A dramatic late-game scoring drive propelled the Seneca Indians to a 40-36 victory over the Nevada Tigers, while in the process, also locking up the outright Big 8 West division championship Friday night at Nevada High School’s Logan Field.
The stakes were high for Seneca (9-0, 6-0) in a matchup that pitted state-ranked squads, as a loss would have relegated the Indians to a three-way share of the Big 8 West title with Nevada and Lamar.
The Indians’ normally reliable run defense was flattened by Nevada running backs Jack Cheaney and Dezmon Robinson in the first half, as the tandem racked up a combined 252 yards on the ground, with Cheaney accounting for 205.
Nevada junior tailback Jack Cheaney detonates for a 99-yard touchdown run late in the first half of Friday night’s loss to visiting Seneca. Photo by Bill Wynn.
Cheaney detonated for a 75-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter, while closing out the first half with a 99-yard romp to paydirt. In between, Robinson’s 37-yard scamper to the end zone helped the Tigers to a 21-14 halftime lead.
The Tigers (7-2, 4-2) capitalized on an Indians’ miscue early in the second half, with a short scoring drive capped by Cheaney’s 30-yard touchdown run.
Trailing 28-14, the Indians replied with a quick-strike drive that was punctuated by Ethan Altic’s six-yard rushing score on a reverse pitch — but the Indians trailed 28-20 after an unsuccessful two-point play.
Early in the fourth, and back in possession, quarterback Gavyn Hoover’s 45-yard run down the left sideline was followed by Jackson Marrs’ five-yard rushing score. Marrs then powered in from two yards out on the 2-point play, knotting the contest at 28.
Looking to make another big play, Cheaney was unable to secure the catch on the ensuing kickoff, turning the ball over deep in Nevada territory. Three plays later, Marrs gained the right edge en route to a 14-yard rushing score. A failed 2-point conversion left the Indians with a 34-28 lead near the midpoint of the fourth.
Seneca quarterback Gavyn Hoover runs for a big play during Friday night’s road victory over Nevada. Photo by Brandi Redman.
After yielding 20 unanswered points, the Tigers needed only a few plays to find the end zone, with Robinson’s elusiveness paying dividends on a 41-yard touchdown run — followed by Grady Stewart’s quarterback sneak on the 2-point play for a 36-34 Nevada lead.
Seneca saved its best for last, chewing up more than six minutes of clock on a methodical 15-play scoring drive.
With 19 seconds remaining, Hoover rolled to his right and connected with junior wide-out Hagen Ginger in the corner of the end zone, accounting for the final margin.
On the game’s final play, Gabe Smith’s pass attempt deep downfield fell incomplete.
Cheaney, meanwhile, rushed for 283 yards on 16 carries, to go along with three touchdowns — giving him 24 for the season.
For Seneca, Marrs also finished the night with three touchdown runs.
Second-ranked Seneca will be the No. 1 seed for the Class 3 District 6 tournament and have a first-round bye.
Seventh-ranked Nevada will be the No. 1 seed for the Class 4 District 7 tournament and the Tigers will also have a bye next Friday.
Nevada running back Dezmon Robinson finds room to run on a 37-yard rushing touchdown Friday night. Photo by Brandi Redman.
NEOSHO, Mo. — Joplin ended the regular season in the win column after starting fast and never looking back against Neosho on the way to a 56-24 win on Friday in Week 9.
Riding another big night from running back Quin Renfro, the Eagles built a three-score lead by the intermission and traded scores with Neosho early in the second half before Joplin’s continued dominance on the ground and the defense’s pressure in the backfield put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.
Joplin RB Quin Renfro picks up a big gain on the ground during the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Friday. Photo by Israel Perez.
“I was pretty happy overall,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “I thought there were still some things we need to work on, but we got off to a good start and executed well. Quin had another big night. Great job by the offensive line. The tight ends and skill guys did a great job blocking downfield. We were efficient in the pass game, really good on special teams and 100 percent on PATs and had good coverage on kickoffs. Defensively, other than the touchdown right before the half, I thought we played really well.”
DISTRICT UPDATE
Joplin wraps the regular season with a 6-3 record and is entrenched as the third seed in the Class 6 District 5 standings. The Eagles will have an off week before traveling to take on second-seeded Kickapoo (8-1).
