PINEVILLE, Mo. — Webb City’s girls and Carthage’s boys claimed the team championships at the McDonald County Meet at the Rock cross country invitational on Saturday at the White Rock School course.
Competing without standout Abi Street, Webb City’s girls had five of the top nine finishers and compiled 29 points. Neosho (52) and Carthage (54) were second and third in the team standings.
Lamar’s Kiersten Potter won the girls race in 17:52.
Neosho’s Chloe Wood (18:11) and Riley Kemna (18:55) took second and third, respectively.
Webb City’s Brooke Hedger and Carthage’s Maggie Boyd took fourth and fifth.
Finishing sixth through ninth were Webb City’s Kristina Bundy, Rachel Miller, Holly Capron and Emily Countryman. Carthage’s Katy Witherspoon took 10th.
Mac County’s top performer was Anna Price, who finished 18th.
With five of the top 10 finishers, Carthage’s boys had 28 points to top the team standings.
Webb City (47), Lamar (52), McDonald County (113), Neosho (127) and Aurora (162) rounded out the team standings.
Webb City’s Evan Stevens was the individual medalist with a time of 14:45.
Carthage’s trio of Miguel Solano, Eddy Fuentes and Caleb Fewin finished second, third and fourth, respectively.
Webb City’s Mason Hedger took fifth, while Lamar’s trio of Blaine Breshears, Cameron Bailey and Pierce Heins finished sixth through eighth.
Carthage’s Devin Smith and Michael Lanyon rounded out the top 10.
McDonald County’s top finisher was Hunter Leach, who placed 12th.
WILLARD, Mo. — The Webb City volleyball team captured the tourney championship at Willard’s Lori Endicott Classic on Saturday.
Webb City went 3-0-1 at the event.
The Cardinals only dropped one set on the day at the round-robin event, while second place Central lost three sets on the day.
The Cardinals defeated Cassville 25-6, 25-14.
Brenda Lawrence and Jaeli Rutledge recorded five kills apiece, while Aubree Lassiter added four kills.
Kyah Sanborn had 17 assists from the setter position, while libero Sophia Crane had a team-high seven digs. Kate Brownfield contributed five digs and three kills.
Webb City beat Stockton 25-14, 25-14.
Brownfield had nine digs and seven kills, while Lassiter, Lawrence and Rutledge each had five kills.
Sanborn had 25 assists and Crane had nine digs. Jenna Noel contributed six digs and three aces.
Webb City beat Willard 25-20, 25-9.
Rutledge and Lawrence recorded seven kills apiece, while Lassiter added five kills.
Sanborn had 19 assists, while Crane had nine digs and Lawrence chipped in six digs.
Webb City split two sets with Central (15-25, 25-16).
Lassiter had seven kills, while Lawrence had six kills.
Sanborn handed out 16 assists, while Crane had a team-high 12 digs.
Webb City (24-4-2) is at McDonald County on Monday.
LAMAR, Mo. — A hyped rivalry game featuring a pair of state-ranked teams did not live up to top billing, as the Lamar Tigers flattened the Nevada Tigers 47-26 on Friday night.
“It’s always satisfying to get a rivalry week victory,” said Lamar coach Jared Beshore.
Nevada has not defeated Lamar since 2004, but entered the “Silver Tiger” game with a 5-1 record and fresh off a 62-7 thrashing of Cassville.
A Nevada team that had eclipsed 60 points three times this season did not resemble its usual self, generating a paltry 27 yards of offense in the first half. Lamar, meanwhile, scored early and often, receiving first quarter rushing touchdowns from tailback Austin Wilkerson and quarterback Alex Wilkerson.
Filling in for injured signal-caller Joel Beshore, Alex Wilkerson capped off a methodical scoring drive with his second rushing touchdown of the contest. The 8-yard scamper, followed by Jose Juarez’s extra point, handed Lamar a commanding 21-0 advantage with 10:08 remaining in the half.
Lamar junior wide receiver Ian Ngugi (1) finds an opening as Nevada linebacker Tyler Longobardi (42) is in pursuit on the play. Photo by Matt Resnick.
Nevada broke through late in the half via Ken Johnson’s pick six. A 235-pound defensive lineman, Johnson corralled a batted-ball and rumbled 60 yards to paydirt. With the 2-point conversion tacked on, Nevada trailed 21-8.
