowery had three RBI and scored a run, while Loum tripled, drove in two and scored twice. Libby Munn doubled, scored two runs and tallied two RBI, while Yust scored twice and picked up an RBI.

 

JOPLIN 3, CARL JUNCTION 2

Carl Junction took the early momentum with two runs in the top of the first inning before Joplin rallied with single tallies in the second, third and fourth innings and held the Bulldogs at bay the rest of the way en route to the victory.

CJ landed the first punch with two runs scoring in the opening frame after a run-scoring triple to center from Sammie Sims before Madi Olds followed with an RBI groundout to build a 2-0 cushion.

Joplin cut the lead in half after Munn scored Lowery, who reached on an error, with a sacrifice fly to center. After the Bulldogs stranded a pair of runners in the top of the third inning, the Eagles tied the game at 2-2 on a Jaydn Pankow two-out solo home run to left field. Lowery doubled to left to lead off the last of the fourth before scoring later on a two-out shallow single in left-center field to put Joplin in front for good, 3-2.

Carl Junction went down in order in its final three at-bats.

McDaniel earned the complete-game win in the circle, allowing two runs on three hits, two walks and 10 punchouts in seven innings of work.

Hannah Cole took the loss after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in three innings. Kiley Spencer allowed three hits and struck out one in three scoreless relief innings.

Pankow had two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Kirsten McMillen, Kelly, Yust, Lowery, who doubled, Munn and Loum all had hits for Joplin.

Sims had two hits, including a triple, an RBI and scored a run, while Spencer also had a hit for the Bulldogs.

 

CARL JUNCTION 15, AURORA 3

The Bulldogs close their day with four-inning win after plating five runs in the first inning to jump out in front before putting the game away with nine runs crossing home in the fourth.

Spencer earned the win after allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits, two walks and six strikeouts in four innings.

Williams took the loss after allowing 15 runs, 11 earned, on 11 hits, three walks and two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.

Ryleigh Palmer had two hits, including a triple, two runs scored and an RBI, while Izzie Southern had two hits, three RBI and scored twice. Dezi Williams tripled on the way to two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Sims had one hit, scored twice and drove in two. Hannah Cantrell had one hit, scored a run and walked once, while Georgia Arnold had a hit, scored twice and drove in one to go along with a walk.

 

SOFTBALL: Neosho tops Commerce in season opener

Posted on by Lucas Davis

NEOSHO, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats opened their season in style with a 10-3 win Friday against the Commerce (Okla.) Tigers at the Neosho Athletic Complex.

The Wildcats excelled at times Friday with their bats, their feet, their gloves, and their pitching arms.

Neosho took control of the contest with a six-run outburst in the fourth. The Wildcats plated one run in the four innings surrounding their big inning.

“I was pleased with the first outing, especially when you’re playing a team that’s already played 13 games,” Neosho coach Catie Cummins said. “Oklahoma gets to start sooner, so they’ve got a benefit there, but I was so pleased we had great energy the whole game and we tallied up 14 hits. We had a little bit of a struggle on the mound, too many walks and hit-by-pitches, but our defense helped us out and scoring that many runs when you have 14 hits, you can be not as sharp on defense or the mound. However, I know we can do better than that. Overall, though, great attitudes, great hustle, and great baserunning.”

The Wildcats applied steady pressure on the bases Friday — stealing bases, taking extra bases on throws, and scoring two of their six runs in the fourth on three-base errors by Commerce outfielders.

“Our baserunning was phenomenal,” Cummins said. “We’ve got some speed. There’s only a couple of kids on our team who can’t steal a base. Then, when the catcher’s arm isn’t great, we took advantage of it all day. She worked hard, but she just couldn’t get the ball down there quick enough for our speed. I was pleased with that.”

Grace Johnson started her senior year with three hits, including RBI singles in the second and the fourth.

