NEOSHO, Mo. — Heading into the regular season finale while coming off a win against Branson, Joplin coach Curtis Jasper wanted to see his team come up with another strong performance against Neosho to build some momentum heading into the postseason.
The Eagles did just that, blanking the Wildcats 48-0 on Friday night at Bob Anderson Stadium.
It was a night of firsts for Joplin, as the Eagles’ defense pitched its first shutout, while scoring its first touchdown. Joplin (5-4) won back-to-back games for the first time all season, while moving to above .500 for the first time since Week 1. The Eagles forced a running clock for the first time. Sophomore wideout Dante Washington returned from an injury suffered in Week 3 and scored his first rushing touchdown of the year. To top it off, late in the game, freshman quarterback All Wright threw his first-career varsity touchdown pass to freshman Whit Hafer, which was his first-career varsity touchdown reception.
“I was really happy with the way we played tonight,” Jasper said. “We had a lot of energy. We hadn’t achieved a turbo clock on anyone this year. We hadn’t won two in a row. We are just looking for consistency. We had a good week of practice, prepared well and did all the little things. It would have been easy to fall into a trap looking ahead to districts, but our leadership did a good job of making sure everyone was focused this week on doing what we needed to do.”
Joplin’s offense gained 374 yards on 57 plays. Nathan Glades carried the ball 18 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns, while Always Wright completed 10-of-15 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. Washington caught two passes for 30 yards and a touchdown and added 44 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Keaton Renfro, Trayshawn Thomas and Bruce Wilbert each had two receptions in the win.
“We came out in all three phases and played our butts off,” Glades said. “I am proud of the way we are playing. I am ready for the playoffs to see if we can continue it.”
Joplin’s defense limited Neosho to 37 yards on 43 plays, which comes out to .86 yards per play for the Wildcats. Drayke Perry had four rushes for 9 yards, while Cayden Auch caught two passes for 28 yards.
“I thought our energy, getting guys to the ball and tackling was really great tonight,” Jasper said of his defense’s performance.
After both teams traded turnover-on-downs, Joplin got on the board after turning to the ground game. Glades carried the ball nine times in the 12-play drive, crossing the goal line from a yard out to put the Eagles on top 7-0.
Joplin’s defense followed up with its first touchdown of the season after Jayden Holt forced Neosho quarterback Logan Whetzell into a fumble on a third-down pass attempt before scooping the ball up himself and scoring from 18 yards out to extend the Eagles’ lead to 14-0 with 9:58 to play in the first half.
“It was the trifecta,” Jasper said. “He caused the fumble, picked it up and scored. On a production chart, that’s the best you can do. He made plays all night long. He is a great player and he showed that tonight.”
“Coach (Nick) Reid drew up a really good game plan,” Holt said. “We just went out and executed. It was great to get that momentum, especially heading into the playoffs.”
Joplin went up three scores after a 13-play drive on the ensuing possession culminated in a 5-yard touchdown run by Glades, who had 115 rushing yards in the first half alone, to put the Eagles on top 21-0 with 4:24 left in the half.
With time winding down, Neosho was facing a fourth-down look from near midfield that was unsuccessful, giving Joplin possession at the Wildcat 47 with 1:37 left on the half. The Eagles needed just four plays to get into the end zone for the fourth time, with Washington catching a 28-yard touchdown pass from Always Wright to make the score 28-0 with 45 seconds left in the half.
“It felt great,” Washington said when asked how it felt to be back on the field. “It was really hard (not being on the field with the team). It is kind of weird watching someone else play your position knowing you can’t play. But, I could cheer, and I made sure I did that part.”
Neosho opened the second half with possession and the Joplin defense forced a three-and-out punt. The low snap went between the punter’s legs and was downed on the 1-yard line for a 33-yard loss. On the next play, Glades took the handoff all the way to the far pylon, evading would-be tacklers on the way, for a touchdown to put Joplin on top 35-0 early in the second half.
On the ensuing JHS possession, Washington ran the ball six straight times, including a 10-yard rushing score to make it a 41-0 lead for Joplin.
“When you get a kid back from injury, you always hold your breath and hope his first game goes well,” Jasper said. “He did a lot of things for us tonight on special teams, offense and defense.”
Freshman reserve quarterback All Wright hooked up with freshman Whit Hafer for a 29-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give Joplin a 48-0 lead.
“To get those guys out there, and they did a great job of going out there and scoring, it was a lot of fun to see,” Jasper said when asked about the production from the reserves.
DISTRICT UPDATE
Joplin currently holds the fifth seed with 32.74 points in the Class 6 District 3 standings, with Lee’s Summit West as the fourth seed with 34.54 points. If this holds firm through Saturday night when the official bracket is announced, Joplin will be traveling to open the playoffs.
“The nice thing is, this late in the year, I feel like we are finding our identity,” Jasper said. “Our guys are really enjoying each other and playing for each other. It’s nice, at this time of year, to be having a lot of fun playing football.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Joplin 7 21 13 7 — 48
Neosho 0 0 0 0 — 0
FIRST QUARTER
JHS—Nathan Glades 1 run (Joseph Ipsen kick)
SECOND QUARTER
JHS—Jayden Holt 18 fumble return (Ipsen kick)
JHS—Glades 5 run (Ipsen kick)
JHS—Dante Washington 28 pass from Always Wright (Ipsen kick)
THIRD QUARTER
JHS—Glades 1 run (Ipsen kick)
JHS—Washington 11 run (kick fail)
FOURTH QUARTER
JHS—Whit Hafer 29 pass from All Wright (Logan Beaver kick)