Lamar (6-1) quickly marched downfield on the ensuing possession, highlighted by Ty Willhite’s catch-and-run to the Nevada 1-yard line. Austin Wilkerson barreled in from a yard out on first down, and Lamar led 27-8 at the half.
Nevada struck first in the second half. On third and long, quarterback Cade Beshore connected with running back Avious Steadman for a 68-yard touchdown strike. The 2-point attempt was snuffed out, and Nevada trailed 27-14.
Lamar responded with consecutive scoring drives. The first came on a 1-yard Austin Wilkerson rush. The second was more dramatic, as Willhite hauled in a pass on 4th and 15 and bolted down the left sideline for the 26-yard touchdown — staking Lamar to a 39-14 advantage en route to convincing victory.
After absorbing its first defeat of the season in Week 4 against Seneca, Coach Beshore said he’s pleased with the way his squad has bounced back from the upset defeat.
Coach Beshore specifically referenced last week’s 40-point thumping of McDonald County, as well as the Silver Tiger triumph.
“For the second week in a row our kids put out effort that impressed me,” Beshore said. “The message after Seneca was ‘Where can we get better at?’ We took a hard look in the mirror at ourself after that game and really challenged our kids on the things they were struggling with, and they accepted the challenge.”
The display of force was so resounding that even Beshore was surprised.
“I didn’t know they had this in them until last week when I saw that effort against Mac County,” he said. “So we challenged our kids this week to duplicate that and even one-up that effort we put out last week — and our kids accepted the challenge and stepped up. I’m very proud of how hard they played. They deserved this win.”
Beshore said he treated Nevada as a formidable foe.
“Here’s the thing about Nevada — they do what they do, and they do it really well,” he said, referring to Nevada’s run-heavy offense led by Steadman. “What you see is what you get — but they do it extremely well. Our kids had to step up and win the physicality battle.”
With Joel Beshore sustaining a knee injury in last week’s dismantling of McDonald County, Jared Beshore said Alex Wilkerson filled in admirably.
“We always knew he was capable and he got to showcase that tonight,” he said, adding that Joel Beshore is only expected to miss one or two weeks of action. Coach Beshore added that having a backup quarterback of Alex Wilkerson’s caliber allows him to sleep easier.
“We’ve always had the mantra here at Lamar that ‘We don’t reload, we rebuild,’” Beshore said. “So when a guy goes down it doesn’t matter who they are on the team — we have kids that are willing to step up and take on those roles. Alex did an outstanding job tonight of running the football, throwing the football, and commanding our offense. He’s also playing defense too.”
Nevada coach Wes Beachler was downtrodden when discussing his team’s flat offensive performance.
“We didn’t get our feet under us on offense,” he said. “We had some busted assignments early and weren’t able to generate any yardage to get first downs and move the ball.”
Beachler said an inability to move the ball was too much to overcome.
“That’s the whole key to playing with Lamar. You have to be able to move the ball, keep their offense off the field and get points on the board,” he said. “You can’t spot them 21.”
Beachler said he had no regrets regarding his decision to punt the ball on multiple fourth and shorts while working with good field position in the first half.
“We were trying to play field position in a game like this, and trying not to give them a short field,” he said. “We didn’t cover punts very well so we didn’t flip the field entirely — but that was the thought at the time.”
Beachler said he anticipated a better showing from his squad.
“After having very few busts on offense or defense last week, and being very assignment and technique-sound, tonight we weren’t very sound on fundamentals — or on our assignments on both sides of the ball. So that was kind of a shock to me.”
Up Next
Ranked fourth in Class 2, Lamar hits the road for a Big 8 West clash with Cassville, while Class 4 No. 8 Nevada returns home to host Monett.
Lamar’s seniors bask in the glow of Friday night’s victory over Nevada. Photo by Matt Resnick.
Class 6 sixth-ranked Joplin scored four times in the first quarter and ultimately built a 35-0 lead at the intermission before going on to beat Carl Junction 35-7 on Friday at Junge Field on Homecoming Night.
Joplin’s Noah Soriano picks off a pass for one of his two interceptions against Carl Junction on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
“I was super proud of them, especially with all the distractions of Homecoming,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “We were still able to focus, lock in and learn a game plan. We practiced well this week and came out and executed tonight.”
