Class 6 No. 5 Joplin played from behind for much of the first half before flipping the script in the second half and pulling away to a 68-43 win over Neosho on the back of a monster performance from junior RB Quin Renfro on Friday at Junge Field on Senior Night.
The Wildcats took the first possession for a touchdown and never surrendered the lead while heading into halftime with a 28-27 advantage. Joplin scored out of the break to take the lead and never looked back, riding a big second half from the defense and a huge night on the ground en route to the win in the regular season finale.
“I am proud of our guys,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “It was an uncharacteristic game for us in a lot of ways, but we got done what we needed to do. I am excited that the regular season is done and we have a new season to prepare for. We will take care of our bumps and bruises tomorrow, evaluate and learn from this game and get ready for the playoffs.”
SENIOR NIGHT
With it being the final regular season home game, Joplin honored 22 players and one manager in Senior Night ceremonies.
“It’s a group of kids who are just working hard together and want to play for the name on the front of the jersey,” Jasper said. “That is special, and I told them that. We are only guaranteed seven more days of football. We are going to have to earn another seven days after that.”
STATS
Joplin finished the night with 585 yards of offense on 66 plays, with Renfro closing with a monster game. Renfro rushed 33 times for 312 yards and eight touchdowns, which is a new Joplin record previously held by former RB Isaiah Davis. Senior RB Drew VanGilder picked up 48 yards on nine carries, while sophomore WR Davin Thomas caught three passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Joplin senior WR Terrance Gibson caught six passes for 96 yards, while junior QB Hobbs Gooch completed 12-of-18 passes for 223 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
“It all comes down to the offensive line,” Renfro said. “We have the two best tackles in the state, the two best guards in the state, the best center and the best tight end in the state. I would put them up against anybody. They are the hardest-working group I’ve ever played with. Those are their touchdowns. It’s all them. It wasn’t me.”
“He has put himself up against the rest of the running backs in the conference,” Jasper said about Renfro. “I think that comes with his hard work. He has a different leadership style, definitely different than I have, but it is very effective. The guys up front love blocking for him and playing hard for him. It is fun to see him grow as a leader because that is a tough role. Leadership can be lonely, but he just keeps working hard and cheering on his teammates. Football is a long season and he has gotten better each week.”
Neosho closed the game with 249 yards of offense on 80 plays. Junior QB Quenton Hughes completed 22-of-44 passes for 203 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Senior RB Jared Siler gained 142 yards and two scores on 34 carries. Senior WR Isaiah Green caught 13 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
“I am extremely proud of our kids,” Neosho coach Brandon Taute said. “They weren’t intimidated by anything. They played really well against a ranked Class 6 football team. We hung toe to toe with them in the first half. It was just those first few minutes of the second half that are so important. That is kind of where we made a living in our wins this year, taking advantage of those first couple of minutes in the second half. Credit to Joplin for flipping the script on us. They won those first few minutes in the second half and that was the difference in the game.”
DISTRICT UPDATE
Joplin came into the game as the fourth seed (39.21) in Class 6 District 3, with Nixa (44.48), Lee’s Summit North (44.36) and Kickapoo (40.43) on top of the Eagles in the standings. While there is a chance for a shakeup at the top, as of now, Joplin will be hosting fifth-seeded Raymore-Peculiar on Friday at Junge Field in the district tournament opener.
“From the outside looking in, you could say that we’ve overachieved in the regular season,” Jasper said. “But, we are 7-2 and those two losses, when you look back, are really going to sting, which is a good thing because that tells us how far we’ve come.”
Neosho is the fourth seed in the Class 5 District 6 tournament and will host fifth-seeded Willard (0-9) on Friday at Bob Anderson Stadium.
“I want to continue to get better at the things we are doing,” Taute said when asked what he wants to see from his Wildcats as they enter the postseason. “We get to go back home and play in front of our home crowd one more time, so that is exciting. It always comes down to us executing our system and being fundamentally sound.”
