WILLARD, Mo. — The Carthage Tigers scored touchdowns on six of their first seven possessions in the first half en route to a commanding 55–14 turbo clock victory Friday night over the winless Willard Tigers at Tiger Stadium.
Carthage scored 21 points in the first quarter, 20 in the second, and one touchdown each in the third and the fourth.
Ranked first in Class 5 by the Missouri Media, Carthage finished the regular season 8-1 overall and in the Central Ozark Conference, and they clinched their share of the conference title with Nixa.
Carthage earned the top seed and bye into the semifinals in Class 5 District 6 and they are waiting on the winner of next week’s district quarterfinal contest between No. 4 Neosho (4-5) and No. 5 Willard (0-9). Neosho defeated Willard 79-72 to open the season.
Willard’s opening drive on Friday started out promisingly when junior quarterback Russell Roweton broke loose for a 45-yard run into Carthage territory on a third-down play.
However, a holding penalty derailed Willard and Carthage forced a turnover on downs.
On Carthage’s first play from scrimmage, senior quarterback Cooper Jadwin capitalized on a block near midfield for a 64-yard run down to the Willard 8.
On the next play, outstanding senior running back Luke Gall scored his first of three touchdowns with an 8-yard run.
A holding penalty and four consecutive incomplete passes resulted in Carthage’s only failure to score a touchdown in their first seven possessions.
Senior receiver Jadason Davis-Maxey scored on a 28-yard TD run on a jet sweep and Gall scored on a 56-yard run from a low direct snap and busted play into one of the longer plays from scrimmage all night.
In the second quarter, senior Hudson Moore caught 24-yard and 5-yard touchdown passes from Jadwin and Gall scored his third and final TD of the night with a 1-yard run.
Willard’s eight first-half possessions resulted in a turnover on downs, a punt, a punt, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, a punt, a Clay Kinder interception at midfield and a punt.
Davis-Maxey returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for his second TD of the night.
Willard scored on a pair of long passing plays, while Carthage’s offense ran off more than 18 minutes off the clock with two possessions.
Carthage put together a 16-play, 79-yard scoring drive that devoured 11 minutes, 46 seconds off the clock, including the final 8:45 of the third and the first 3:01 of the fourth.
Sophomore quarterback Brady Carlton capped off the game’s longest possession with a 1-yard TD run.
Carthage’s last possession did not produce any more points, but it left Willard with very little time on the clock.
Carthage scored 56 points against Republic to open the season and 55 against Willard to end the regular season on a high note, both wins their highest-scoring nights so far this season.
The Tigers enter the postseason on a six-game winning streak.
