WEBB CITY, Mo. — Self-inflicted wounds doomed the Webb City Cardinals in the opener of the 2022 prep football season.
An inability to finish off drives plagued the Cardinals throughout the contest.
On the other hand, the Nixa Eagles made the most of their offensive opportunities en route to a 42-19 Central Ozark Conference victory over the Cardinals on Friday night at a packed Cardinal Stadium.
Penalties cost the Cardinals three possible scores, with all coming inside the 20-yard line. The Cardinals also had a costly turnover.
“Those penalties were just drive killers,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “When you don’t finish drives, you put your defense in bad positions. We were moving the ball, but we self-destructed at times. We’ll work on those penalties. But it’s on me. I’m the head coach. I thought our kids played hard. But we didn’t play as well as we would have liked.”
Last year’s Class 5 state champion, Webb City trailed 21-13 at halftime and 28-13 at the end of the third quarter.
Roderique noted his team could never generate much momentum.
“In the game of football, there’s so much involved with momentum,” Roderique said. “I think if we’d have punched it in a couple of times we would have momentum and more energy. I never felt like we had much momentum. Our offense normally does that, but we didn’t do it. We just couldn’t finish anything. A lot of it was self-imposed.”
Of course, Webb City lost last year’s season opener, but went on to win a state championship. With that, Roderique noted one early-season loss won’t define the season.
“It’s just the first game and it is what it is,” Roderique said. “Now we know where we’re at. We know what direction we need to go as far as moving forward.”
GAME ACTION
After the Cardinals had a promising opening drive halted due to five penalties, Class 6 Nixa went 82 yards on three plays to take an early lead. Ramone Green sprinted 46 yards for the game’s opening score with 6:52 left in the first quarter.
The Cardinals tied it up on Cole Cavitt’s 5-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds left in the opening frame. The hosts went 80 yards on seven plays on the drive.
A 35-yard touchdown pass from Connor Knatcal to Wyatt Vincent gave Nixa a 14-7 lead with 10:55 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles went up 21-7 after Green connected with a wide open Spencer Ward on a 13-yard TD strike with 7:38 left in the second quarter.
The Cardinals responded on the ensuing drive, as Cavitt capped a seven play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. The PAT kick was no good.
Nixa led 21-13 at halftime.
But a penalty wiped out a Webb City touchdown early in the third quarter.
Nixa capitalized on the next series, as Green scampered in from a yard out, extending the visitors’ lead to 28-13. The Eagles converted a key fourth down play to keep the driving going.
The Cardinals had another drive stall inside the red zone, as a block-in-the-back penalty wiped out a golden opportunity. Webb City QB Landon Johnson was sacked on the next play for a turnover on downs.
Still, Omari Jackson’s 1-yard TD run cut the hosts’ deficit to 28-19 with 10:44 to play.
But Nixa added a pair of unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, both by Dylan Rubera.
NAMES & NUMBERS
Webb City had 385 yards of total offense, with 374 on the ground and 11 through the air.
Jackson led Webb City with 162 rushing yards on 19 carries.
“I thought Omari had a really good night,” Roderique commented.
Cavitt added 88 yards on 12 carries. The Cardinals lost running back Max Stovern to an injury early in the game.
Johnson completed 2-of-7 passes and also ran 10 times for 47 yards. William Hayes hauled in both passes.
Connor Gayman was credited with nine tackles, while Lucas Ott had eight stops and Kaylor Darnell had seven tackles.
Webb City finished with 10 penalties for 66 yards.
Nixa’s spread offense compiled 432 yards, 290 rushing and 142 passing.
Green ran 26 times for 231 yards and two scores, while Knatcal completed 9-of-14 passes.
“I thought Ramone was really impressive,” Roderique said. “We could hardly get a clean hit on him. I thought the way he played tonight really was a difference.”
Nixa features a solid core back from last year’s squad that went 8-3 and finished the ’21 season ranked seventh in Class 6.
Roderique gave the Eagles credit after the game.
“You win ballgames by having good players,” Roderique said. “They’ve got good athletes, great players, great coaches. They’ve got everything you need to be a good football team.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Webb City (0-1) is at Carl Junction (1-0) on Thursday night.
NIXA 42, WEBB CITY 19
SCORING SUMMARY
NIXA: Ramone Green 46 run (Kaleb James kick)
WC: Cole Cavitt 5 run (Dante Washington kick)
NIXA: Wyatt Vincent 35 pass from Connor Knatcal (James kick)
NIXA: Spencer Ward 13 pass from Green (James kick)
WC: Cavitt 1 run (Kick failed)
NIXA: Green 1 run (James kick)
WC: Omari Jackson 1 run (PAT failed)
NIXA: Dylan Rubera 32 run (James kick)
NIXA: Rubera 2 run (James kick)
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
