NEOSHO, Mo. — For the second season in a row, the previously winless Willard Tigers came into Bob Anderson Stadium and defeated the Neosho Wildcats in a Class 5 District 6 quarterfinal contest 43-29 on Friday night.
The Tigers’ offense found the end zone on their first five possessions, while the Wildcats had three first-half possessions fizzle out with an interception and a pair of turnover-on-downs.
Willard built a 35-15 halftime lead behind all 15 points in the second quarter and the Tigers finished the half with 21 unanswered as they scored three touchdowns and Neosho turned it over on downs twice in a row and punted after the Wildcats took a 15-14 lead with 3 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Neosho cut the gap to 35-29 halfway through the fourth, but Willard converted a critical fourth-and-1 near midfield with a tough gain by quarterback Russell Roweton and then running back Gary Walker closed out the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown run down the Willard sideline.
“Obviously not the outcome that we want, but our kids fought hard,” Neosho coach Brandon Taute said. “They got up big on us in the first half and we battled back. It would have been really easy to roll over there and our kids didn’t so I’m proud of our effort. In the end, they just out-executed us.”
Willard held the potent offense of the Wildcats to one of their lowest point totals of the season, and the Wildcats had five possessions end in Willard territory without points.
“Obviously, you’ve got to finish those drives in the red zone, especially in playoff football,” Taute said. “We weren’t able to do that tonight and they did most of the time when they got down there. That’s the difference in the game.”
Neosho’s defense showed much improvement in the second half Friday night from the first half and the first time Neosho and Willard played this season to a 79-72 final score — Willard punted three times and turned it over on downs another time, and two Isaiah Green interceptions ended Willard drives.
Their improved play gave the Wildcats’ potent offense a chance to get back into the game and make it a dogfight late.
“Our defense made good adjustments and the kids did a great job flying around,” Taute said. “They made some huge plays there in the second half. I’m extremely proud of the way they kept battling. We fought until the very end, and they just had a little more than us tonight.”
Neosho finished the season 4-6 overall, and the Wildcats’ talented group of seniors played their final games Friday night.
“They’re a great group of kids,” Taute said. “They’ve done a great job leading this group. They’ve done a great job the last two years buying into the culture that we’re building and being everything we’ve asked them to be. We’re going to miss them, and I told them the outcome of the football game doesn’t change the way I feel about them. I still love them, and we’ll move on from here.”
The Wildcats scored their first points on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Quenton Hughes to Green, a duo that connected with each other 109 times for more than 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns in the regular season.
Outstanding senior running back Jared Siler scored the other three Neosho touchdowns Friday night, and he tallied 1,919 yards and 23 touchdowns on 293 carries in his first nine games. Siler surpassed 2,000 yards on the season with a 17-yard run late in the first quarter.
The Wildcats improved by three wins from Taute’s first season as their head coach.
Willard scored 115 total points in two games against Neosho and 114 in their other eight games so far this season.
The Tigers, 1-9 overall, earned their spot in the semifinals next Friday against district top seed, Central Ozark Conference co-champion, and the top-ranked team in Class 5, Carthage (8-1).
Carthage defeated Willard 55-14 in the final week of the regular season.