“We are in a pretty good spot and will appreciate the bye week to get a little more healthy,” Jasper said. “Having the 2-3 matchup, we already know who we are going to play, so we get a little bit longer to prepare. We will start on that and get rolling with it.”
Neosho closes with a 1-8 record. The Wildcats are the seventh-seed in the Class 5 District 7 standings and will travel to take on second-seeded Raytown South next week.
Neosho’s Tyrone Harris is tackled after hauling in a pass for a chunk gain in Neosho’s loss to Joplin on Friday. Photo by Israel Perez.
“That is a really good football team that is getting healthy down the stretch, and they are going to be a tough matchup for anyone,” Neosho coach Brandon Taute said after the loss. “I thought our kids did a great job of battling all game long. There were a lot of points in that game where we could have just rolled over and called it a night, but they kept clawing to make it a game for four quarters.”
STATS
Joplin’s offense gained 565 yards on 61 plays (9.3 yards per play). Renfro rushed 33 times for 334 yards and scored five times in the win. QB Hobbs Gooch ran six times for 42 yards and a touchdown, while completing 7-of-12 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. WR Jett Beal finished with two receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.
“You could feel it building, starting with the CJ game and then these last two weeks,” Jasper said of Renfro’s effort. “He just keeps getting better and better. We just want to continue that through the playoffs.”
Neosho gained 356 yards of offense on 68 plays (5.3 ypp). QB Quenton Hughes completed 16-of-30 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown. RB Keisean Rhone rushed 19 times for 54 yards and a touchdown. WR Tyrone Harris caught five passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, while WR Hudson Williams caught nine passes for 88 yards.
GAME ACTION
Joplin TE Whit Hafer hauls in a pass during the Eagles’ win over Neosho on Friday. Photo by Israel Perez.
After Joplin’s defense forced Neosho into a turnover-on-downs to open the game, the Eagles’ offense gave the Wildcats a heavy dose of Renfro on their first drive. Renfro took the first handoff of the possession 27 yards before adding a 29-yard run later in the series to set up a goal-line touchdown and a 7-0 lead over Neosho with 7:26 on the clock.
Neosho came up empty on its second series and Joplin put on another lengthy drive, milking the rest of the first quarter off the clock before Renfro punched it in from 2 yards out with 11:45 to play in the second period for a 14-0 lead.
Neosho used a long hookup from Hughes to Williams to get into the red zone for the first time midway through the second quarter with Juan Blancarte converting on a 31-yard field goal to cap the drive and cut Joplin’s lead to 14-3.
Joplin needed just two plays to answer in its ensuing possession, using a 62-yard pass from Gooch to Beal up the sideline for a 21-3 lead with 5:25 left in the first half.
“The nice thing about having weapons like Davin (Thomas), Aidan (Sampson), Whit (Hafer), Neil (Barstow) and Jett is they can’t just load up to stop Quin or we can throw it to those other options,” Jasper said. “Hobbs is also doing a nice job of being a threat in the run game and moving the chains when he needs to.”
Joplin got into the end zone for a fourth time in the first half when Renfro took a first-and-goal handoff from the 6 and looked for his opening before sprinting right past the goal line for a touchdown to give the Eagles a 28-3 lead with 1:09 left in the first half.
Neosho responded with a long passing score of its own when Hughes found Harris in the flat, with Harris taking the ball 48 yards to the house for a touchdown to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to 28-10 with six seconds to play before halftime.
Neosho QB Quenton Hughes evades the rush during the Wildcats’ loss to Joplin on Friday. Photo by Israel Perez.
“Joplin did a good job of bringing blitzes and pressuring (Quenton) through the first quarter and a half,” Taute said. “Once we were able to see it better and start picking those things up, we started settling in and Q started doing what he does at quarterback. Tyrone Harris and Hudson Williams both played outstanding and were unguardable at times. If we can continue to do that down the stretch in districts, then we are going to be in good shape.”
Joplin took possession to start the second half and used a 41-yard rush from Renfro to set himself up for a 3-yard touchdown to make the score 35-10 with 10:34 to play in the third quarter.
Neosho answered back with a 51-yard deep ball from Hughes to Harris to set up a 1-yard rushing score from WR Brody Crane to trim Joplin’s lead to 35-17 with 9:15 on the clock.
A 20-yard run from Renfro on Joplin’s next possession set up a 6-yard rushing score on a keeper by Gooch to put Joplin on top 42-17 with 5:55 left in the third.