Joplin (6-1) took the opening possession and needed just six plays to get into the end zone for the first time, which set the tone for the night. Along with forcing the Bulldogs (2-5) three turnovers on the defensive side in the first half, the Eagles’ offense added a three-play scoring drive and two scoring drives that lasted just one play to take a commanding halftime lead.
GAME ACTION
Joplin needed six plays from scrimmage to find the end zone on the opening possession of the game. After QB Hobbs Gooch found WR Noah Soriano for a gain of 20 yards, RB Quin Renfro picked up 15 yards on the ground before hauling in a 27-yard pass from Gooch and going down at the 1-yard line. Renfro nicely finished off the 69-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 10:05 mark.
“I think that was the first time this year that we scored on the first drive,” Jasper said about the importance of the fast start in the win. “I thought we blocked it well up front. I thought we read it well from the running back position. And I thought we were able to throw when we wanted to. We executed right down the field and scored, and then the defense just came like a ball of fire, causing turnovers and short fields and we took advantage of it on offense.”
Joplin’s Quin Renfro breaks loose for a 96-yard touchdown run in the win over Carl Junction on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
Carl Junction was forced into a three-and-out punt on its first possession, but a bad snap prevented the ball from getting kicked with Joplin tackling the CJ punter at the Bulldog 13-yard line. Three plays later, Gooch found WR Terrance Gibson over the middle on play action for a 7-yard touchdown and 14-0 lead with 8:08 on the clock.
The Eagles forced the first turnover on the ensuing Bulldog possession with QB Dexter Merrell was intercepted by Collis Jones to give the Joplin offense the ball at the CJ 12. On the next play from scrimmage, RB Chavis Coleman found paydirt from 12 yards out to give Joplin a 21-0 advantage with less than seven minutes to play in the first quarter.
“Coming into this game, the big emphasis was starting fast,” Renfro said about the team’s fast start. “We haven’t scored on the first drive yet this season, so that was an emphasis all week in practice heading into this game. … We felt heading into this game that we were the better team, and seeing our defense get stops and turnovers like that, it built so much confidence for us. We knew we had to step it up (and take advantage of the stops they forced).”
Joplin and Carl Junction traded turnovers late in the first quarter when Soriano—who finished the night with two interceptions—picked off Merrell and CJ LB Bentley Rowden picked off Gooch to give the Bulldogs the ball inside the red zone. CJ wound up turning the ball over on downs on an incomplete pass at the on fourth-down and goal from the 7-yard line.
“I think our defense gave phenomenal effort,” Soriano said about the defense’s performance in the win. “We have been working really, really hard. I am really proud of our defense.”
“My grandpa always told me to be a ballhawk,” Soriano added about his two interceptions. “I just keep that in the back of my mind. It’s kind of hard being 135 pounds out there, running and hitting big dudes. I just like being that little ankle-biter on the field.”
Carl Junction’s Dexter Merrell cuts to avoid a tackle in the matchup with Joplin on Friday. Photo by Shawn Fowler.
The Eagles once again hit the Bulldogs with the quick strike, as Renfro took the first-down handoff and made a man miss near the line of scrimmage before cutting back upfield for a 96-yard touchdown to push the lead to 27-0 with eight seconds left in the first quarter.
“Earlier in the game, I had a long touchdown run called back and I just thought, ‘Man, I have to get me another one,’” Renfro said with a smile. “I was sitting in the back of the end zone (before that play) and just thought, ‘What if I scored this?’ That’s what I was thinking and it actually happened. I broke a couple tackles, made a couple of moves and I was gone.”
Joplin got into the end zone one more time before the half when Renfro scored from 7 yards out with 46.8 seconds before the intermission. Renfro followed it up by completing the ensuing two-point conversion to WR Aidan Sampson for a 35-0 lead.
“Hats off to the offensive line because I think they did an amazing job,” Jasper said when asked about the rushing attack for Joplin. “You just look at the way that Quin, Drew (VanGilder) and Chavis all ran, they’re vision was great and they’re always falling forward to gain those extra yards.”
Carl Junction’s lone score of the game came within the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, when Arlen Wakefield scored from 7 yards out.
