While both teams came into the game with 4-3 records and are not in the hunt for a Central Ozark Conference title like this matchup featured several times in recent memory, the rivalry between Joplin and Carthage carried just as much meaning as ever on Friday at Junge Field.
Joplin (5-3) snapped its first three-game skid under head coach Curtis Jasper last week against Carl Junction and found itself facing a hot Carthage (4-4) team, which had lost its first three games of the season before catching fire winning its last four heading into the matchup with the Eagles.
Joplin’s defense held Carthage off the scoreboard in the first quarter while the offense built up a two-score lead early in the second that the team carried into the intermission. The Eagles continued to play in front in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 28-14 the rest of the way.
“I thought it played about how we wanted it to if we could have written the script,” Jasper said. “We defer, get a stop right off the bat and then go down and score to set the tone. We played with the lead from there and forced them to play from behind. That’s really, with their style, the way we wanted it to happen.”
“We knew how talented and athletic Joplin was coming in,” Carthage coach Jon Guidie said. “We knew it was going to be a big challenge for us defensively. We thought we could move the ball a little bit offensively. It didn’t happen on those first two possessions, but the rest of the night I thought we were pretty good. We didn’t convert on two fourth downs (for turnover-on-downs) and when you add that with the two picks that we had, it’s four turnovers in the game. It doesn’t work very well against a talented team like that.”
RENFRO GOES OFF
Joplin (which gained 393 yards of offense on 39 plays) leaned on its senior ball carrier to carry the load on Senior Night and RB Quin Renfro certainly had a night to remember on the ground for the Eagles. Quin, who is committed to South Dakota State, rushed 18 times for 226 yards and five touchdowns. He had runs of 40, 64, 41, 30 and 31 yards in the win.
“It definitely felt good,” Renfro said of his performance on Senior Night. “It could’ve been my last time playing at Junge Field, so just putting on a performance like that for my family meant a lot to me.”
SENIOR NIGHT
It was a night to remember as the Joplin football program held its Senior Night ceremonies, honoring 22 student-athletes with their families on the field before the game.
“It is a great group,” Jasper said. “A couple of the coaches and I were talking about them today and how much fun they are because of how much they care about this program. We were talking about things we did this summer together and how much they care about their teammates. … They don’t just care about the football team, they care about the community as a whole and that’s awesome. They are a great representation of this program, Joplin High School and the Joplin community.”
DISTRICT UPDATE
Before the win, Joplin (33.76 points) was the third seed in the Class 6 District 5 standings, roughly 10 points behind second-place Kickapoo (42.38) and 10 points ahead of Waynesville (22.76).
Carthage (34.93) is in third place in the Class 5 District 7 standings, behind top-seeded Webb City (44.43) and second-seeded Raytown South (37.24) and in front of fourth-seeded Belton (30.38).
HOW THEY GOT THERE
After Joplin’s defense forced Carthage into a three-and-out punt, the Eagles’ offense marched 79 yards on 13 plays to take the lead. QB Hobbs Gooch, who completed six-of-seven passes for 66 yards, dropped back on fourth and 5 from the CHS 9, rolled to his right and tucked the ball before taking off and diving for the pylon to beat the defender for a 9-yard rushing score and a 7-0 lead with 3:57 left in the opening quarter.
Joplin’s defense came up big again during its second trip on the field, forcing Carthage into a turnover-on-downs near midfield on a fourth-and-short stop.
“Winning first down the majority of the time and getting those two big stops early, and the two turnovers later were huge,” Jasper said of the defense’s effort.
On the next play with the first quarter winding down, Renfro took the handoff left, hesitated and burst up and broke several tackles on the way to a 40-yard run down inside the CHS 5-yard line. After the quarter change a few plays later, Renfro found paydirt from 5 yards out to give Joplin a 14-0 lead midway through the first half.
“You could see last week that he was starting to look more like himself,” Jasper said of Renfro, who had dealt with injuries earlier in the season. “Tonight was vintage Quin and he looked back to his true self.”
Carthage (which gained 311 yards of offense on 58 plays) used the big play to get on the scoreboard on its third drive. QB Brady Carlton, who rushed 24 times for 148 yards and a touchdown, found a wide open TE Karson Murray over the middle with no one between him and the end zone for a 52-yard passing score to cut the deficit to 14-7 with less than eight minutes to play in the first half.
“We got down 14-0 and our kids responded with a big drive,” Guidie said. “It got us back in the game and got us a little confidence.”
Carthage’s defense came up with its first stop of the night late in the first half in Joplin’s attempt to answer the Tigers’ score, sacking Gooch on fourth-down inside the red zone to turn a long Eagles’ drive into a turnover-on-downs.
The Tigers used a 27-yard screen from Carlton to RB Landyn Collins to get into plus territory before Carlton was picked off shortly after by Joplin DB Cordell Washington and returned to the 32-yard line for the change in possession.
“We had a nice drive going down seven before we threw that pick,” Guidie said. “That was huge. That could have been a 14-point swing right there. You go into the locker room and it’s hard sometimes to get these guys back up and as intense as they were to start the game.”
Renfro took the ensuing handoff up the middle and broke several tackles on the way to a 64-yard run down inside the 5. On the next play, Renfro crossed the goal line for the second time to give Joplin a 21-7 lead with 36 seconds left in the first half.
“It’s a good two-minute offense when you can just hand it to Quin,” Jasper said with a laugh.
After a nice kick return to start the second half gave Joplin good field position to start the first possession in plus territory, Joplin needed just 54 seconds and two play
s to get into the end zone thanks to a 30-yard rushing touchdown by Renfro, his third of the game, to give the Eagles a 28-7 advantage.
Carthage responded on the ground, marching its way down the field via the run before Carlton scored on the keeper from 8 yards out to cut Joplin’s lead to 28-14.
After a failed attempt at an onside kick by the Tigers, Joplin took over in plus territory and put on its shortest drive of the game when Renfro carried the ensuing first-down snap 41 yards on the way to touchdown to give the Eagles a 35-14 advantage.
Renfro continued his dominance on Joplin’s next drive, rushing 31 yards on the way to his fifth touchdown of the night to expand the Eagles’ lead to 42-14 with 11:49 left in the game.
Joplin put the exclamation point on the win shortly after when DB Davin Thomas picked off Carlton and took it to the house for a 43-yard pick-6 touchdown, extending the cushion to 49-14.
Carthage’s final score came on a short-yardage score from Carlton in the waning minutes.
UP NEXT
Joplin wraps the regular season with a matchup at Neosho.
Carthage closes the regular season hosting Willard on Senior Night.