“We’ve had some tough conversations with her,” Cummins said. “At the beginning of our practices, she just wasn’t squaring up the ball well and she wasn’t taking great cuts. She faced that adversity and has used the coaching and some of the difficult talks to her advantage. That’s what you want. She’s mentally tough, she was ready, and she knows that she has to hit to stay in the lineup. She can do it. We’re not asking her to do something that she can’t do. It showed, and when you get her on the bases, she’s phenomenal.”

Beclynn Garrett and McKaylie Forrest each doubled in the sixth, while freshman Autumn Kinnaird delivered two hits in her high school debut.

Neosho threw senior Chloe Patterson for the first two innings, brought on sophomore Carleigh Kinnaird in the third, and freshman Olivia Emery showcased her potential and earned her first victory with seven strikeouts and one hit allowed over 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

“We just finished our postgame talk, and we truly are a pitching staff,” Cummins said. “You saw that (Friday). We threw three kids out there that had success. If you ask Carleigh, she threw terrible and she’s going to beat herself up about it. She’s going to be ready for the next one. We’ve seen better out of her. All that to say, if we had to have left her in, she would have turned it around. We just wanted her not to feel like the pressure of the world was on her.

“Olivia, her ball is funky. It’s one of those things where people are shocked with what it is and it is hard to describe what she does. She pounds it in there pretty well, and she did a great job. We had some great defense (Friday), too.”

Neosho returns to action Monday on the road against Monett, an early-season opponent Neosho defeated 12-2 last season and 9-1 two seasons ago.

The Wildcats then close out their first week with games Friday and Saturday in the 18th annual Paige Neal/Christina Freeman Softball Tournament at the Joplin Athletic Complex.

Neosho opens with pool competition Friday against Blue Springs, Carthage, and Monett.

FOOTBALL: Seneca cruises past Aurora to open season

Posted on by Lucas Davis

AURORA, Mo. — The Seneca Indians opened the 2022 season with a comfortable 44-8 road win over Aurora on Friday.

The Indians jumped in front with a pair of 2-yard rushing touchdowns in the first quarter from Jackson Marrs, who added a third score in the second quarter from 6 yards out to help give Seneca a 24-8 lead at the intermission. Seneca blanked Aurora 20-0 in the third period and the Indians defense pitched a shutout in the second half.

Marrs’ third-quarter rushing score was from 23 yards outs, while Dominick Wheeler and Kaden Clouse each had 2-yard touchdowns on the ground

Marrs finished with 18 carries for 145 yards, while QB Gavyn Hoover completed 6-of-9 passes for 154 yards.

Seneca opens up the home portion of the schedule with a matchup with Springfield Catholic on Friday.

FOOTBALL: Neosho outlasts Willard in thrilling season opener

Posted on by Lucas Davis

“It was an exciting one, for sure,” Neosho coach Brandon Taute said. “Feels like we coached three or four games, honestly, and I’m sure the kids feel the same way. We had kids cramping up, but when you play as many snaps as they did, with some of them playing both ways, it’s to be expected.

“Both teams just kept fighting all game long. I told our kids before the game that it’s going to come down to whoever wants it the most. Without a doubt, our kids continued to fight until the very end, and they never gave up.

“We’ll use our 24-hour rule. They’ll get to enjoy it tonight and we’ll come back Saturday. There’s a lot to work on still. We’re going to have a long day in the film room, but it’s a good thing and it’s a lot easier to do when you come out on the winning side. We’ll try and clean things up and get ready for next week.”

Neosho, 1-0 overall and in the Central Ozark Conference, returns to action in Week 2 on the road against Nixa. The Eagles opened their season with a 42-19 victory Friday night against the defending Class 5 state champion Webb City.

After Willard tied it up at 72 with 6 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in regulation with a touchdown and a successful conversion run, the Wildcats took possession at their own 30 with 6:46 left and put together one of the most sustained drives on a night, highlighted by long scoring plays and possessions under a minute.

