NIXA, Mo. — Class 6 fourth-ranked Nixa handed sixth-ranked Joplin its first loss of the season after jumping out to a multi-score cushion early and keeping pace in the second half en route to a 49-35 win on Friday in Central Ozark Conference and district action.
Nixa (5-0) opened the game with the first three touchdowns before Joplin (4-1) rallied to trim the lead to 28-21 by the intermission, with JHS scoring on its final three possessions of the opening half. Joplin failed to put the ball in the end zone on the opening drive of the third quarter, with Nixa taking the opportunity to stretch the lead to two scores and never letting JHS get closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Nixa scored on all but two drives in the first half—a missed field goal and having possession of the football when the clock ran out in the half—and notched touchdowns on every possession of the second half.
STATS
Nixa had 465 yards of offense on 51 plays, with senior RB Ramone Green putting the team on his back with 35 carries for 297 yards and five touchdowns in the win. Senior QB Connor Knactal completed 11-of-15 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. Senior WR Kael Combs had three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Joplin’s offense ran 71 plays for 507 yards. Junior QB Hobbs Gooch rushed seven times for 10 yards and a touchdown and a fumble, while completing 14-of-23 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Junior RB Quin Renfro carried the ball 24 times for 156 yards and a touchdown, while senior RB Drew VanGilder had 17 carries for 75 yards. Senior WR Terrance Gibson had six receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore WR Davin Thomas had four grabs for 89 yards and a score.
GAME ACTION
Nixa built a 21-0 lead on Joplin after NHS scored on its first two drives with a 21-yard rushing scored on a reverse by junior WR/DB Spencer Ward before Combs hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass from Knatcal on third and 6 with 4:34 left in the first quarter. Joplin, after a punt on its first possession, turned it over on the third play of its second drive on a low snap to Gooch, with Nixa recovering. It was the third fumble of the game to that point for Joplin, the first one lost. With Nixa gaining possession in the red zone, it took four plays to find the end zone when senior Green scored from a yard out for a 21-0 lead with 2:31 to play in the first quarter.
Joplin’s offense found a rhythm in the second quarter and marched 80 yards on 10 plays with Renfro taking a handoff left and making several tacklers miss before finding paydirt with 11:03 on the clock, trimming the deficit to 21-7.
Joplin held Nixa to a 29-yard field-goal attempt on the next drive, which hit the upright and was no good to give JHS possession at its own 20. Joplin once again put together an 80-yard drive, this time with Gooch keeping the ball left and finding the far pylon for his first rushing score of the season to cut Nixa’s lead to 21-14 with 6:13 left in the half.
Nixa responded with a fourth scoring drive in the first half after Green found the end zone from 3 yards out to push the lead back to two scores, 28-14, with four minutes before the intermission.
Joplin went with the hurry up and had rushing gains of 13 and 11 yards by VanGilder as well as gains of 8, 20 and 7 yards by Renfro to set up a 26-yard passing touchdown from Gooch, who took off out of the pocket before looking up field and firing on the run to Gibson, who caught the ball crossing the field at the 5-yard line before continuing across the goal line for a touchdown to make the score 28-21—the score at halftime.
Joplin gained four first downs on the opening drive of the second half before stalling with a turnover on downs after an incomplete pass on fourth down, giving Nixa the ball at its own 28.
Nixa quickly drove down the field and scored on a 19-yard rushing score from Green, who broke several tackles on the way to his third touchdown of the game.
Joplin answered back with 1:08 left in the third quarter when Thomas hauled in a 17-yard touchdown reception from Gooch to trim the lead back to one score, 35-28.
Nixa kept pace offensively with Green finding crossing the goal line for the fourth time on an 8-yard run to push the margin back out to 42-28 with 10:51 left in the third quarter.
Joplin’s offense worked its way down the field in response before junior TE Whit Hafer won a jump ball in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown reception from Gooch on third-down and go to go to make the score 42-35 with 5:57 left in regulation.
Green continued to carry the load for Nixa, scoring his fifth touchdown on the ensuing drive after breaking loose from 41 yards to make the score 49-35 with less than three minutes left in the game to ice the win.
UP NEXT
Joplin returns home for a matchup with Republic (3-2) on Friday.
