SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Thomas Jefferson junior Allison Ding finished eighth in the Class 1 singles bracket at the MSHSAA Girls Tennis Championships on Saturday at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
In the seventh-place match, North County’s Lauren Politte defeated Ding 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
After falling to Notre Dame de Sion’s Anna McGeeney and beating Lafayette County’s Elena Williams on Friday, Ding defeated her teammate Jeanna Jeyaraj 6-0, 6-1 in the consolation quarterfinals.
In the consolation semifinals, Duchesne’s Mary Beckemeier edged Ding 6-4, 7-6.
Ding finished the season with a singles record of 23-7, Cavaliers coach Tom Brumfield told SoMo Sports.
Jeyaraj will also return next season, as she is a sophomore.
MOUNTAINEERS TAKE FOURTH
Mount Vernon’s Isabella Mosley and Allison Schubert finished fourth in the Class 1 doubles bracket.
In the third-place match, Palmyra’s Maura Gottman and Molly Gottman defeated Mosley-Schubert 6-2, 6-4.
The Mountaineers suffered a close loss in the semifinals, as Arcadia Valley’s Alyssa Glanzer and Elena Lara edged Mosley-Schubert 5-7, 6-4, 10-8.
The Mount Vernon duo earned wins over Chillicothe and Helias Catholic on Friday.
JASPER, Mo. — The College Heights Christian School 8-man football team suffered a 48-24 loss to Jasper on Friday night.
The Cougars led 24-20 at halftime, but the Eagles scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to get the win.
College Heights (1-7) took a 12-0 lead in the first quarter when Logan Decker completed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Quade and Noah Hipple ran for a 3-yard score.
Levi Durling scored two touchdowns in the second quarter for the Cougars, a 4-yard reception from Decker and a 73-yard kickoff return.
The Cougars couldn’t hold on to their halftime advantage, as Jasper recorded a pair of touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters.
College Heights had 327 yards of offense, with 238 rushing and 89 passing.
Decker completed 4 of 9 passes for 89 yards. Quade caught three passes for 85 yards.
Hipple ran 20 times for 101 yards, while Cannon Miller rushed for 88 yards on 12 carries. Decker ran 10 times for 35 yards.
Durling made 15 tackles, while Matt Williams had 14 stops. Quade had nine tackles and Hipple had seven tackles.
The Cougars had six costly turnovers, three lost fumbles and three interceptions.
Juan Rivera ran for 211 yards and six touchdowns for Jasper (4-4).
CARTHAGE, Mo. — It is only fitting that a matchup between a pair of rival one-loss powerhouse football teams comes down to the final play of the game, and that was the exact scenario when Class 6 fifth-ranked Joplin traveled to David Haffner Stadium to take on Class 5 top-ranked Carthage on Friday night.
Carthage senior RB Luke Gall fights for extra yards in the Tigers’ win over Joplin on Friday. Photo by Darris Strickland.
With the game tied at 28-28 and 2.5 seconds to go in regulation, Joplin’s 42-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by senior Hudson Moore. Even more poetically, the loose ball was picked up by fellow Carhage senior Mason Frisinger, who carried the ball behind a wall of blockers 83 yards for a block-off touchdown to send the Tigers to a 34-28 win on Senior Night.
“I have been wanting to get the ball all year and that was my opportunity,” Frisinger said. “I saw the ball and no one was around. I grabbed it, looked up and all I saw was the end zone. I took the chance and we came out with the dub.
“This was probably the toughest game we’ve played this year against some of the best competition we’ve seen so far. We came up short against Nixa earlier this year and we weren’t going to let it happen again. I am glad I could do this in our last home game with my boys and pull out the dub.”
With the win, Carthage improves to 7-1 on the season. With Nixa’s overtime loss to Republic on Friday, the Tigers now have a chance to clinch a share of the Central Ozark Conference title with a win over Willard next week in the regular season finale.
“It’s hard to put into words just how proud I am of them and of the game itself,” Carthage coach Jon Guidie said after the win. “It was just back and forth between two heavyweights. It didn’t seem like either team could stop each other in the second half. To be able to stay in the fight all the way through with a heads up play by Mason Frisinger and the convoy he had leading him down there, which is not something you practice every day—I am very happy for Mason and the rest of the seniors on Senior Night. What a way to go out. These guys will remember this for the rest of their lives.”
With the loss, Joplin falls to 6-2 on the year and wraps the regular season hosting Neosho on Senior Night.
“What a great high school football game,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “Obviously, someone had to lose, but I really didn’t think it was going to be us. It was, so we will deal with that. But what a game and I am so proud of my kids for the way they fought, executed and repeatedly overcame adversity—some we created for ourselves. This is one we will definitely learn from.”
