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COC Football: Question marks heading into 2020 season

By:
Jason Peake

 

As the 2020 prep football season arrives in Southwest Missouri, two lingering questions come to mind. 

First, can the Central Ozark Conference possibly top its stellar 2019 season? And secondly, what impact will the COVID-19 pandemic have on the schedule? 

Before we look ahead, let’s reflect.  

In a year for the ages, three teams from the COC advanced to state championship games in their respective classes last fall, with Webb City (Class 4) and Carthage (Class 5) bringing home titles and Joplin (Class 6) securing a runner-up plaque.  

Will those three teams repeat last year’s success, or will another squad from the always-competitive conference ascend to become the COC’s top dog in 2020?  

Next, will the coronavirus pandemic disrupt or even eliminate the football season? Will the full schedule get played? If games are played, will fans be allowed in attendance?  

For all of those above questions, the answer is the same—only time will tell.  

But what is certain, if the games are contested this fall, is that this year’s COC slate will once again feature a number of intriguing matchups involving Joplin-area teams.  

For starters, there’s a huge clash right away in Week 1 on August 28, as Webb City travels to Joplin in what will be a highly-anticipated rivalry game at Junge Field. 

Webb City vs. Joplin—not a bad way to begin a season, huh? 

The two teams had an emotional and thrilling meeting a year ago at Cardinal Stadium, with the Eagles coming out on top 35-28 just days after the death of one of their players, Kadin Roberts-Day.  

The season opener is just the beginning of games you won’t want to miss.  

Joplin has its other local rivalry games on the road, as the Eagles are at Carl Junction in Week 4 on Sept. 18, at Carthage in Week 7 on Oct. 9 and at Neosho in Week 9 on Oct. 23.  

Webb City has all of its matchups with local conference rivals in the first five weeks of the season. 

The Cardinals host Neosho in Week 2, and then have back-to-back home dates with Carthage and Carl Junction in Weeks 4 and 5, respectively.  

The Sept. 18 date with rival Carthage will of course be a matchup of two defending state champions. It could be the first of two meetings between the longtime rivals if Webb City bumps up to Class 5 this fall. 

Carthage has three of four dates with the local COC squads in the first four weeks, with a road game at Carl Junction in Week 2, a home game with Neosho in Week 3 before the road date at Cardinal Stadium in Week 4.  

When Carthage hosts Joplin in Week 7, the Tigers and Eagles will meet for the first time since last year’s barnburner, a 56-55 Joplin win that wasn’t decided until the final play of the game.  

Will this year’s matchup be another instant classic? Again, we’ll just have to wait and see.  

In another local rivalry game, Neosho hosts Carl Junction on Oct. 2.  

Again, there are a lot of unknowns heading into the season, due not only to question marks on every team, but also the possible impact of COVID-19. 

What I’m sure of is this—each local rivalry matchup mentioned above will be a “can’t miss” game. 

 

Jason Peake is a sports reporter and podcast host for SoMo Sports. You can follow him on Twitter at @JPeakeSports. You can follow SoMo Sports on Facebook, or on Twitter at @SoMo_Sports.

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