Neosho drove 70 yards in 14 plays and Jared Siler scored the winning TD on a 1-yard run at 2:07. The Wildcats relied heavily on their senior running back on the final drive, calling his number nine times, all running plays.

“We’re a tempo offense,” Taute said. “We always try and control the tempo of the game. Most of the time, that’s going fast. Late in the game, we slow down a little bit to try and take some time off the clock. We really want to try and get them gassed, so that plays to our advantage.”

The Wildcat defense played tough when it mattered the most and junior defensive back Cade Camerer preserved the victory with a fourth-down pass breakup on a Willard deep ball in the final minute.

“We preach to the kids that every play matters,” Taute said. “In a game like this, it’s never more evident that every single play matters and that one play you make is the difference in the game.”

Friday night marked the latest chapter in what has started to become a rivalry.

The Wildcats played against Willard in three of their last four games—Neosho defeated Willard 21-14 in Week 8 last season for the Wildcats’ only win, with a late Siler touchdown run and a defensive stand against the driving Tigers preserving victory. Two weeks later, Willard returned to Bob Anderson for a playoff game and ended Neosho’s season with a 56-35 final score.

“It’s been back-and-forth the last three times,” Taute said. “We played them three times at home. We’re lucky to get them at home each time, honestly, but I’m excited to move forward throughout the year and I hope that this can get us some confidence heading into next week.

“Our kids have been working hard in the weight room since the season ended last year. We’ve spent time doing drills and going to camps all summer long. Our progress has been great every week, but we just want to continue to get better every day.”

Neosho and Willard truly outdid themselves in their most recent meeting.

The Wildcats sprinted out to a 14-0 lead with a pair of scores in the first 1:51— taking possession first, senior Isaiah Green turned a short pass from junior quarterback Quenton Hughes into a 63-yard touchdown play down the left sideline and then Hughes and senior Brock Franklin connected on a 20-yard TD pass two plays after senior Carter Baslee recovered a Willard fumble on the ensuing kickoff.

Neosho never trailed Friday and led 24-14 after one quarter, 52-36 at halftime, and 66-56 after three quarters.

Willard fought back to within 17-14, 38-36, and 52-50 before the 72-all score.

 

NOTE: The 151 combined points is second most all-time in MSHSAA history for an 11-man contest. 

Owensville and St. James combined for 155 in 2011 (80-75).

GIRLS TENNIS: Joplin tourney kicks off ’22 season

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

The Joplin Interstate Championships kicked off the 2022 girls tennis season on Friday at both JHS and Millennium Family Fitness.

The 16-team tournament got underway on Friday with pool play action. 

Joplin went 1-2 in Pool A. 

Joplin senior Emma Watts hits a backhand during Friday’s Joplin Interstate Championships at the JHS tennis courts. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

Joplin earned a 6-0 win over West Plains.

Rogersville edged Joplin 5-4, while Lee’s Summit North topped the Eagles 5-0. 

Against Rogersville, Joplin’s No. 1 doubles team of Emma Watts and Mya Ndedi Ntepe beat Caitlyn Archer and Lydia Coryell 7-5. Joplin’s No. 2 doubles team of Brynn Driver and Jensen Vowels beat Alex Wubbena-Raleigh Powell 6-0. The Wildcats won the No. 3 doubles match, as Nikki Woods-Gabrielle Bybee beat Alex Carson and Bonnie Smith 6-0.

Watts beat Archer 6-4 at No. 1 singles and Vowels defeated Coryell 6-2 at No. 3 singles. Woods defeated Ndedi Ntepe 6-1 at No. 2, Wubbena topped Driver 6-1 at No. 5, Powell edged Carson 7-6 (7-5) at No. 5 and Veronica Kozlar nipped Smith 7-6 (7-4).

Lee’s Summit North won all three doubles matches and two singles matches (No. 3, No. 4) to earn the dual win against the hosts.

