CARTHAGE, Mo. — From the first plays of the game, it was obvious that the Carthage Tigers were going to put up an intense fight Friday night.
“Fired up, or focused or prepared, whatever it is, they have something kind of special,” Carthage coach Jon Guidie said. “I enjoy coaching this group.”
That was to be expected in a matchup with longtime rival Webb City, especially in a rematch of the 2020 district championship game, when the Cardinals took a 42-21 victory.
What was perhaps not so predictable was the response from Webb City, holders of seven Missouri state championships in the past decade.
The Cardinals committed six turnovers and rarely had an answer for the Tigers’ two-pronged ground attack of running back Luke Gall and quarterback Caden Kabance.
All of that added up to a 42-14 Carthage win to move to 4-0, while Webb City (2-2) lost a second regular season game for the first time since 2016.
“Sometimes you get hit in the mouth and you bow up, and it didn’t feel like we did that very much tonight,” said Cardinals coach John Roderique. “They kind of set the tone it looked like to me. We were not good on offense, really struggled offensively and on defense we struggled. … They played a much more physical game than we did.”
If punches were thrown, Gall landed the first trio of blows in a flurry. After Webb City stalled in Carthage territory on the game’s opening drive, the Cardinals went for it on fourth-and-2, but came up short. On just Carthage’s second play from scrimmage, Gall broke a 59-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.
After only two more plays, the Cardinals lost a fumble, setting the Tigers up at the Cardinal 37. After Carthage succeeded in converting a short fourth down play, Gall had his second touchdown of the game, this time from 13 yards out.
“It’s hard to put into words, to be honest,” Guidie said. “That’s a game, they’re so good and so well-coached that you just have to stay in the fight, constantly. There’s so much pressure, every single play is critical, and you just have to stay in the fight on both sides of the ball. And I thought our kids did that, the character that they showed tonight was unbelievable.”
Already down two touchdowns, Webb City again gave the ball away on a fumble, this time on the drive’s first play. Again set up in enemy territory, Gall scored just three plays later.
Webb City quarterback Cohl Vaden got the Cardinals on the board on the first play of the second quarter, taking from Gall’s playbook by reeling off a 45-yard touchdown run.
That pulled the Cardinals within two scores as the first half ended with a score of 21-7. Gall finished the half with three touchdowns and 171 yards on 11 carries. Then Kabance decided he wanted in on the fun.
The senior quarterback took the first snap of the second half and scampered for an 83-yard touchdown, extending the Tigers’ lead to 28-7. Vaden again answered, though, just three plays after Kabance’s run, with a 62-yard score.
The theme of the game continued from there as another Kabance touchdown was set up by a Cardinal turnover on downs, and the final score of the contest, a 2-yard run by Gall, came after the Tigers tipped a pass from Vaden and Cale Patrick, a senior defensive back, made a diving play to come down with an interception.
“You have turnovers and you have no momentum,” Roderique said. “When you have adversity is when you kind of find out what you are and tonight we weren’t very good. We didn’t handle any adversity very well tonight. Offense turns the ball over, defense you want to hold them and get a stop and those things didn’t happen, either. It was a tough night for us.”
Gall finished with 224 yards on 21 carries and four touchdowns, while Kabance added his two scores and 221 yards on 22 rushes. Vaden totaled 132 yards on 10 of 15 passing attempts and added 136 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Both teams have road games next week as Carthage travels to face Branson, while Webb City will be hosted by Carl Junction.
CARTHAGE 42, WEBB CITY 14
Webb City 0 7 7 0 — 14
Carthage 21 0 7 14 — 42
SCORING SUMMARY
CAR: Luke Gall 59 run (Mejia kick)
CAR: Gall 13 run (Mejia kick)
CAR: Gall 5 run (Mejia kick)
WC: Cohl Vaden 45 run (Crouch kick)
CAR: Caden Kabance 83 run (Mejia kick)
WC: Vaden 62 run (kick good)
CAR: Kabance 13 run (Mejia kick)
CAR: Gall 2 run (Mejia kick)
