NIXA, Mo. — Top-seeded Nixa scored on its first six possessions of the game before kneeling on the ball to head into the intermission with a four-possession lead en route to a 56-34 win over third-seeded Joplin in the Class 6 District 5 championship game on Friday.
Nixa, which didn’t have a negative play in the first two quarters until kneeling the clock out, gained over 300 yards of offense and scored six touchdowns on the way to a 42-14 first-half lead. The sledding didn’t get much easier for Joplin in the second half, with JHS losing the turnover battle in the game 5-0.
Nixa is at Rockhurst for the Class 6 state quarterfinals on Saturday.
Joplin’s season ends with a 7-4 record, with JHS graduating 21 seniors from this year’s team.
Nixa opened the game with possession and marched 66 yards on eight plays in 2:10 of game action to get into the end zone for the first time. Nixa rushed the ball on all eight plays and used a 28-yard rush on a fourth-down fake punt from Parker Mann to ultimately set up a 12-yard rushing score from RB Malachi Rider for a 7-0 lead.
Nixa struck for the big play on its second possession after QB Nate Uber used a play-action to find a streaking WR Wyatt Vincent up the seam for a 49-yard touchdown on third-down and 11 to go up 14-0 with less than six minutes to play.
Nixa followed up the big-play score by recovering the ensuing pooch kick to regain possession, and then making the most of it. Nixa took the extra possession on a short field and marched it down, converting on another fourth down in the process, to find paydirt on a short-yard rushing score from Rider for a 21-0 advantage with 3:05 left in the opening quarter.
Joplin, using a nice return to get into plus territory, got into the end zone late in the first quarter for the first time when TE Whit Hafer hauled in a pass near the 7-yard line from QB Hobbs Gooch before shrugging off an arm tackle and lowering his shoulder on the way to two more broken tackles before crossing the goal line for a 12-yard touchdown with a minute left in the opening quarter to a 21-7 score.
Nixa, which had over 300 yards of offense in the first half, churned out another drive on its fourth possession before RB Dylan Rebura got into the end zone for a touchdown from 5 yards out with 10 minutes left in the second quarter to make the score 28-0.
On the ensuing first-down handoff by Joplin, RB Quin Renfro broke free for a 72 yards down to the 1 before getting in on the next play for a touchdown to trim the deficit to 28-14.
Nixa countered with another scoring drive, using a 3-yard rushing score from Rider to cap the possession and make it a perfect five drives with five touchdowns in the first half.
Nixa forced the game’s first turnover after picking off Gooch near the four-minute mark on Joplin’s next possession. NHS again made the most of the extra possession, converting on fourth down with a 2-yard passing score from Uber to Rebura to push the lead to 42-14 with 1:59 left in the first half.
Joplin took the opening possession of the second half down the field and got back into the end zone for the third time in the game when Gooch rolled off pressure and tucked the ball before finding the pylon for a 9-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 42-21 with 7:12 on the clock.
Late in the third quarter, Uber rolled out past the line of scrimmage before firing an overhand pass behind him to WR Rylan Michel, who took the ball upfield and into the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown to make the score 49-21 with less than four minutes on the clock.
A 22-yard carry from Renfro on the next Joplin possession set up a 1-yard touchdown from RB Chavis Coleman with less than a minute to play in the third quarter. Joplin trailed 49-28 after the score.
Rebura broke free for a 53-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Nixa a 56-28 lead.
Joplin answered with a big play of its own when Gooch found WR Jett Beal for a 51-yard passing touchdown to make the score 56-34.