Against West Plains, Joplin’s Driver, Carson and Smith won singles matches. Joplin swept all three doubles matches.

Lee’s Summit North went 3-0 in the pool, while Rogersville was 2-1 and West Plains went 0-3. 

Carl Junction went 2-1 in Pool B.

The Bulldogs beat Warrensburg 5-1 and Willow Springs 5-0. 

Rogers beat Carl Junction 5-0 en route to going 3-0 in pool play.

Webb City went 0-3 in Pool C and College Heights was 0-3 in Pool D. The Cardinals suffered losses to Staley (5-0), Rogers Heritage (6-0) and Harrisonville (8-1).

The Cougars dropped matches to Grain Valley (5-0), Willard (5-4) and Bentonville West (5-0).

 

SATURDAY’S ACTION

The tourney continues on Saturday with bracket play.

In the opening round of the Challenger’s Bracket at 9 a.m., Joplin plays College Heights, Webb City meets Willow Springs, Willard takes on Warrensburg and West Plains plays Harrisonville. 

The semifinals are scheduled for 11:30, with the championship match slated for 2.

The Champions Bracket’s first round matches have Bentonville West vs. Rogersville, Carl Junction vs. Staley, Lee’s Summit North vs. Rogers Heritage and Grain Valley vs. Rogers. Those matches start at 9 a.m., with semifinals at 11:30 and final matches scheduled for 2. 

 

Bonnie Smith hits a forehand for the Eagles on Friday. All photos by Shawn Fowler.

 

Carl Junction’s Emily Rice is pictured during Friday’s girls tennis tournament at Joplin High School.

 

Joplin’s Brynn Driver hits a forehand winner during Friday’s tournament at JHS. All photos by Shawn Fowler.

FOOTBALL: Guidie notches 200th career win in Carthage rout

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

CARTHAGE, Mo. — After scoring one of his six touchdowns in the first half on an extremely humid Friday night, Luke Gall suddenly felt sick. He ran off the field to the sidelines, knelt down and vomited.

The extra point try and kickoff took place in the background while he collected himself and sipped some water.

On the next two plays, the two-way senior standout was the first defender to the ball, stuffing run plays. 

It was that kind of night for Gall and Carthage as they routed the Republic Tigers 56-26 at David Haffner Stadium to begin the 2022 football season 1-0.

“It’s just about the drive to win,” the running back/linebacker combo said of how he was able to continue, and thrive. “It’s humid tonight, it was raining earlier, it got humid. I just got tired, I threw up. But the game’s not over. In my opinion, it’s my responsibility (to help) the team win. That’s how I should think, to carry myself more and play better. If we lose, I take the loss personally. If we win, that’s on the team and it’s a good job. So I think it’s just about effort, I guess.”

Luke Gall scored six touchdowns against Republic on Friday. Photo by Jessica Greninger.

Gall’s effort in the victory could be called satisfactory. In addition to playing nearly every snap at linebacker, he found the end zone five times on the ground and hauled in a pass from senior quarterback and first-year starter Cooper Jadwin, taking it 96 yards for a total of six scores on the night. 

“We were backed up pretty good there,” said coach Jon Guidie, who reached 200 career coaching wins with Friday night’s victory, most coming at Carthage, but 47 as coach of Cherryvale High School in Southeast Kansas. “Second and long, we thought ‘Let’s try to get half of it, let’s see if we can’t get it back to manageable on third down.’ And then Luke turned into Luke and he just does what he does … beautifully executed play right there.”

At that point, Carthage held a lead of only 20-7 late in the second quarter. A block in the back penalty and a loss of four on a run by Jadwin had backed Carthage up to its own 6-yard-line. Guidie sent multiple wideouts deep, and Gall emerged from the backfield and floated into the flat, where Jadwin found him and he refused to be stopped until he found the end zone.

That touchdown was part of a 36-19 run in Carthage’s favor that sealed the deal. 