Neosho drove down inside the 15 on its next drive before Hughes was stopped short of the first-down marker on a fourth-down scramble to turn the ball over on downs.
Joplin responded and ultimately put the game out of reach after Renfro picked up gains of 16, 24, 17 and 19 yards to get a drive that started at the Joplin 5-yard line down inside the red zone at the other end of the field. Renfro finished off the drive later after taking the wildcat snap across the goal line from a yard out to make the score 49-17 with 9:53 left in the game.
Neosho added a late touchdown on a short-yardage run from Rhone before Joplin’s final score came in the form of a 2-yard rush from RB Kaden Gilmore.
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction lost its final game in the Central Ozark Conference after Republic built an early multi-score lead and never relinquished it en route to a 26-0 win over the Bulldogs on Friday.
Republic blanked Carl Junction in the first half while putting the ball into the end zone three times after converting on a pair of long, time-consuming drives before punching it in with a passing score right before the half to lead 19-0 at the intermission.
Republic played keep away from the Bulldogs in the second half to preserve the shutout on the way to the win.
Carl Junction closes the regular season with a 1-8 record and finishes as the third seed in the Class 4 District 7 standings.
Republic took the opening series and marched down the field before RB Kanon Kroll carried the ball across the goal line from a yard out with 6:33 to play for a 7-0 lead.
Kroll added another short-yardage touchdown to cap a methodical drive to push the lead to 13-0 in the back half of the second quarter.
Republic went to the air late in the first half to find points, as QB Wyatt Woods found TE James Rexroat for a 21-yard touchdown pass on a fade with one second left in the half to take a 19-0 advantage into the intermission.
Republic scored one more time late when Caide White scored from 2 yards out to push the lead to 26-0 with 5:22 left in the game.
BRANSON, Mo. — Webb City concluded the regular season with a 20-0 victory over Branson on Friday night.
The Cardinals improved to 7-2, while the Pirates fell to 4-5.
Andrew Elwell’s 5-yard touchdown plunge with 52 seconds left in the first quarter gave Webb City a 6-0 lead and was the lone score of the opening frame.
The Cardinals extended their lead to 13-0 with 8:45 left in the second quarter when Gabe Johnson hauled in a 37-yard touchdown strike from Jackson Lucas.
The Pirates threatened late in the first half, but the Webb City defense came up with a goal line stand for a turnover on downs to secure the 13-0 lead at halftime.
Neither team was able to score in the third period.
Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run, along with Alex Dunne’s PAT kick with 8:11 remaining in the game, made it 20-0. The score capped a 10-play, 91-yard drive.
Ranked fifth in Class 5, Webb City finished with 367 yards, 208 rushing and 159 passing.
A sophomore, Johnson ran for 105 yards on 13 carries and also passed for 122 yards on six completions.
Drew Vonder Haar had three catches for 64 yards, while Joseph DeGraffenreid had 42 receiving yards on two receptions.
Christian Brock had 12 tackles for the Cardinals.
Webb City’s defense limited Branson to 209 yards, 129 rushing and 80 passing.
Luke McCormick completed 7 of 12 passes for 80 yards. Kyler Lankton recorded two catches for 50 yards. Gage Depee ran 17 yards for 53 yards and McCormick had 53 rushing yards on 20 carries. Depee made 11 tackles.
Friday’s matchup was the final COC meeting between Webb City and Branson, as the Pirates will be among the schools joining the new Ozark Mountain Conference next fall.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Ranked fifth in Class 5, Webb City locked up the No. 1 seed for the Class 5 District 7 tournament.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Concluding the 2023 season alongside the state’s best, Thomas Jefferson finished fourth at the MSHSAA Class 2 Girls Tennis Championships on Friday night at the Cooper Tennis Complex.
In the third-place match, Webster Groves defeated Thomas Jefferson 5-4.
Tom Brumfield’s Cavaliers finished the season with a record of 14-2.
In the season finale, the Cavaliers won all three doubles matches in close fashion to start the dual on a positive note.
At No. 1 doubles, Thomas Jefferson’s Allison Ding and Jeanna Jeyaraj edged Addison Simpson-Margaret Nakatani 9-8 (9), while Esther Yang and Kyla Yang beat Elena King-Regan Matteotti 8-6 at No. 2 doubles.
