CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage ended the regular season on a high note thanks to a strong fourth quarter in a 28-14 win over Willard on Friday at David Hafner Stadium.
Carthage’s Noah Norbury (24) lines up the tackle against Willard’s Gary Walker (5) on Friday. Photo by Tyler Wade.
After a scoreless opening stanza, Carthage and Willard traded touchdowns in the second quarter, but WHS went into the intermission on top 7-6. Both teams traded touchdowns again in the third period, but Carthage converted a 2-point try to send the game into the fourth quarter tied at 14-14. Carthage blanked Willard in the final 12 minutes while finding the end zone twice to secure the victory in the season finale.
Carthage wraps the regular season with a 5-4 record and are the third-seed in the Class 5 District 7 tournament. Carthage hosts (6) Smith-Cotton (2-7) at 7 p.m. on Friday in the opening round.
Carthage QB Brady Carlton broke a scoreless tie with 9:02 to play in the second quarter when he found the end zone from 7 yards out on a keeper for a 6-0 lead following a missed point-after try.
Willard answered on its ensuing possession when QB Russell Roweton kept the ball up the middle on second-and-long for 69 yards before following up with a 10-yard rush to get to the goal line and finding paydirt on the next play to give his Tigers a 7-6 lead over Carthage at the 7:34 mark.
Carthage’s Jordan Brunnert (23) tackles Willard’s Johnathon Huskisson (20) by the legs from behind on Friday. Photo by Tyler Wade.
Willard struck for a big play again midway through the third quarter when Roweton faked the handoff, dropped back in play action on second down and found Timothy Ruble streaking up the seam for a 42-yard passing score and a 14-6 lead with 5:42 on the clock.
Carthage knotted things up late in the third when RB Landyn Collins took the shotgun handoff up the middle, breaking tackles into the second level before sprinting his way to a 50-yard touchdown. CHS tied the game at 14-14 on a 2-point conversion when Carlton found WR Jackson Hettinger.
Carthage jumped in front in the fourth quarter after Collins broke free for a 33-yard run down to the Willard 5, with Carlton crossing the goal line from a yard out two plays later for a 21-14 lead with 10:25 left in regulation.
Carthage’s defense forced Willard into a turnover-on-downs in negative territory, with CHS taking over at the WHS 33. Carthage drove the short field and punched it in on a 5-yard run from Collins to ice the game with 4:15 left to play.
Second-seeded Carthage suffered a 25-9, 25-11, 25-19 loss to sixth-seeded Lee’s Summit in the semifinals of the Class 5 District 7 volleyball tournament on Saturday at Lee’s Summit North High School.
The Tigers finished the season with a record of 14-17.
Carthage’s seniors are Ava Bourgault and Riann Schwartz.
Lee’s Summit will meet top-seeded Lee’s Summit West in the district title game on Tuesday.
Joplin High School junior Nathan Wardlow shattered a pair of school records at Saturday’s Springfield Invitational.
Wardlow set school records in the 500-yard freestyle and the 200 IM at the meet. Wardlow recorded a time of 4:50.01 in the 500 free and 2:01.06 in the 200 IM.
The previous JHS record for the 500 free was 4:53.92 and was set by Andrew Chesney in 2015. The previous record for the 200 IM was 2:01.82 and was set by Alex Crawford in 2019.
On Saturday, Wardlow won the 500 free and he finished third in the 200 IM.
The JHS 200 medley relay team finished seventh in 1:47 and featured Wardlow, Jackson Mordica, Parker Hinman and Ian Vermillion.
Joplin’s 400 freestyle relay team of Wardlow, Vermillion, Isaiah Thom and Hinman finished eighth in 3:41.
In other highlights of Saturday’s meet, Hinman placed eighth in the 100 backstroke and 13th in the 200 IM, while Vermillion was 18th in the 100 butterfly and 20th in the 500 free and Jackson Mordica took 20th in the 100 breaststroke.
The Eagles finished 19th in the 200 freestyle relay.
Joplin finished eighth in the team standings. There were 23 full squads competing.
Rockhurst, Lafayette, Rock Bridge and Glendale were the top four teams.
Also of note, Monett’s Ryan Goodson finished seventh in the 50 freestyle and Nevada’s Kolton Evans took seventh in the 100 backstroke.
ANDERSON, Mo. — Few things feel better for a team than righting the wrongs from a loss earlier in the season by winning the rematch with a district title on the line.
That is exactly what second-seeded Webb City did on Saturday after rallying from an early deficit to defeat longtime rival and top-seeded Carl Junction 23-25, 25-23, 25-17 and 25-14 in the Class 4 District 6 championship at McDonald County High School.
Webb City’s Aubree Lassiter swings through a kill in the Cardinals’ win over Carl Junction in the district title game on Saturday. Courtesy photo.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Webb City coach Rhonda Lawrence said. “We have kind of been struggling in recent games and have been messing with our rhythm and chemistry. We have been kind of stop and start, but today we were very smooth and played together. They’ve melded a little more over the last couple of weeks and I am so proud of them because we had to fight for every point.
“CJ is a top opponent. You have to love this type of volleyball, with the top two teams in the area in a great match. I was very proud of my girls for stepping up and I think our experience in these situations helped us make an adjustment when we had to. We had kids step up into big shoes and make big strides, putting the ball where we needed to to score, working together, for each other and trusting the game plan. It was a great team effort.”
MOVING ON
The district title is the third straight for Webb City (27-6), which advances to the quarterfinal round of the Class 4 state tournament.
Last year, the Cardinals made a run to the semifinal round before ultimately finishing fourth in the state. Webb City,which is ranked eighth in Class 4 entering the postseason, is relying on that experience as it attempts to duplicate and surpass the success from the postseason a year ago.
