CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction used a dominant performance over Neosho to bounce back from consecutive losses to Central Ozark Conference powerhouses Carthage and Webb City to even its season record at 3-3 on Friday night.
The entirety of the second half was completed under MSHSAA’s accelerated clock as Carl Junction romped to a 49-7 victory over the Neosho Wildcats at Bulldog Stadium.
“I think we’re a much better football team than what people thought we would be when we came into the season,” CJ coach Doug Buckmaster said. “We obviously went to Carthage and played them as well, probably better than anyone has to this point this season. (We) took them to late in the third quarter … Really proud of how our kids have played, we’ve played well against Willard, Branson and now Neosho to get our record to 3-3.”
Buckmaster called the win “a step forward” after his team had a chance to go into halftime against Class 5 Webb City down just four points last week, but for a pass play from the Cardinal 3-yard line failing. He also cited the matchup with Class 6 Joplin having been held close until near halftime in Week 4, as well as holding the prolific Carthage offense scoreless until late in the third quarter in that matchup in just the season’s second week.
“Our lack of depth this year, lack of numbers, hurts us against the Joplins and Webb Citys and Carthages,” Buckmaster said. “We’ve got to just hang in there and hang in there and hang in there. I’m thrilled to be sitting here at 3-3 going to Republic (next week). We’re a Class 4 team in the COC and we don’t play a Class 4 team until Week 10.”
GAME ACTION
Making only his third varsity start, in for senior Kyler Perry, who has a hand injury, junior quarterback Nathan Planchon accounted for four touchdowns, three through the air, to lead the Bulldog attack.
“(Planchon) did some nice things again,” Buckmaster said. “His first two starts were Joplin and Webb City, so he had a good game tonight, and we didn’t have to throw the ball 40 times tonight. That’s a big plus. We don’t want to throw the ball 40 times and we’ve had to because we lack that running game. Our kids played hard.”
Dexter Merrell, a sophomore, caught one of Planchon’s touchdowns and accounted for the Bulldogs’ other two TDs on runs of seven and 34 yards. Catching Planchon’s other TD passes were junior Ayden Bard and senior Jordan Woodruff.
Planchon finished with seven completions on nine attempts and 214 yards through the air. Woodruff totaled 91 yards on two catches. The Bulldogs had plenty of big-play spark in their offense, rattling off five plays of 30 yards or more on offense.
“Our emphasis was to run the ball a little bit better than what we’ve been doing,” Buckmaster said. “And I think we did improve in the running game and we were able to hit them with a lot of big plays, they pressured us a lot and they gave up the big plays.”
On the other side of the ball, Neosho’s only score was set up by a kickoff return that started closer to midfield than the Wildcat end zone and was then fumbled down to the Bulldog 33 and recovered by Neosho.
The Carl Junction defense swarmed the backfield all night, forcing Neosho quarterback Quenton Hughes, a sophomore, to throw three interceptions, one of which came around his own 10-yard line and turned into six points for CJ as Braxton Dodds snuck into the end zone after stepping in front of the pass.
In addition to the three interceptions, the Bulldogs killed Wildcat drives, forcing three punts and three turnovers on downs.
