WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Webb City Cardinals are heading into the postseason with plenty of momentum.
The Cardinals extended their winning streak to eight with a dominant 55-0 Central Ozark Conference football win over the Willard Tigers on a cold Friday night at Cardinal Stadium.
The Cardinals were superior in every phase of the game in this one, as Webb City led 41-0 at intermission.
“I thought our kids, from the onset, in all phases really competed well,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “I thought our kids were really focused. We talked during the week about focusing on ourselves and getting better. You want to continue to make strides and get better. That’s hard to judge sometimes, but we felt like we did that this week.”
Webb City ends the regular season at 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the COC.
Ranked second in Class 5, the Cardinals locked up the second seed for the District 6 tournament. With only six teams in the district, the top two seeds have a bye next week.
It was Webb City’s third shutout of the 2020 campaign.
NAMES & NUMBERS
Webb City racked up 443 yards on 48 plays, with 414 yards on the ground and 29 through the air.
Senior running back Devrin Weathers ran 11 times for 154 yards and four touchdowns, with all of his carries coming in the first half. Junior Dupree Jackson added 76 yards on seven carries, while senior quarterback Cole Gayman added 54 rushing yards.
Jacob Ott had six tackles, while Gavin Stowell and Treghan Parker had four tackles apiece. Cale Stephens grabbed an interception, while Cohl Vaden, Spencer Lortz, Ott and TJ Boyd all recovered fumbles.
Webb City had 20 first downs, while Willard had eight.
Willard (2-7) committed five turnovers, with four lost fumbles and an interception. The Tigers were limited to 129 yards on 38 plays, with 115 rushing and 14 passing.
Owen Bushnell ran 18 times for 53 yards, while Tyler Janes completed 2-of-5 passes for 14 yards with one interception.
GAME RECAP
Webb City literally took control from the start, as the Cardinals recovered an onside-kick to begin the night.
A Kansas State recruit, Weathers scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter—a 12-yard run and a 43-yard scamper.
Gayman’s 18-yard QB keeper and Vaden’s two-point conversion gave Webb City a 21-0 cushion at the 10:39 mark of the second quarter.
Weathers sprinted to a 28-yard touchdown run at the 9:33 mark of the second period, making a number of defenders miss while changing direction.
With the Webb City offensive line opening up big holes, Jackson scored Webb City’s fifth touchdown of the first half on a 3-yard plunge.
Weathers added a 24-yard touchdown sprint to give the Cardinals a comfortable 41-0 lead with 5:06 left in the first half.
At the break, Webb City had 318 yards while Willard had just 91.
Roderique rested his starters for the entire second half and got many other players into the game.
Freshman David Neal scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter, while sophomore Cy Darnell recorded a 9-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“We played our starters just one half and we put a lot of guys in,” Roderique said, estimating about 75-80 different athletes saw time on the field. “We had eight different running backs carry the ball tonight. We tried to do what we should do in that situation. I wish the score wasn’t 55.”
Roderique noted getting that many kids into the game will help them in the future.
“They only have one more JV game, and all of them getting a chance to play really does a lot for the morale and the excitement,” Roderique said. “What I really appreciate is the first one to congratulate a David Neal or a Cy Darnell is Devrin Weathers. Devrin, like a lot of the guys we’ve had here over the years, isn’t concerned with individual stats. He’s worried about winning and he’s worried about the other guys. That’s a selfless guy.”
DISTRICT SEEDS
With Friday’s 35-12 win over Nixa, Carthage edged Webb City for the top seed in Class 5 District 6.
Carthage finished with 48.53 points, while Webb City had 48.17 points.
Ozark (33.63), Republic (26.85), Branson (26.07) and Neosho (14.96) round out the district.
Carthage and Webb City will both have the night off on Friday, Oct. 30.
BYE WEEK
The Cardinals will have a full week of practice next week without a game. Webb City will be in the district semifinals in two weeks against an opponent to be determined.
“It’s a little bit unusual,” Roderique said. “It probably comes at a pretty good time because we’re banged and we’ve lost some guys over the last few weeks. It gives you a chance to get some other guys ready. We’re going to welcome it. It is what it is and we’re going to try to make the most of it. We’ll get to the basics and get back to some fundamentals.”
WEBB CITY 55, WILLARD 0
Willard 0 0 0 0 — 0
Webb City 13 28 7 7 — 55
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
WC: Devrin Weathers 12 run (Cameron Clark kick)
WC: Weathers 43 run (Kick failed)
Second Quarter
WC: Cole Gayman 18 run (Cohl Vaden run)
WC: Weathers 28 run (Kick blocked)
WC: Dupree Jackson 3 run (Clark kick)
WC: Weathers 24 run (Clark kick)
Third Quarter
WC: David Neal 1 run (Clark kick)
Fourth Quarter
WC: Cy Darnell 9 run (Clark kick)
