The Willard Tigers jumped out to an early lead and held off the Neosho Wildcats late to open the season with a 28-21 win on Friday night at Willard High School.
Willard struck first in the season opener as running back Gary Walker scored from 58 yards out with 8:47 to go in the first quarter running back for a 7-0 lead.
Neosho went three-and-out on their next possession, leaving the Tigers with excellent field position on their own 40 after the punt.
Just a few minutes later, a deep bomb on third down had the Tigers on the Wildcat 17.
With 5:29 to go in the first quarter, Tigers QB Russell Roweton hit a 17-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 lead.
After a slow-playing first half, the second half became a shootout as both offenses started to get into a rhythm.
Neosho notched its first score of the game when Boston Patterson picked off a pass and scored from 22 yards out for a pick-6 to cut the lead to 14-7 in favor of Willard.
On Neosho’s next possession, the Wildcats proceeded to use short passes to work up the field, setting up a 2-yard run for Denver Welch to tie it at 14-all with five minutes left in the third.
The Tigers answered by driving hard down the field to respond, and as the third quarter ended, had first and goal from the 7.
With 10:48 to go in the fourth, Roweton punched it in from 2 yards out to give the Tigers a 21-14 advantage.
The Wildcats responded with a spectacular fourth-down conversion and before ultimately using a second Welch rushing score, this time from 5 yards out with 7:08 to go in the game, to tie the game up at 21-21.
The Tigers fired back with a 13-yard touchdown from Walker with 4:09 left in the game to go on top 28-21.
Neosho used a personal foul penalty on the kickoff to take possession on the Willard 49 before using receptions from Welch and Tyrone Harris to set up a red zone trip. The Wildcats were stopped on fourth-down-and-2 with time dwindling to fall short.