TEAM STATS
Joplin’s Davin Thomas makes a tackler miss in the Eagles’ loss to Carthage on Friday. Photo by Darris Strickland.
Carthage’s offense gained 392 yards on 59 plays, with most of the damage coming through the air. Senior QB Cooper Jadwin completed 13-of-17 passes for 228 yards and a touchdown, adding 12 carries for 39 yards and a fumble. Moore also caught six passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. Senior WR Aiden Rogers carried the ball six times for 47 yards and a touchdown. Senior RB Luke Gall was held to a season-low 78 yards rushing but did have two touchdowns on 24 carries.
“It’s good moving forward,” Guidie said when asked about the offense’s ability to step up around Gall. “That is going to happen. When teams are loading the box and isolating on Luke, we have to be able to adjust and they did. … It goes to show that if Luke can’t do it, the rest of these guys can get it done against great competition.”
Joplin gained 383 yards of offense on 45 plays and was led by junior RB Quin Renfro, who picked up a game-high 214 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Junior QB Hobbs Gooch completed 11-of-16 passes for 94 yards and caught a 55-yard touchdown pass. Senior WR Terrance Gibson caught three passes for 24 yards and threw a 55-yard touchdown pass. Sophomore WR Davin Thomas had five receptions for 42 yards.
“I thought our defense played great and tackled well,” Jasper said. “We challenged them with that after they struggled with (Nixa RB) Ramone Greene a little bit. Hats off to Carthage for coming out on top, but I am really proud of my guys, especially on the defensive end.”
HOW THEY GOT THERE
The game started off with a pair of turnovers, the second of which turned into the first score of the game for Carthage. The Tigers turned it over on their first drive when Jadwin fumbled a carry on fourth-down and 3 to give Joplin the ball at its own 37-yard line.
Carthage senior QB Cooper Jadwin looks for an open reciever in the Tigers’ win over Joplin on Friday. Photo by Darris Strickland.
On third down of the ensuing Joplin drive, Gooch was picked off by Carthage’s Davion King, who returned the ball down to the Eagles’ 27-yard line in the change of possession. Two plays later, Gall crossed the goal line for his first touchdown of the game, 30th of the season, and a 7-0 Carthage lead with 4:01 left in the first quarter.
Joplin drove deep into Carthage territory on its next drive before turning it over on downs at the Tigers’ 23-yard line. The Tigers took possession and used a 38-yard deep ball from Jadwin to Moore at the end of the first quarter to set up a 1-yard touchdown run from Gall early in the second period for a 14-0 lead.
The Eagles used some trickeration to get on the scoreboard their time with the ball when Thomas took the jet sweep before pitching to Gibson in the backfield, with Gibson launching a 55-yard pass down the sideline to a wide-open Gooch for a touchdown to trim the lead to 14-7 with 9:18 to play in the first half.
Carthage took advantage of two pass interference penalties on Joplin on the following possession to get deep inside Eagle territory. The Tigers were looking at a first down in goal-to-go situation from the 6-yard line before an illegal substitution penalty followed by a bad snap stalled the drive, resulting in a missed 25-yard field goal for an empty possession.
On the very next play, Renfro found a big hole and sprinted past everyone on the way to a game-tying 80-yard touchdown run with 2:36 left in the first half to make the score 14-14.
After Joplin punted from midfield on the first possession of the third quarter, Carthage took the ball and marched 82 yards on 14 plays with Aiden Rogers taking a reverse for an 11-yard touchdown to give Carthage a 21-14 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Joplin tied the game up on a 41-yard touchdown run from Renfro, who got loose on the sideline and sprinted past everyone on the way to the end zone to tie the game up at 21s.
“The offensive line led the way against a hard-nosed, physical ball club,” Jasper said of the Eagles’ rushing attack. “I thought we did a good job blocking and I thought Quin did a great job. He kept getting tackled hard, but got right back up and was ready for the next play. He did a fantastic job.”
Carthage answered back with its first big play of the game when Jadwin hooked up with Moore on a 56-yard touchdown pass to put the Tigers back on top 28-21 with 10:50 left in the game.
“We hit Hudson earlier on a similar pass but he didn’t score,” Guidie said. “Coach (Ricky) Nichols made a great call by dialing another (deep ball) up and got (Hudson) loose. The (Joplin defender) almost made a great play by picking it off, but he tipped it and Huddy is (6-foot-6) and can go up and get the football. That’s what he does.”
Joplin refused to go away, as Renfro found the end zone for a third time to cap a long drive for Eagles with a 2-yard touchdown to tie the game at 28-28 with 7:06 left in the game.