At No. 3 doubles, TJ’s Warda Morsy and Mayson Solum nipped Katherine Dirks-Milly Benkelman 9-7.
But Webster Groves (16-1) won five of the six singles matches to secure third place. Most of the singles matches were extremely close.
At No. 1 singles, Simpson defeated Ding 6-4, 7-5, while King edged Jeyaraj 4-6, 6-1, 12-10 at No. 2 singles.
Webster Groves’ Dirks defeated Esther Yang 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles, Nakatani beat Morsy 6-1, 7-5 at No. 4 singles and Benkelman topped Solum 6-7 (3), 6-3, 10-6 at No. 5.
Thomas Jefferson’s Kyla Yang edged Hannah Sweeney 2-6, 6-2, 10-7 at No. 6 singles.
The Cavaliers played for third after suffering a semifinal setback to Grain Valley earlier on Friday.
SEMIFINAL SETBACK
In Friday morning’s semifinals, Grain Valley defeated Thomas Jefferson 5-0.
In doubles, Grain Valley’s Finley LaForge and Kylee Bragaw edged TJ’s Ding-Jeyaraj 9-7, while Emma Thiessen-Brooklyn Spencer beat Yang-Yang 8-2. At No. 3 doubles, Grain Valley’s Catherine Barnes-Delaney Thurn topped Morsy-Solum 8-5.
In completed singles matches, Thiessen defeated Esther Yang 6-4, 6-0, Bragaw beat Jeyaraj 6-1, 6-1 and Spencer topped Morsy 6-0, 6-2.
The match officially concluded when the Eagles reached five wins, but two of the singles matches ended nearly simultaneously, resulting in six recorded wins for Grain Valley.
NOTES: Ding was the lone senior competing for the Cavaliers on Friday. Individually, Ding finished her prep tennis career as a three-time medalist in singles.
The rest of the Cavaliers who competed on Friday will return next fall, as Jeyaraj, Kyla Yang, Morsy and Solum are juniors and Esther Yang is a freshman.
Ladue beat Webster Groves 5-0 in the other semifinal.
In the state title match, Ladue beat Grain Valley 5-1.
The McAuley Catholic cross country program had a historic day.
McAuley Catholic’s boys and girls both captured the team championships at the 2023 Ozark 7 Conference Meet on Friday night at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course at Missouri Southern State University.
“I was extremely pleased with the efforts of both teams, and of our middle school kids,” McAuley Catholic coach Andy Youngworth said. “We were able to win all four divisions, quite an accomplishment for the kids and coaches! It was a hot, sunny day, but I thought our kids handled it well. I was very proud of our student body who came out and cheered us on today.”
College Heights Christian’s Colton McMillan (5), McAuley’s Trae Veer (38) and Thomas Jefferson’s Braden Honeywell-Lynch (74) are pictured during the Ozark 7 Meet. Photo by Jessica Greninger.
The McAuley boys repeated as conference champs with 31 points. College Heights was second with 38 and Thomas Jefferson (55) was the third team with a full squad competing.
“Our boys team had some pressure on them this year, as we were the defending conference champion,” Youngworth said. “College Heights and Thomas Jefferson have some very good runners, and I knew we would have to run a great race in order to win.”
McAuley junior Michael Parrigon was the individual conference champion, as he crossed the line at 16:41, more than a minute faster than the runner-up.
College Heights Christian’s Colton McMillan took second in 17:46, McAuley’s Trae Veer was third in 17:48, Thomas Jefferson’s Braden Honeywell-Lynch took fourth in 17:54 and CHC’s Connor Jordan placed fifth in 18:32.
Finishing sixth through 10th were McAuley’s Will Mollnow, Thomas Jefferson’s Liam Cook, CHC’s Owen Horton, McAuley’s Connor Taffner and CHC’s Caleb Quade.
Rounding out the top 15 were TJ’s Spencer Long, McAuley’s Alex Bohachick, CHC’s Steven Calandro, Wheaton’s Jayson Peterson and CHC’s Drew Sawkins.
McAuley’s Cliff Nolan, TJ’s duo of Ashan Appuhamy and Jack Twiss, McAuley’s Max Anreder and Exeter’s Josue Alcaraz completed the top 20.
Youngworth, who noted the Ozark 7 schools appreciate MSSU allowing the meet to be held on campus at the Rutledge course, said his boys team performed well overall.