STATS
Joplin ran 55 plays for 433 yards of offense, 359 yards on 41 plays in the first half. Renfro led the way for the Eagles with 15 carries for 171 yards—161 yards in the first half—and three touchdowns, while adding two catches for 34 yards. Gooch completed 11-of-19 passes for 135 yards, a touchdown and a pick, while Gibson caught three passes for 31 yards and a score. RB Drew Vangilder picked up 45 yards on eight carries.
Carl Junction gained 167 yards on 51 plays. Merrell led the Bulldogs with 32 rushing yards on eight carries while completing 9-of-26 passes for 67 yards and three interceptions. RB Johnny Starks picked up 44 yards on nine carries, while Wakefield carried six times for 24 yards and a score. Kyler Stewart caught four passes for 43 yards.
DISTRICT UPDATE
Joplin entered the game as the third seed in the Class 6 District 3 standings with 40.52 points. Nixa (47.56) is the top seed and Lee’s Summit North (43.77) is currently in second place. After Joplin, Kickapoo (37.98) is in fourth, Raymore-Peculiar (32.33) is fifth, Lee’s Summit (32.33) is sixth, Lee’s Summit West (25.58) is seventh and Ozark (18.69) is eighth.
UP NEXT
Joplin is on the road for the final time when the Eagles travel to Class 5 No. 1 Carthage (6-1) before wrapping the regular season with a home matchup against Neosho.
Carl Junction hosts Willard in the Bulldogs’ final home game next week before wrapping the season on the road with a matchup at Republic.
OZARK, Mo. — The Neosho Wildcats have been no strangers to high-scoring offensive performances this season.
They won their season opener 79-72 against Willard, scored 55 and 50 points in wins against Carl Junction and Branson, and even scored 48 points in a 63-48 loss against Republic.
The Wildcats scored 35 points in the first half and 28 in the second half Friday night to earn a 63-42 win over the Ozark Tigers in Central Ozark Conference play.
Neosho improved to 4-3 overall and COC, and the Wildcats’ first road victory this season brought them above .500 at the latest point in a season since the 2018 Wildcats were 4-3 after their 35-12 win against Carl Junction.
Neosho has also won back-to-back games for the first time since that 2018 season when the Wildcats won eight games and played for a district championship.
Outstanding senior running back Jared Siler found the end zone five times on Friday with touchdown runs of 6 yards, 66 yards, two 1-yard scores and a touchdown from 7 yards out.
Junior quarterback Quenton Hughes passed for three scores and rushed for another. Cade Camerer came up with a 35-yard score off a deflected pass, Brock Franklin beat the last defender and scored on a 49-yard pass, and Isaiah Green turned a short pass into a 17-yard touchdown and Neosho’s final points of the evening.
Green broke on through for his first score of the night after coming up a yard shy of the end zone on two spectacular plays earlier on.
Neosho turned a 35-28 halftime lead into a four-score advantage by scoring 28 of the first 35 points after halftime.
The Wildcats recovered a fumble on the second-half kickoff, stuffed Ozark on four consecutive run plays for a turnover-on-downs on the Tigers’ first possession, and freshman Brody Crane intercepted a Brady Dodd pass early in the fourth quarter.
Neosho scored 21 points after these second-half turnovers and stops.
In the first half, Neosho had trouble slowing down Ozark’s ground attack and the teams exchanged touchdowns all the way until halftime.
Early on, it looked as if Neosho might have taken another opportunity to build a quick two-score lead.
The Wildcats scored on their opening possession and senior offensive lineman Carter Baslee struck again with a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff.
One play later, though, Ozark intercepted Hughes on a pass into the end zone.
Neosho and Ozark traded scoring drives after that the rest of the first half.
Neosho returns home in Week 8 for a conference and district battle against Webb City, a team also 4-3 on the season after their 28-14 loss Friday against Class 5 No. 1-ranked and district top seed Carthage.
WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Carthage Tigers faced an early deficit in Friday’s rivalry showdown with Webb City.
But after trailing early, the Tigers scored 28 unanswered points in the opening half to take a lead they would never relinquish.
Carthage rode that strong first half surge to a 28-14 victory over longtime rival Webb City in a Central Ozark Conference clash at Cardinal Stadium.
