RAYTOWN, Mo. — Only two points separated Carthage and Raytown South in the district standings before Friday night.
So the Tigers made sure that the point separation on the gridiron was a much different story.
Third-seeded Carthage erased an early two-score deficit and dominated the second half — including a 28-point fourth quarter — to earn a 56-28 road victory over No. 2 Raytown South in the Class 5 District 7 semifinal round.
Junior running back Landyn Collins carried the load for the Tigers, starring with a five-touchdown performance.
The Cardinals (8-3) even made it a one-score game at 28-21 midway through the third quarter before Carthage (7-4) blew the doors off the home side the rest of the way.
The Tigers, leading by the same seven-point lead after three quarters, finished the contest with a 28-7 margin to propel Carthage into an intriguing district title game at Webb City next Friday.
The Tigers didn’t hold a lead until the 18-second mark of the second quarter. In fact, Raytown South raced out to a 14-0 lead, with the second score coming after a surprising onside kick that the home side recovered.
The Cardinals scored on their first two drives—both coming through the air with Sheldon Locke linking up with Iowa State commit Marcus Neal on 51- and 11-yard touchdown completions. Those were two of Neal’s four receiving touchdowns on the day, proving his status as a three-star and DI recruit who plays both ways.
Carthage chipped away offensively and leaned on a stout defense to change the guard in this district semifinal matchup. Tigers junior quarterback Brady Carlton scored on an 11-yard scamper in the first quarter and Collins tallied his first rushing touchdown to make it 14-all with 43 seconds left before the break.
The Tigers managed to get into the end zone once more before visiting the guest locker room after recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Collins rushing for a 7-yard score and a 21-14 halftime lead with 18 seconds left.
Collins continued his momentum with a short touchdown run on Carthage’s first series of the second half, providing a two-score lead at the time. But Neal made a toe-tapping 8-yard reception for his third score on the night, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 28-21 with less than five minutes remaining in the third.
Then, Carthage went into overdrive. Carlton connected with junior receiver Langston Morgan on a 23-yard touchdown before the Tigers recovered their own onside kick, and Collins ran one in from four yards out for a 42-21 lead midway through the fourth.
Neal then proved he wasn’t quite finished, bringing in a 65-yard reception on the near sideline to trim the lead to 42-28 with 7:10 left. But Collins had an answer with a three-yard touchdown run before Morgan recorded a 36-yard pick-6 to put the game out of reach with 2:01 remaining.
Carthage, which started the season 0-3, will play for a district championship next Friday at top-seeded Webb City (8-2). The Tigers handed Webb City one of its two losses 20-13 on Oct. 6 in Carthage.