“Michael Parrigon continues to run well, racing alone for the bulk of the meet,” Youngworth said. “Trae Veer finished third, beating some good kids. Trae continues to improve each week, and just runs very smart races. Will Mollnow earned all-conference recognition, as did Connor Taffner. Alex Bohachick finished as our No. 5 and continues to improve after a long illness kept him out of competition for a few weeks. Cliff Nolan ran a solid race as our No. 6 and dropped 45 seconds from last year. Max Anreder rounded out our top seven.”
McAuley Catholic freshman Olivia Parrigon won the girls race at the Ozark 7 Conference Meet.
The postseason awaits for the Warriors.
“We will face a very tough Hermitage at districts next weekend, they are the defending Class 1 state champions,” Youngworth said. “We will have to have great races from all of our kids in order to challenge them.”
GIRLS HIGHLIGHTS
McAuley’s girls edged defending champion College Heights Christian by just three points, 26-29. The Warriors had four top-10 finishers, while the Cougars had three runners in the top five.
“I think the surprise of the day was our girls defeating College Heights, our first-ever girls conference championship,” Youngworth said. “They are very well-coached and were the defending conference champions, but I challenged the girls a little bit this week, telling them they had nothing to lose by being aggressive and running to win.”
McAuley freshman Olivia Parrigon was the conference champion with a time of 21:07.
College Heights Christian junior Marla Anderegg was the runner-up in 21:37 and McAuley senior Kendall Ramsey took third in 21:59.
CHC’s Jesalin Bever and Lilly Royer finished fourth and fifth, while Thomas Jefferson’s duo of Macie Shifferd and Sarah Mueller were sixth and seventh.
Exeter’s Kaylyn Weiser finished eighth and McAuley’s tandem of Riley Sears and Marbellie Villanueva finished ninth and 10th, respectively.
Also of note, College Heights’ Madi Carson finished 13th, McAuley’s Samantha Perrin was 14th, CHC’s Katie Moss placed 17th, CHC’s Lilly Lackey took 19th and McAuley’s Genevieve Billings finished 20th.
Youngworth noted he was proud of how the girls team performed.
“Olivia Parrigon is our first-ever conference champion, and she ran most of the race with Kendall Ramsey and was able to pull away in the last 800 meters,” Youngworth said. “I think the key to our win though was the work of our No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 runners. Riley Sears ran a career PR and earned all-conference honors, as did Marbellie Villanueva, who ran a PR for the season. Our No. 5 was Samantha Perrin, who finished 14th, but dropped over three minutes from last year’s race. We are starting to run with more confidence, and I look forward to the opportunity to see them compete at districts next week.”
OZARK 7 CONFERENCE MEET
Boys team standings: McAuley Catholic 31, College Heights Christian 38, Thomas Jefferson 55.
Girls team standings: McAuley Catholic 26, College Heights 29.
McAuley Catholic’s Kendall Ramsey (42) and Olivia Parrigon (40) and a number of College Heights runners, including Marla Anderegg (11) are pictured during the Ozark 7 Conference Meet at MSSU’s Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. McAuley swept the team titles. Photos by Jessica Greninger.
Thomas Jefferson’s Liam Cook and McAuley’s Will Mollnow head to the finish line during Friday’s Ozark 7 Conference Meet at Missouri Southern. Photos by Jessica Greninger.
Thomas Jefferson’s Ringo Snow (83) and Ashan Appuhamy (69) compete at the Ozark 7 Conference Meet on Friday.
College Heights Christian’s Jesalin Bever finished fourth in the girls race at the Ozark 7 Conference Meet on Friday.
Thomas Jefferson’s Sarah Mueller finished seventh at the Ozark 7 Conference Meet.
McAuley’s Kendall Ramsey finished third at the Ozark 7 Conference Meet on Friday at MSSU. McAuley Catholic swept both team titles at the meet. Photos by Jessica Greninger.
McAuley Catholic’s girls cross country team won the Ozark 7 Conference Meet on Friday. From left to right, are Samantha Perrin, Riley Sears, Kendall Ramsey, Olivia Parrigon and Marbellie Villanueva. Not pictured: Genevieve Billings. Courtesy photo.
The McAuley Catholic boys cross country team poses after winning the Ozark 7 Conference Meet on Friday at MSSU. Courtesy photo.
Neither team was able to score in the third period.
