NEOSHO, Mo. — A quick six-play, 79-yard drive got the Neosho Wildcats on the board first during Saturday night’s Central Ozark Conference matchup with the visiting Nixa Eagles.
The impressive start wasn’t enough for the Wildcats, as Nixa defeated Neosho 54-20 at Bob Anderson Stadium.
The early score was followed up by an interception by Neosho junior Isaiah Green two plays later, and the Wildcats looked like they were ready to surprise the Eagles. But a defensive penalty negated the interception.
“We’ve been preaching to start faster all year,” explained Neosho coach Brandon Taute. “To see us come out and start fast is a big jump for our team.”
Nixa (4-1) didn’t let the Wildcats (0-5) build any more momentum as they followed up with a three-play, 63-yard drive that was capped by a 49-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Connor Knatcal to sophomore Rylan Michel.
“They’ve been a good offensive team all year,” Nixa coach John Perry said of Neosho’s quick start. “We knew that’d be a challenge to start with.”
The Wildcats had opportunities to keep themselves in the game, but two untimely holding penalties killed their next drive.
Neosho senior Noah Reed would intercept an Eagle pass on the second play of the next drive, but another penalty (defensive pass interference) kept the Eagles’ drive alive. Four plays later, sophomore Spencer Ward found paydirt from 10 yards out to give the Eagles a 13-7 lead.
“Nixa is one of the best teams in the state,” Taute said. “You can’t have self-inflicted wounds. We shot ourselves in the foot too many times tonight.”
Even though penalties held them back, the Wildcats appeared to have a little success with their game plan.
Neosho moved the ball well on the following drive with a 12-play drive to try to answer, but ultimately ended up turning the ball over on downs.
“We tried to get the ball out of his hands quickly,” Taute said of his sophomore quarterback Quenton Hughes’ first start. “He did a great job but they forced us to have to drive the length of the field. We weren’t able to do that consistently tonight.”
Neosho appeared to hold off Nixa on the following drive, but the Eagles executed a 24-yard fake punt rush by senior Jaden Aven to keep the Nixa drive alive. Four plays later, it was Knatcal again with a 3-yard, play action touchdown pass to sophomore Jayden Antonelli. Nixa led 20-7.
Neosho’s next two drives failed to gain much steam as they punted both times.
Nixa put seven more points on the board just before the half as Knatcal threw a perfect fade to junior wide receiver Kael Combs with 21 seconds left in the half.
“Connor throws the ball really well,” Perry said of his young quarterback. “He is getting better every single day.”
The Eagles put the pedal down in the second half as they went 53 yards in three plays during their second drive of the half. Knatcal threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Michel to take a 34-7 lead.
The Eagles wouldn’t let Neosho back into the game, shutting the Wildcat’s next drive down in four plays.
A short punt gave the Eagles the ball in Neosho territory at the Wildcat 45. Five plays later Ward stomped into the end zone to give the Eagles a commanding 41-7 lead. Ward would follow it up with another 8-yard touchdown run with 2:46 left in the third quarter to extend the Eagle lead.
“Our young kids are great,” Perry explained. “Ward (who is filling in on full-time duty due to injury) is electric.”
Neosho’s junior Jared Siler would add a touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 47-13 (blocked extra point attempt), but it was all but over for the Wildcats.
Both teams added points late in the game, with Brock Franklin scoring for the Wildcats, to bring the final tally to 54-20.
Neosho will travel to Carl Junction (2-3) next week and Nixa will host Ozark (1-4).