Some season-opening jitters led the Tigers to use all three of their first-half timeouts by the 7:44 mark of the second quarter, meaning they had to eat a delay of game penalty before halftime, and they also allowed Republic some big plays, as those Tigers scored on plays of 53, 65 and 50 yards. Even so, the game ended with a 30-point margin and, thus, MSHSAA’s accelerated clock. 

Carthage QB Cooper Jadwin carries the ball on Friday night. Photo by Jessica Greninger.

“That’s kind of what we said at halftime, ‘It feels like we’re just getting killed out here,’” Guidie said. “And it was because it was so stressful just getting the plays in, having to use those timeouts, getting the right personnel in, all those things. But, you know, it’s a first week and those things will get ironed out.”

Gall ended the night with 15 rushes for 115 yards and two receptions for 121 yards. That all added up to six total touchdowns and 236 yards from scrimmage. 

Making his first-ever start at quarterback, Jadwin rushed 12 times for 89 yards and completed 4-of-7 passing attempts for 147 yards and the touchdown to Gall. 

Guidie jokingly chalked up his career milestone to volume and time, but said what he appreciated about it most was his team celebrating on his behalf. 

“I’ve been really fortunate to coach with some really good football coaches and coach some really good football players,” he said. “And, you know, I’ve been doing this a long time, so, eventually, you’re probably going to get there. But, no, it means a lot to have these guys do it and, you could see that they were very, very happy for me, which makes me really proud of them.”

Carthage will travel to face the Branson Pirates in Week 2.

 

Carthage senior standout Luke Gall reaches the end zone against Republic.

FOOTBALL: Rushing attack leads Carl Junction to convincing win over Ozark 

Posted on by Lucas Davis

OZARK, Mo. — Coming off a three-win campaign, Carl Junction football was presumably thrilled to turn its focus to the 2022 season. Bringing back plenty of experience, the Bulldogs this preseason worked on leaning into their biggest strength—the running game.

“We don’t want to line up and throw it 40 times a game,” Carl Junction coach Doug Buckmaster told SoMo Sports earlier this week. “We want to be more balanced, or even more top heavy running the football. … We have three or four kids who can rotate at running back, and they also play defense, so we are trying to get better at platooning than we have been the last couple of years.”

Carl Junction’s rushing attack was supposed to be highlighted by Chance Benford. However, the talented back and all-conference linebacker had his senior season taken away from him by way of a lower leg injury that occurred during last week’s jamboree.

Even without their top back Friday night, the Bulldogs stuck to their preseason gameplan of running the football, and relied on juniors Johnny Starks and Tony Stewart on their way to a 42-21 victory over Ozark to open the season and Central Ozark Conference slate at Tigers Stadium.

Starks tallied two of the Bulldogs’ five rushing touchdowns on the evening, while junior quarterback Dexter Merrell added a pair of rushing scores and Stewart had one of his own.

Carl Junction notched its lone non-rushing touchdown to open the scoring just minutes into the contest when Merrell heaved a touchdown pass over the top to senior receiver Malakhi Moore, who sped past his defender and hauled in the catch before racing all the way to the end zone to complete an 85-yard touchdown reception.

The Bulldogs’ first defensive possession resulted in a fumble recovery. Carl Junction’s offense capitalized on the turnover, as Starks darted his way into the end zone on a 16-yard rush midway through the first quarter following a Nathan Planchon big-play reception from Merrell.

Ozark responded and cut the deficit to 14-7 with a 40-yard rushing touchdown from senior running back Ethan Sutherland with 4:35 left in the first frame. Starks, however, found the end zone again, this time from 12 yards out, to provide the visitors a 21-7 lead with 9:07 remaining in the second.

Carl Junction’s defense was in the midst of a groove at this point. It yielded two punts and a second turnover, a fumble recovered by Starks, which set up a 36-yard run by Stewart and a Merrell 2-yard touchdown run via a quarterback keeper—providing a Bulldogs’ favorable 28-7 halftime lead.

