Even when the offense struggled to find it’s rhythm during the middle quarters, the Joplin defense never wavered and kept Willard in check all night before two late scores sealed a 28-14 win for the Eagles over the Tigers on Thursday at Junge Field in Central Ozark Conference action.
The Eagles started with a torrid pace, scoring two first-quarter touchdowns before the offense went silent deep into the second half. With Joplin’s defense keeping Willard in at bay all night, forcing the Tigers into five punts and a turnover in the second half, the offense found life late with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter en route to the win.
“You can’t say enough about the defense,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said after the win. “We struggled a little early getting after the quarterback. But, as the game wore on, we did a better job as a defensive line getting that pressure—batting passes down, getting to the quarterback and getting sacks or making him uncomfortable and getting interceptions. The defense put us in great field position all night long and we were able to punch a couple in during the fourth quarter to get us a little breathing room so we could put this one away.”
BETWEEN THE LINES
Joplin needed just three plays to get on the scoreboard in the game’s opening drive. The Eagles started the game with a 12-yard run from junior RB Toryn Jones and an 11-yard completion to senior WR Aidan Sampson before senior QB Hobbs Gooch found senior TE Whit Hafer on a screen pass in the flat. Hafer turned up the sideline, lowered his shoulder and trucked a would-be tackler before breaking loose for a 32-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 11:04 left.
“I braced for that hit,” Hafer said. “At that point, if I am still standing, I am going to keep going. I hit him, saw the end zone and kept running.”
After a three-and-out by the Tigers, the Eagles went back to work on offense. Jones picked up gains of 9 yards and 27 yards on the first two plays from scrimmage to get into the red zone. Facing fourth-down-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Jones took the handoff right and found paydirt for his first rushing score of the season for a 14-0 advantage with 6:52 left in the first period.
The first quarter saw a turnover by each team, as Gooch was picked off on Joplin’s third possession before Collis Jones returned the favor for the Eagles, intercepting Willard’s Russell Roweton on the very next play to give possession back to JHS.
Willard put the ball in the end zone for the first time with 15 seconds left in the first half when Roweton found RB Gary Walker on a short pass with Walker breaking tackles on the way to an 18-yard touchdown to trim Joplin’s lead to 14-6.
Joplin forced Willard into a punt deep in its own territory on the first possession of the second half, with the Eagles taking possession at the Tigers’ 36.
In turn, Joplin got inside the Willard red zone before Gooch fumbled the ball over to the Tigers with 7:47 left in the third quarter.
After another WHS punt, the Eagles started their second drive of the third quarter at the Willard 44 and turned it over on downs with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter at the Willard 33.
“It was almost like we thought it was too easy and we lost focus,” Jasper said about the team’s lull offensively in the second and third quarters. “That, and we had a couple of guys up front get banged up, which had a little bit to do with it, too.
“We have some depth up front, so we just need to be ready to go when our name is called. Eventually, we did do that, so I am proud of the guys who did step up on the offensive line. I do feel like, ultimately, they did a good job and toughed one out there.
“We just have to do a better job of maintaining focus offensively throughout the game.”
Joplin junior DL Josiah Hazelwood came up with a sack of Roweton on third down to force Willard into its third punt of the third quarter on the Tigers’ following possession.
The JHS defense gave the offense its best starting position of the game—the Tigers’ 20-yard line—following another Willard punt and personal-penalty tact on top.
Jones broke the Eagles’ scoring drought with a 12-yard touchdown run, breaking tackles along the way, on fourth-down-and-2 with 8:07 left in regulation to push the lead to 21-6.
“He is such a tough kid,” Jasper said of Jones. “He is not very big, size-wise, but he has a big heart and runs hard behind his pads. He had a big night.”
After Willard’s fifth punt of the second half, the Eagles, again with great starting field position at the Tigers’ 39, used a 38-yard rush from Jones to set up his third rushing score of the game from a yard out to give Joplin a 28-6 advantage with 6:34 left in regulation.
“I felt really good out there,” Jones said of his first start at the varsity level. “I know I had pretty big shoes to fill and I think I filled them pretty well. … I saw holes and I made them. I was able to get into the end zone and my teammates were there to support me. That was the best part about (the night)—celebrating with my teammates.”
Willard got into the end zone as time expired when Roweton completed a 25-yard pass to Hayden Rakeshaw.
TEAM STATS
Joplin finished with 294 yards of offense, 136 of which came on the ground. The Eagle defense limited Willard to 256 yards of offense, with the Tigers rushing for 96 yards as a team.
INJURY UPDATE
Senior RB Quin Renfro missed Thursday’s game with a back injury sustained in the Week 1 win over Branson that is expected to keep him out several weeks.
UP NEXT
Joplin (2-0) is back at home in Week 3 with a matchup against Ozark (1-1) at 7 p.m. at Junge Field.