The Eagles picked a good time to force their first punt of the game, which was very short, on the ensuing Carthage possession to gain possession at midfield with 2:50 left in the game.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A pair of Thomas Jefferson singles players and Mount Vernon’s doubles teams began competition at the MSHSAA Class 1 Girls Tennis Championships on Friday at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
In opening round singles action, Thomas Jefferson’s Allison Ding suffered a 6-2, 6-3 setback to Notre Dame de Sion’s Anna McGeeney. TJ’s Jeanna Jeyaraj defeated Kennett’s Carley Winston 6-0, 6-4.
In the consolation round, Ding defeated Lafayette County’s Elena Williams 6-1, 6-0.
In the quarterfinals, Savannah’s Iris Alvarez defeated Jeyaraj 6-1, 6-0.
Next, the Cavaliers had to square off with the season on the line.
Ding and Jeyaraj were slated to play each other in the consolation quarterfinals.
In doubles, Mount Vernon’s Isabella Mosley and Allison Schubert defeated Chillicothe’s Rylee Washburn and Isabella Garr 6-1, 3-6, 10-6 in the opening round.
In the quarterfinals, the Mountaineers beat Helias Catholic’s Catherine Meystrik and Hannah Meystrik to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Six different Carl Junction Bulldogs found the end zone and their defense and special teams completed a shutout during their 42-0 turbo clock win Friday night against Central Ozark Conference foe Willard at Bulldog Stadium.
The Bulldogs set the tone early when they stopped Willard for no gain on fourth down at the 3-yard line after the Tigers put together a promising opening drive and then Carl Junction put together a 97-yard scoring drive on eight plays in 2 minutes, 43 seconds.
On the Bulldogs’ second play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Dexter Merrell hit a wide-open senior Ayden Bard in the flat and Bard worked a 41-yard gain out to near-midfield. Carl Junction converted a third-and-long with a 21-yard pass play and junior running back Johnny Starks opened the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown run.
“I tell you what, Willard had a great first drive of the night there,” Carl Junction coach Doug Buckmaster said. “Had some chunk yardage plays, three or four of them right in a row, and it didn’t look good for the Bulldogs right there for a little bit. We had a great stop there and followed it up with a 97-yard scoring drive.
“Real proud of our kids. They kept competing and didn’t give up any points, then went and scored points. They played hard, and they played great.”
Carl Junction took a 21-0 halftime lead with a 16-yard TD pass from Merrell to senior Malakhi Moore and a Merrell 11-yard scoring run accounting for the Bulldogs’ points in the second.
Junior running back Tony Stewart broke loose for a 57-yard touchdown run on the fourth play after halftime and Merrell and Bard connected on a 77-yard touchdown pass late in the third for a 35-0 lead after three quarters.
Fan favorite freshman running back Marcus Lopez-Durman closed out the scoring at 4:51 remaining with a 5-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs’ scoring drives amounted to 97, 60, 78, 71, 77, and 57 yards, producing 440 yards of total offense alone from those six drives.
“It was a great night,” Buckmaster said. “We had well over 500 yards of total offense. We did some good things tonight. I think we rushed tonight for 233 and threw for 288. Something like that, so good balance with our offense and our kids played well.”
The Bulldogs achieved their first shutout of the season, as the Tigers finished with four punts, a pair of turnover on downs, and one pass intercepted by Tony Stewart.
“I was really concerned that we would struggle with their passing game coming in,” Buckmaster said. “Our kids did a great job playing within schemes and they didn’t get the ball thrown over their head. As the game progressed, we were able to get a little more pressure on them. It was a great night for our defense, and proud of those kids. Coach (Steve) Patterson had a good gameplan, and we played well.”
The Bulldogs honored all their seniors before the game.
“It was Senior Night tonight and I’m just really pleased those kids could get a win and a shutout,” Buckmaster said. “We’ve got a tough one next week.”
Carl Junction, 3-5 overall and COC, finishes out the regular season next week against 5-3 Republic, who just handed the Nixa Eagles their first loss of the season with a 36-35 overtime victory Friday night.
“We look forward to going to Republic,” Buckmaster said. “They’re a fine football team and we’ll have to step our game up, for sure.”
NEOSHO, Mo. — Webb City’s defense rose to the occasion in the second half.
After surrendering 21 points in the first half, Webb City’s defense pitched a shutout after intermission.
That strong defensive effort led the Cardinals to a 42-21 victory over Neosho on Friday night in a Central Ozark Conference clash at Bob Anderson Stadium.
A back and forth first half ended with Webb City clinging to a 28-21 lead. But the Cardinals would not allow the Wildcats’ high-powered offense to score a single point after the break.