GAME ACTION
After Neosho and Joplin each scored touchdowns on the opening drives—with Green catching a screen pass in the flat from Hughes before using a block, turning up field and breaking a tackle on the way to a 20-yard score and JHS’ Renfro scoring on the ground from 7 yards out—the Wildcats jumped back out in front for a second time, this time thanks to a big play on defense.
Gooch scrambled in the backfield to avoid pressure before heaving a second-down-and-1 pass towards the near hash mark down the field, with the ball getting picked off by Neosho DB Bostyn Patterson and returned for a 77-yard pick-6 touchdown to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead with 5:09 on the clock in the first quarter.
Joplin once again responded to tie the game up at 14-14 when Gooch found TE Whit Hafer for a 21-yard reception to set up a 1-yard touchdown run from Renfro with 2:52 to play in the opening period.
The Wildcats didn’t flinch, taking the final 2:52 off the clock in the first quarter and the first 59 seconds off the start of the second period before Siler punched it in from a yard out on third down to give Neosho a 21-14 lead.
For the third straight drive, Joplin was forced to play from behind. For the third straight drive, Joplin drove down the field for a game-tying touchdown, which came on a 4-yard run from Renfro, who wears No. 3 on his jersey, for his third touchdown of the game to tie things up at 21-all with 7:26 to play in the first half.
The Eagles’ defense came up with its first turnover of the game on the ensuing Neosho drive when a third-down pass from Hughes over the middle of the field was tipped in the air by senior LB Draven VanGilder, who laid out to make the diving interception to give the Joplin offense possession near midfield.
The turnover didn’t end up in points the other way, as Neosho forced Joplin into a 35-yard field goal into the win that was off the upright and no good.
The Wildcats used another big play on defense to take the lead once more when a one-handed interception by DB Collyn Kivett in the flat went the other way for a 30-yard touchdown, the second pick-6 of the first half, to give Neosho a 28-21 advantage with 2:06 left on the clock.
“That is huge for us heading into the playoffs,” Taute said. “Our defense has forced a couple of turnovers the last couple of weeks. We know we can score. When we can put both of those things together, I think we are a pretty good football team.”
Joplin rallied back quickly for a touchdown just before the half on a 5-yard rushing score from Renfro, his fourth TD of the first half, but the point-after try was no good, preserving a 28-27 lead by the Wildcats into the intermission.
The Eagles got the ball out of the locker room and Renfro continued with his big night, picking up gains of 10, 10 and 32 yards before capping the drive with a 9-yard rushing score. Gooch scored on rushing to the far pylon on the ensuing two-point conversion to give Joplin a 35-28 lead over Neosho, the Eagles’ first of the game, with 10:16 to play in the third quarter.
After Joplin forced a turnover-on-downs on the defensive end when LB Jonathan Williams sacked Hughes on fourth-down-and-5, with JHS taking possession at its own 34, Thomas broke loose for a 44-yard touchdown reception on fourth-down to give the Eagles a 41-28 lead.
The Eagles’ defense continued its strong play in the second half when Collis Jones picked off Hughes on the ensuing NHS possession and returned the ball 45 yards for a touchdown to give Joplin a 48-28 lead with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
Neosho added a one-yard score from Siler and Renfro added his sixth touchdown from a yard out to bring the score to 55-35 with 11 minutes left.
Joplin’s Blake Farmer came up with a punt block, which led to a 12-yard rushing score from Renfro moments later to push the lead to 61-35 with 10 minutes to play.
Green caught his second touchdown of the game with 7:30 left in the game to trim the score to 61-43 before Joplin answered back with a 4-yard score by Renfro for the eighth time this game.
“Tonight, we just played as a unit—as a team,” Renfro said on his team’s win to close the regular season. “Everybody was hyping up everybody on both sides of the ball. When we play as a complete unit, it is really scary. … This gives us a lot of momentum and was an important win heading into the postseason.”