“Having the success of the last couple of years makes you more comfortable in these situations,” Lawrence said. “It has helped us everyday this year, driving us to propel further and bringing the young ones up with us. I felt like we kind of stalled a couple of weeks ago and then they realized how well they can play together. That belief in each other—showing that and proving that is helping us get the job done in tight situations. We can rely on each other because we are battle tested. We fight and work hard.”
SAYING GOODBYE
Carl Junction’s Miya Carnes earns an assist in the district title game against Webb City on Saturday. Courtesy photo.
With the loss, Carl Junction ends its season with a 25-9-2 record. The Bulldogs, which entered the district tournament as the No.11 team in Class 4, have won 20 games or more for five straight seasons.
“I thought our kids came out ready to battle,” Carl Junction coach Cheryl Sharples said. “Then, some things started going the other way and we just couldn’t climb out of that hole. But they continued to battle all the way through and I am proud of them for that.
“We had a lot of big holes at the beginning of the season. There were a lot of ‘what ifs’. We had kids really step up in a lot of different positions and even learn new positions for us. We’ve had a great season and I am super proud of them.”
Carl Junction graduates seniors Acadia Badgley, Sara Buchele, Miya Carnes, Aubreigh Fowler, Abigail Wilson and Kylie Scott.
“Some of them have been on the varsity court since they were freshmen, contributing from the very beginning,” Sharples said. “Those of them that weren’t were still contributing to our program, namely helping to build the atmosphere and the culture of our program. That was their number one goal this year—to create a great culture around the team. They did that.”
BETWEEN THE LINES
Carl Junction opened the first set with momentum, building an early 9-4 advantage off a three-point service run from Buchele that featured a kill from Fowler and a block by DeShaye Buerge. Buchele came up with a four-point run in service later in the set, which featured an ace, after a sideout kill from Scott to push the CJ lead to 21-13.
After back to back kills from Scott made the score 23-15 moments later, Webb City scored eight of the next nine points to put on a furious rally and trail 24-23. Aubree Lassiter had a block and three kills to highlight the surge. The game ended on the next point with an attack error going in favor of the Bulldogs.
Webb City started off slowly and ultimately dropped the first set, but the Cardinals changed their fortune in the second set. After a serving error by CJ forced a sideout, Mia Lenker went on a four-point service run that had kills from Jaeli Rutledge and Lenker that gave the Cardinals a 10-5 advantage.
Webb City’s Kirra Long swings through a kill against Carl Junction in the district title game on Saturday. Courtesy photo.
“I think we really just got off to a bad start,” Lawrence said of her team’s ability to rebound after dropping the first set. “The first 10 points of the game we weren’t playing like we can, but we really turned it around (near the end of the first set) and started playing better, but we had already given them too many points. We just took that momentum from the last half of the first set into the second set.”
Both teams traded back and forth until Carl Junction scored seven of eight points—with kills from Carnes, Fowler and Scott, who also had a block—to give the Bulldogs a 19-17 lead. Each team traded sideout kills for the next seven points to bring the score to 22-21 in favor of CJ with Webb City serving. Savannah Crane delivered with an ace to tie the set at 22s, a kill from Lenker and an attack error on CJ put the Cardinals in front 24-22. Fowler earned a kill for CJ to force a sideout before Lenker answered back with another sideout kill to send Webb City to the win while tying things up at 1-1.
“Mentally, that was huge for us,” Lawrence said of her team staving off CJ late in the second set. “That was a momentum swing, which is a big factor in volleyball. … That just solidified that they were capable of doing this and gave them even more confidence.”
The Bulldogs and Cardinals traded swings in the early portions of the first set. Webb City initially built a 7-3 lead highlighted by kills from Makayla Mayes and Lenker and a block from Kirra Long before Carl Junction scored six of the next nine, with Scott earning three kills and Fowler one, to trim the deficit to 10-9.
Webb City took the momentum permanently thanks to back to back four-point service runs from Lenker—which featured an ace and two kills from Rutledge—and Jaylee Van Beceleare, who aced three times, to build a 20-11 cushion on the way to the go-ahead win.
“They’re both very skilled in their serving as far as placement,” Lawrence said. “And, they have a lot of heat behind their serves, so it’s hard to pass. Anytime you can serve aggressively and keep them out of their system, they can’t get it to their big hitters as well. That helps our defense to stay alive and gives our hitters a chance to get a hold of it back at them.”
The Cardinals jumped in front of the final set early, using a sideout kill from Mayes to build a 5-2 lead before Lenker ripped off four points in service to push the lead to 9-2. Lenker had an ace, while Mayes and Rutledge had kills.
CJ’s Karissa Chase earned a sideout kill which was matched by a kill from Rutledge before a block by Crane and an error on the Bulldogs pushed Webb City’s lead to 12-3.
The Cardinals shook off an error and gained service back on a kill from Long before Crane scored four straight points in service, with Lassiter earning a kill before an ace closed the run with an 18-5 lead intact.
The closest Carl Junction got to the lead was 10 points before Webb City finished off the win.
STATS
Rutledge had 18 kills and two blocks, while Lassiter finished with 17 kills, three aces and three blocks. Mayes had six kills, while Long had four and added seven digs. Savannah Crane finished with 38 assists and two aces, while Sophia Crane finished with 19 digs and two aces.
Carnes led Carl Junction with 33 assists, including an impressive one-handed assist, and three aces. Scott had 15 kills and 12 digs, while Fowler finished in double-digit kills with 10. Chase finished with nine kills, while Wilson led the team in digs with 18.