After the Tigers turned over their first possession of the second half, Merrell capped another successful touchdown drive—highlighted by a Starks’ 46-yard run—on a two-yard scamper with 7:34 left in the third quarter. Then, Carl Junction extended the lead to 42-7 late in the third when Stewart scored from four yards out. He finished the third quarter with 73 rushing yards on 11 carries. Starks midway through the frame had 82 yards on six rushes.

Ozark tacked on two touchdowns in the fourth quarter when Brady Dodd linked up with Jace Whatley on a 57-yard connection and Laine Emmerth scored a 32-yard rushing touchdown.

Carl Junction hosts Webb City at 7 p.m. on Thursday in a COC contest. Nixa knocked off Webb City in a crucial Week 1 road win, 42-19.

FOOTBALL: College Heights drops debut contest

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — North Shelby defeated College Heights Christian 72-56 on Friday night in an 8-man football contest at St. Joseph Christian.

It was the first-ever football game for College Heights.

North Shelby led 38-12 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Cougars had a solid second quarter and only trailed 44-36 at halftime.

By the end of the third period, North Shelby was up 50-36. CHC scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.

College Heights (0-1) is at Orrick next Friday.

FOOTBALL: Joplin rolls past Branson in opener behind breakout game from sophomore Davin Thomas

Posted on by Lucas Davis

If you weren’t familiar with sophomore Davin Thomas’ name before Joplin squared off against Branson to open the 2022 regular season, you certainly knew his name by the time the clock expired in the fourth quarter. 

Joplin senior LB Draven VanGilder (58) and junior DE Blake Farmer (18) wrap up the Branson ball carrier in the Eagles’ win over the Pirates on Friday at Junge Field. Photos by Shawn Fowler.

Joplin football has produced a number of athletes over the last several seasons capable of the big play, and Thomas looked like another dangerous addition to the Eagles’ offense after accumulating a pair of touchdowns to go along with 116 yards receiving on five catches, all coming in the first half, to help lead Joplin past Branson 34-3 on Friday at Junge Field.

“He definitely has the speed and athleticism to be a big-play guy,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “With sophomores, you just never know how they will react the first time on the big stage. But, he made some outstanding plays and it’s nice that we can count on him.”

In total, Joplin’s offense had five scoring drives while gaining 441 yards on 49 plays, but also had a pair of turnovers. 

“Offensively, the thing I was most proud of was our perimeter blocking,” Jasper said. “We return WRs Terrance (Gibson) and Aidan (Sampson), but we also had some guys like Davin who were fairly new playing and they did a good job, too.”

Joplin senior WR Terrance Gibson fights for extra yardage on a catch early in the Eagles’ win over Branson on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

On the other side of the ball, the Eagles’ defense was dominant. Joplin forced Branson into two turnovers while limiting the Pirates to three points, 191 yards on 45 plays, pitching a second-half shutout in the process.

“I can’t say enough about the defense,” Jasper said. “We replaced nine of 11 and they just did an amazing job tonight. And it was a bunch of guys rotating in. We didn’t have 11 guys playing the entire game. There were a lot of players who saw action tonight and I feel really good about that.”

GAME ACTION

After a fumble on a quarterback-running back exchange on its first possession, Joplin’s offense found some life the second time with the ball. On the second play of the series, looking at a second-down and 3 yards, junior QB Hobbs Gooch found Thomas in the far flat, with Thomas running past everyone up the sideline on the way to a 76-yard touchdown, the first of his varsity career, with 5:10 left to play in the first quarter.

Joplin added to their lead after the defense forced the Pirates in a three-and-out punt situation. On the fourth play of the third series on offense, Joplin junior RB Quin Renfro broke off a 13-yard run to set himself up for a 2-yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-0 with 1:55 left in the first quarter.