“I can’t say enough about our defense,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “That’s a tremendous effort against that offense in the second half. We made a few adjustments and got a little more physical with their receivers. We got some sacks and some negative yard plays.”
Neosho’s prolific spread offense entered the night averaging 46 points per game.
“Brandon (Taute) has done a great job here,” Roderique added. “They’ve scored on everybody, and they’ve moved the ball on everybody. I thought the effort from our defense was obviously the biggest difference in the second half.”
Webb City’s Andrew Young attempts to bring down Neosho’s Jared Siler during Friday’s game at Bob Anderson Stadium. Webb City won the game 42-21. Photo by Israel Perez.
Ranked sixth in Class 5 by the Missouri Media, Webb City improved to 5-3.
The Wildcats fell to 4-4 after their first home loss.
“I think our kids played extremely hard,” Neosho coach Brandon Taute said. “They came out and fought. There were a lot of times in the game where we could have rolled over, but they didn’t do that. We kept battling back. I’m extremely proud of the effort our kids gave. The score doesn’t depict the game in my opinion. We were right in that game.”
Neosho was forced to punt twice in the third quarter and the Wildcats turned it over on downs twice in the final frame.
Taute noted his team had its chances in the second half.
“We got down in the red zone too many times without coming away with points,” Taute said. “You can’t do that against a team like that.”
Webb City running back Breckin Galardo picks up a big gain on the ground against Neosho on Friday night. Photo by Israel Perez.
Playing in front of a large Senior Night crowd, the Wildcats took an early lead when junior quarterback Quenton Hughes completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Isaiah Green.
The Cardinals tied it up when senior quarterback Landon Johnson found classmate William Hayes open for a 49-yard touchdown strike.
Webb City took a 14-7 lead with 6:26 left in the first quarter after junior running back Breckin Galardo scored on a 20-yard run up the middle.
The Cardinals took a two-score lead on the first play of the second quarter on Johnson’s 3-yard QB keeper.
Neosho’s Green hauled in a 6-yard pass from Hughes with 4:38 left in the second quarter, trimming Webb City’s lead to 21-14.
The visitors answered on the ensuing drive, as Galardo broke free for a 33-yard touchdown sprint with 2:26 remaining in the first half, extending Webb City’s advantage to 28-14.
After recovering a Webb City fumble with just over a minute to play in the first half, Neosho scored with 27 seconds left on a 33-yard pass to Green.
With that, it appeared as if the Wildcats had the momentum at halftime.
“It was a good first half,” Taute said. “I thought we executed pretty well in the first half. I thought we made some good defensive adjustments. Our defense got some big stops when we needed them.”
Omari Jackson’s 1-yard touchdown plunge finished off the opening drive of the second half and gave Webb City a 35-21 cushion.
Webb City’s defense came up with a key stop with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats had a crucial turnover on downs.
A 1-yard QB sneak by Johnson put the finishing touches on the win, as the Cardinals went up 42-21 with 5:05 left.
“In the second half, we just weren’t able to put the ball in the end zone,” Taute noted. “Our defense got some turnovers, and we hung around. We just couldn’t close that gap.”
Led by its strong running attack, Webb City compiled 498 yards, with 423 on the ground and 75 through the air.
“On offense, we knew we can’t punt the ball and we can’t give them extra opportunities,” Roderique noted. “You can’t turn the ball over…which we did. You have to produce points every time. And you have to be able to run time off the clock against a team like this. I think it was big for us to score right away in the second half. That got things rolling a little bit.”
Galardo finished with 235 rushing yards, while Jackson added 151. Landon Johnson completed four passes, with William Hayes (54 yards) and Cy Darnell (21 yards) hauling in two passes apiece.
Three Cardinals finished with eight tackles apiece, Lucas Ott, Christian Brock and Kaylor Darnell.
Neosho finished with 346 yards, with 212 passing. Hughes completed 24 of 42 passes with three TD. Green had 166 receiving yards with three touchdowns. Jared Siler led Neosho’s rushing attack with 147 yards.
Korbyn York and Nico Olivares had nine tackles apiece for the Wildcats.
“We just have to continue to get better,” Taute said. “Our goal is to be playing our best football in Week 10.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
In next Friday’s regular season finales, Webb City hosts Branson and Neosho travels to Joplin.
The Cardinals and Wildcats could see each other again, as both teams have been assigned to Class 5 District 6.
Neosho’s Isaiah Green makes a leaping catch during Friday’s game against Webb City. Photo by Israel Perez.
Omari Jackson tries to get past Neosho’s Trey Hardin during Friday’s game at Bob Anderson Stadium. Webb City won the game 42-21. Photos by Israel Perez.
