If you weren’t familiar with sophomore Davin Thomas’ name before Joplin squared off against Branson to open the 2022 regular season, you certainly knew his name by the time the clock expired in the fourth quarter.
Joplin football has produced a number of athletes over the last several seasons capable of the big play, and Thomas looked like another dangerous addition to the Eagles’ offense after accumulating a pair of touchdowns to go along with 116 yards receiving on five catches, all coming in the first half, to help lead Joplin past Branson 34-3 on Friday at Junge Field.
“He definitely has the speed and athleticism to be a big-play guy,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “With sophomores, you just never know how they will react the first time on the big stage. But, he made some outstanding plays and it’s nice that we can count on him.”
In total, Joplin’s offense had five scoring drives while gaining 441 yards on 49 plays, but also had a pair of turnovers.
“Offensively, the thing I was most proud of was our perimeter blocking,” Jasper said. “We return WRs Terrance (Gibson) and Aidan (Sampson), but we also had some guys like Davin who were fairly new playing and they did a good job, too.”
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles’ defense was dominant. Joplin forced Branson into two turnovers while limiting the Pirates to three points, 191 yards on 45 plays, pitching a second-half shutout in the process.
“I can’t say enough about the defense,” Jasper said. “We replaced nine of 11 and they just did an amazing job tonight. And it was a bunch of guys rotating in. We didn’t have 11 guys playing the entire game. There were a lot of players who saw action tonight and I feel really good about that.”
GAME ACTION
After a fumble on a quarterback-running back exchange on its first possession, Joplin’s offense found some life the second time with the ball. On the second play of the series, looking at a second-down and 3 yards, junior QB Hobbs Gooch found Thomas in the far flat, with Thomas running past everyone up the sideline on the way to a 76-yard touchdown, the first of his varsity career, with 5:10 left to play in the first quarter.
Joplin added to their lead after the defense forced the Pirates in a three-and-out punt situation. On the fourth play of the third series on offense, Joplin junior RB Quin Renfro broke off a 13-yard run to set himself up for a 2-yard touchdown to push the lead to 14-0 with 1:55 left in the first quarter.
“I was really pleased with the offensive line in the first half,” Jasper said. “They did a really good job of opening holes and the running backs did a good job of hitting them.”
The Eagles were driving into Branson territory after forcing another punt before Gooch was picked inside the red zone for Joplin’s second turnover of the game at the start of the quarter.
The turnover didn’t swing the momentum, as the Eagle defense again got a quick stop and the offense capitalized with Gooch finding senior RB Drew VanGilder in the flat, with VanGilder making a man miss before barreling his way into the endzone for paydirt with 8:26 left in the first half to stretch the margin to 21-0.
Joplin’s defense gave possession back to the offense shortly later when senior LB Draven VanGilder, who finished with 16 tackle sin the win, recovered a fumble by Branson.
The Eagles made the most of the turnover, with Thomas finding the endzone for the second time in the game after hauling in a 13-yard pass from Gooch with 5:40 left in the first half to vault Joplin to a 27-0 lead.
Branson got on the board just before the two-minute mark of the second quarter when sophomore Dane Efird connected on a 26-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 27-3. The kick was set up by a 51-yard run from RB Cade Grimm.
Joplin’s defense came up with a turnover with the Pirates looking at first-down and goal from the 10-yard line when junior LB Jonathan Williams dove on a bad snap to give the offense the ball back.
Joplin got the first points of the second half when Gooch flipped a pass to Terrance Gibson, who burst through the hole, fought off a tackle and sprinted to the endzone for a 64-yard touchdown with 47.9 seconds left in the third quarter to push the lead to 34-3.
“I haven’t ran that fast in a minute,” Gibson said with a smile. “The coaches have been pushing us hard in the weight room, and I am lining up with guys I want to see succeed. If I am going to be a leader on this team for them, I need to work hard to make sure the underclassmen can look up to me.”
JOPLIN STATS
Gooch was 16-of-20 passing with four touchdowns and two interceptions and 299 yards through the air. Renfro rushed 10 times for 49 yards and a touchdown, with Drew VanGilder rushing nine times for 62 yards to go along with one reception for 13 yards and a touchdown. Gibson added three catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.
UP NEXT
Joplin hits the road in Week 2 with a matchup at Willard on Sept. 2.