“I was really pleased with the offensive line in the first half,” Jasper said. “They did a really good job of opening holes and the running backs did a good job of hitting them.”

Joplin junior QB Hobbs Gooch loads up to pass in the Eagles’ win over Branson on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

The Eagles were driving into Branson territory after forcing another punt before Gooch was picked inside the red zone for Joplin’s second turnover of the game at the start of the quarter.

The turnover didn’t swing the momentum, as the Eagle defense again got a quick stop and the offense capitalized with Gooch finding senior RB Drew VanGilder in the flat, with VanGilder making a man miss before barreling his way into the endzone for paydirt with 8:26 left in the first half to stretch the margin to 21-0.

Joplin’s defense gave possession back to the offense shortly later when senior LB Draven VanGilder, who finished with 16 tackle sin the win, recovered a fumble by Branson.

The Eagles made the most of the turnover, with Thomas finding the endzone for the second time in the game after hauling in a 13-yard pass from Gooch with 5:40 left in the first half to vault Joplin to a 27-0 lead.

Branson got on the board just before the two-minute mark of the second quarter when sophomore Dane Efird connected on a 26-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 27-3. The kick was set up by a 51-yard run from RB Cade Grimm.

Joplin’s defense came up with a turnover with the Pirates looking at first-down and goal from the 10-yard line when junior LB Jonathan Williams dove on a bad snap to give the offense the ball back.

Joplin got the first points of the second half when Gooch flipped a pass to Terrance Gibson, who burst through the hole, fought off a tackle and sprinted to the endzone for a 64-yard touchdown with 47.9 seconds left in the third quarter to push the lead to 34-3.

“I haven’t ran that fast in a minute,” Gibson said with a smile. “The coaches have been pushing us hard in the weight room, and I am lining up with guys I want to see succeed. If I am going to be a leader on this team for them, I need to work hard to make sure the underclassmen can look up to me.”

JOPLIN STATS

Joplin junior Garrett Howard (45) and sophomore Josiah Hazlewood (30) wrap up the Branson ball carrier in the Eagles’ win over the Pirates. Photo by Shawn Fowler.

Gooch was 16-of-20 passing with four touchdowns and two interceptions and 299 yards through the air. Renfro rushed 10 times for 49 yards and a touchdown, with Drew VanGilder rushing nine times for 62 yards to go along with one reception for 13 yards and a touchdown. Gibson added three catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. 

UP NEXT

Joplin hits the road in Week 2 with a matchup at Willard on Sept. 2.

FOOTBALL: With missed opportunities, Webb City falls to Nixa in Week 1

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Self-inflicted wounds doomed the Webb City Cardinals in the opener of the 2022 prep football season.

An inability to finish off drives plagued the Cardinals throughout the contest.

On the other hand, the Nixa Eagles made the most of their offensive opportunities en route to a 42-19 Central Ozark Conference victory over the Cardinals on Friday night at a packed Cardinal Stadium.

Penalties cost the Cardinals three possible scores, with all coming inside the 20-yard line. The Cardinals also had a costly turnover. 

“Those penalties were just drive killers,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “When you don’t finish drives, you put your defense in bad positions. We were moving the ball, but we self-destructed at times. We’ll work on those penalties. But it’s on me. I’m the head coach. I thought our kids played hard. But we didn’t play as well as we would have liked.”

Last year’s Class 5 state champion, Webb City trailed 21-13 at halftime and 28-13 at the end of the third quarter.

Roderique noted his team could never generate much momentum.

“In the game of football, there’s so much involved with momentum,” Roderique said. “I think if we’d have punched it in a couple of times we would have momentum and more energy. I never felt like we had much momentum. Our offense normally does that, but we didn’t do it. We just couldn’t finish anything. A lot of it was self-imposed.”

Of course, Webb City lost last year’s season opener, but went on to win a state championship. With that, Roderique noted one early-season loss won’t define the season.