“I feel really good right now,” Tigers coach Jon Guidie said. “That was a tough, physical football game from start to finish. Our kids hung in there and made some plays defensively. I’m really proud of them. That’s a really good football team over there in Webb City.”
Playing in front of a large homecoming crowd, fired up Webb City scored on the first drive of the night.
But the Tigers responded in a big way. The visitors not only answered back with a game-tying score, but they also got on a roll.
Clicking on all cylinders, Carthage built a 28-7 lead by intermission.
“They took right at us,” Guidie said of the start to the game. “It’s hard to simulate their speed and physicality in practice. But I thought once we got adjusted to it defensively, we did a much better job. The kids didn’t flinch when they scored. We put some drives together and got into the end zone, which was huge.”
Webb City kept Carthage off the scoreboard in the second half, but the Tigers put together time-consuming drives that limited the Cardinals’ comeback chances.
“The bottom line is you can’t put yourself in a 28-7 hole against a team like that and think you’re going to have a chance to win,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “We just dug such a hole for ourselves by giving up big plays defensively. We made a couple of mistakes on special teams. Part of it was the field position. They faked a punt on us and got it. They pinned us down here on the 1-yard line when we made a mistake on the kick return. We couldn’t flip the field. We couldn’t get any continuity on offense.”
Carthage running back Luke Gall avoids Webb City’s Colton Gordon during Friday’s COC matchup at Cardinal Stadium. Photo by Israel Perez.
Senior two-way standout Luke Gall (RB/LB) scored all four of Carthage’s touchdowns.
Simply put, Gall also wreaked havoc defensively, as the Air Force Academy commit recorded 12 tackles.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid dominate both sides of the football like Luke did tonight,” Roderique said. “We had a hard time tackling him in the first half. It seemed like we couldn’t get a pad on him the whole game. He’s just a phenomenal player. He was obviously a big part of their success.”
Ranked first in Class 5 by the Missouri Media, Carthage improved to 6-1 on the season. Webb City, ranked fourth, slipped to 4-3.
Of course, these two teams are district opponents and could see each other again in the postseason.
GAME RECAP
Webb City marched 71 yards on 10 plays to begin the night, taking a 7-0 lead on Breckin Galardo’s 10-yard touchdown run.
The Tigers answered on the ensuing drive, as Gall’s 10-yard touchdown run tied it up with 3:44 remaining in the opening frame.
After forcing the Cardinals into a quick three and out, Carthage took the lead after Gall’s 42-yard touchdown sprint at the 1:29 mark of the first period.
Carthage pulled off a fake punt to extend the next drive, and Gall’s third touchdown of the night, a 2-yard scamper, made it 21-7 in favor of the Tigers with 7:24 left in the first half.
Webb City QB Landon Johnson throws a pass during Friday’s game with Carthage.
The Tigers extended their lead to 28-7 with just over a minute left in the opening half on Gall’s 5-yard plunge.
Webb City’s defense forced the Tigers into a pair of turnover on downs in the third quarter to keep their deficit at three scores.
The Cardinals pulled within 14 with six minutes left when Galardo scampered into the end zone from 5 yards out.
But the Tigers’ lead was never in jeopardy.
“That is a little frustrating, but we can learn from that moving forward,” Guidie said of not scoring in the second half. “But our defense came through.”
NAMES & NUMBERS
Carthage finished with 339 yards, 238 on the ground and 101 through the air.
Gall ran 29 times for 182 yards and four scores. He had 115 rushing yards in the first half.
“Luke was pretty special in the first half,” Guidie said.
Cooper Jadwin completed 7 of 12 passes, with Hudson Moore recording four receptions for 56 yards.
Defensively, Aiden Rogers had seven stops and Davion King made five tackles.
Webb City was limited to 205 yards, 134 rushing and 71 passing.
“We wanted to control the line of scrimmage on both sides and I thought our guys up front did a really good job,” Guidie said. “I felt like we controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part.”
A junior running back, Galardo ran 10 times for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Backup QB Gabe Johnson, a freshman, ran nine times for 29 yards.
Senior linebacker Lucas Ott made 12 tackles for the Cardinals, while sophomore defensive back Andrew Young made eight stops and junior linebacker Christian Brock was credited with seven tackles.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Carthage hosts Joplin next Friday, while Webb City is at Neosho in Week 8.