“It’s just the first game and it is what it is,” Roderique said. “Now we know where we’re at. We know what direction we need to go as far as moving forward.” 

Webb City QB Landon Johnson hands off to Cole Cavitt during Friday’s game against Nixa at Cardinal Stadium. Photo by Israel Perez.

GAME ACTION

After the Cardinals had a promising opening drive halted due to five penalties, Class 6 Nixa went 82 yards on three plays to take an early lead. Ramone Green sprinted 46 yards for the game’s opening score with 6:52 left in the first quarter. 

The Cardinals tied it up on Cole Cavitt’s 5-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left in the opening frame. The hosts went 80 yards on seven plays on the drive.

A 35-yard touchdown pass from Connor Knatcal to Wyatt Vincent gave Nixa a 14-7 lead with 10:55 remaining in the first half. 

The Eagles went up 21-7 after Green connected with a wide open Spencer Ward on a 13-yard TD strike with 7:38 left in the second quarter. 

The Cardinals responded on the ensuing drive, as Cavitt capped a seven play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. The PAT kick was no good.

Nixa led 21-13 at halftime. 

But a penalty wiped out a Webb City touchdown early in the third quarter. 

Nixa capitalized on the next series, as Green scampered in from a yard out, extending the visitors’ lead to 28-13. The Eagles converted a key fourth down play to keep the driving going.

The Cardinals had another drive stall inside the red zone, as a block-in-the-back penalty wiped out a golden opportunity. Webb City QB Landon Johnson was sacked on the next play for a turnover on downs. 

Still, Omari Jackson’s 1-yard TD run cut the hosts’ deficit to 28-19 with 10:44 to play. 

But Nixa added a pair of unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, both by Dylan Rubera. 

Omari Jackson picks up a gain on the ground for Webb City on Friday night. Photo by Israel Perez.

NAMES & NUMBERS

Webb City had 385 yards of total offense, with 374 on the ground and 11 through the air. 

Jackson led Webb City with 162 rushing yards on 19 carries. 

“I thought Omari had a really good night,” Roderique commented. 

Cavitt added 88 yards on 12 carries. The Cardinals lost running back Max Stovern to an injury early in the game. 

Johnson completed 2-of-7 passes and also ran 10 times for 47 yards. William Hayes hauled in both passes. 

Connor Gayman was credited with nine tackles, while Lucas Ott had eight stops and Kaylor Darnell had seven tackles.

Webb City finished with 10 penalties for 66 yards.

Nixa’s spread offense compiled 432 yards, 290 rushing and 142 passing.

Green ran 26 times for 231 yards and two scores, while Knatcal completed 9-of-14 passes.

“I thought Ramone was really impressive,” Roderique said. “We could hardly get a clean hit on him. I thought the way he played tonight really was a difference.” 

Nixa features a solid core back from last year’s squad that went 8-3 and finished the ’21 season ranked seventh in Class 6.

Roderique gave the Eagles credit after the game. 

“You win ballgames by having good players,” Roderique said. “They’ve got good athletes, great players, great coaches. They’ve got everything you need to be a good football team.”

 

WHAT’S NEXT?

Webb City (0-1) is at Carl Junction (1-0) on Thursday night.

 

NIXA 42, WEBB CITY 19

SCORING SUMMARY

NIXA: Ramone Green 46 run (Kaleb James kick)

WC: Cole Cavitt 5 run (Dante Washington kick)

NIXA: Wyatt Vincent 35 pass from Connor Knatcal (James kick)

NIXA: Spencer Ward 13 pass from Green (James kick)

WC: Cavitt 1 run (Kick failed)

NIXA: Green 1 run (James kick)

WC: Omari Jackson 1 run (PAT failed)

NIXA: Dylan Rubera 32 run (James kick)

NIXA: Rubera 2 run (James kick)

 

FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)

 

Max Stovern is tackled early in Friday’s game with Nixa.

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